Easy and Practical, Online Car Trade Begins to Become Trend

People choose cars not only to mark their identity, but also depending on their needs. Practicality is one of the main reasons, with many people searching for new and used cars through the internet.

The internet has spread everywhere now and made it easier for people to do selling and buying, including when they want to buy a car. Nowadays, things are made easy by online system.

Now, potential buyers do not have to feel confused when deciding on the type and the model of the car they want. They don’t need too much time to know the specs and the price. This kind of convenience is what prospective customers want, and they can get it from online platform.

If in conventional car trade sellers and buyers meet face to face, now they only need to do so after buyers have researched the car they want.

Through online platforms, a potential buyer can research various things, from the model and the production year, the available features, to the selling price. Those things help a person decide on their dream car.

In Indonesia, online car trade trend has begun to increase in the last few years. According to a research done by Google Indonesia in mid-2017, there’s an increase in mobile and online searches. Potential buyers who were connected to the internet already stood at 85%, increasing from 73% in the previous year.

Moreover, there was an increase in potential buyers who used the internet to find dealerships. In 2017, the figure was 63%, increasing from 2016’s 52%.

The number of people who were willing to buy cars online also increased. In 2017, the total was 63%, while in 2016 the figure was only 49%. The reason is that information is easily accessible now, including the details needed about the cars they want to buy.

Other than those facts, research also showed that 74% potential buyers need up to two months to undergo the steps before buying cars. Google Indonesia Industry Analyst Yudhistira Adi Nugroho thought that length of time is ideal, considering that buying cars is a big investment.

“It is not surprising that Indonesians will need quite a long time to decide on which car to buy,” Yudhistira said (Kompas.com, March 27, 2018).

Not only new car industry but used car industry is also part of the trend. The emergence of online platforms for car trade and the participation of financing institutions in facilitating loans for buying used cars are predicted to keep used car industry growing until 2021.

There are at least 5.5 million buyers looking for cars in a certain used car marketplace every year. “The demand comes from not only Greater Jakarta but also other big cities such as Medan, Surabaya, Bandung, and Makassar,” as quoted from Dailysocial.id (November 1, 2018).

Toyota Avanza is the car that goes on sale the most and that is sought the most by potential buyers. Affordable price and fuel efficiency make this car attractive. In Bali, especially, Toyota Avanza is highly demanded by car rentals for driving tourists to various tourism destinations.

In another online trade website, used car listings increased by 27% than in the same period in the previous year. As quoted from Suara.com (August 8, 2018), the increase was seen as a reflection of trust of Indonesians in online platforms.

mobil88 as a subsidiary of PT Serasi Autoraya (SERA) is planning to have its own e-store. “We already have the platform (website), but we can only see the cars offered now; it has not offered experience like if we visit a store. The new version of the website will make customers feel like they really go to a store,” mobil88 Director Halomoan Fischer Lumbantoruan said (Otoasia.com, December 21, 2018).

Running in used car trade, mobil88, which is an affiliate of Astra Group, will expand their sales to make it easier for people who want to do transactions online.

mobil88 is tapping into the online market while maintaining the quality of existing services. With 20 showrooms in big cities in Indonesia, mobil88 with its 30 years of experience dares to offer buyback guarantee that the cars have never been involved in a crash or immersed in a flood.

Furthermore, chassis and engine numbers are guaranteed to match those stated in the car registration (STNK) and car ownership documents (BPKB). The odometer has not been wound back either. Please click this link to learn more about mobil88’s services.