USED CAR MARKET MOVES ONLINE WITH AA AUTOBAY

Since its launch at the beginning of the year, AA Autobay (www.aaautobay.co.za) has gained a significant share of the online used car market. The company is vying for a top three position amongst South African motoring websites with over 1.2 million page impressions being recorded in October 2007.

“One million impressions per month is a significant milestone for any South African web site,” says Internet analyst Arthur Goldstuck, Managing Director, World Wide Worx, an organisation that conducts regular research into the size of the Internet market in South Africa. “The challenge for AA Autobay remains how to turn used car traffic into revenue, but you can’t have the latter without the former. Clearly the foundation is in place for a successful online used car business.

“Research shows that the coming year will be one of unprecedented engagement with the Internet by South African Internet users. The main challenge will be to meet the expectations of those users,” says Goldstuck.

AA Autobay provides private sellers and buyers of pre-owned vehicles with a unique online marketplace by providing a platform for sellers to advertise private used cars for sale, as well as managing the entire process, including vehicle test drives, payment, and vehicle hand over. AA Autobay also ensures that all pre-owned vehicles that are advertised on its website have undergone a mandatory AA inspection. In addition, the AA Autobay business model encompasses vehicle finance and insurance options.

According to Stephen de Blanche, Chief Executive Officer, AA Autobay, the process of establishing a new business model in a competitive market like South Africa is a difficult one. “This is particularly true in the highly competitive pre-owned vehicle sales, finance and insurance industries. The Internet is constantly evolving and is a vital tool in running any business in South Africa, especially one such as AA Autobay.”

For the past 10 months AA Autobay has been researching South African Internet usage as a search tool for finding used cars. According to Steven Liversedge, Director, CubicICE, a marketing and Internet services consultancy, many South Africans do not realise how influential the Internet is in used car buying decision making. “Our research shows that for October 2007 over 1.5 million vehicle searches were carried out on Google alone. We can see by the rapid growth in South African traffic to the AA Autobay website combined with increased use of search phrases such as pre-owned vehicles for sale, this form of used car research is gaining momentum. This is shown by AA Autobay recording over 1800 test drives for the same month.”


De Blanche continues, “We are well pleased that the key element of our business is working effectively. “AA Autobay is approaching a Top 25 position amongst South African websites in general, which is good news for buyers and sellers of pre-owned vehicles in South Africa. The relationship between visitors and stock must be a natural one and we will be working hard to capitalise on our visibility success with increased trade on vehicles, finance contracts, and insurance policies.”

Enquiries: Tania Steenkamp
Manager: Communications
AA Autobay
Tel: 011 277 0057
E-mail: tania@aaautobay.co.za
Website: www.aaautobay.co.za

From: CubicICE (Pty) Ltd
Submitted: Steven Liversedge / Rob Diering
Compiled: SL / SR
Tel: (011) 705 2545
Reference: pr aaa 2021 online_1m page impressions