McCarthy Call-a-Car, the largest independent online used-vehicle retailer in South Africa and a subsidiary of listed motor retailer McCarthy, sold 6 662 units in 2003 — representing more than R660-million-worth in sales.
In a statement on Monday, McCarthy said used vehicles accounted for 83% of the total sales, while new vehicle sales increased to 17% in 2003. A total of 61% of transactions were done through the internet, an achievement that was right on par with international trends.
“Recent research done by JD Power showed that 62% of American customers use the internet for research before they conclude a transaction,” said Lourens Botha, managing director of McCarthy On-Line.
“We have a very similar vehicle-buying population in South Africa to that of the United States, with those who actually do have access to the internet, representing people in high LSM categories with similar purchasing behaviour.”
Botha said that the results of 2003 proved that the South African motoring public is increasingly using technology such as the internet to assist in the buying process.
“Through Call-a-Car, customers have more than 5 600 vehicles sourced from across the country readily available at their fingertips,” said Botha.
“Call-a-Car is all about convenience. Apart from arranging a test drive in an instance, customers also have access to a vehicle finance calculator and can make detailed model comparisons on the website.”
In addition, being part of South Africa’s second-largest motor retailer, McCarthy Motor Holdings, Call-a-Car is able to offer customers no risk purchases as the vehicle’s mileage and title are guaranteed. Call-a-Car also offers a wide selection of late-model used vehicles — something that is of great benefit to the customers as these vehicles are usually still accompanied by manufacturer warranties.
A significant development over the past two years had been the franchising of Call-a-Car to selected dealerships outside the traditional McCarthy outlets and locations. These dealers cover certain marques that aren’t represented by the McCarthy dealer network, and service areas where McCarthy doesn’t have representation.
“This new venture has enlarged the Call-a-Car franchised network to over 160 dealers and a total of 1 332 units have already been sold through these new dealers during the past financial year. This represents 21% of Call-a-Car’s sales, or differently stated, one in every five sales. The success of the franchise venture just proves the power of the Call-a-Car package.”
Talking of service, Botha said that customer satisfaction is one thing that will never be compromised.
“To do this, we have put into place a network of dealers that operate according to the high levels of integrity and service that McCarthy customers are accustomed to.”
According to Botha, the company ultimately wants to offer Call-a-Car to customers through every new innovation and application available. In order to continue providing customers with an enhanced service, Call-a-Car also recently launched a new-look website, which offers more functionality such as vehicle finance calculators, vehicle comparisons and easier navigation.
Looking forward to 2004, Botha predicted that used vehicles will present great value to potential buyers. Due to low new-vehicle inflation expected in 2004, some of the best buys will be nearly new one-year old vehicles, he said.
There is also already some speculation that the government will approve the private leasing of cars in the near future. As this eliminates the need for a deposit, it will make used vehicles much more affordable and subsequently open the market for individuals in the lower-income bracket.
Botha expected internet sales to grow even more exponentially in the year to come.
“This growth relates directly to the marketing of products, information supplying and customer locating, and retailers therefore need a strong presence on the internet in order to get their message across,” he concluded. — I-Net Bridge