GAME CHANGERS consumers benefit from it? For the first time in Singapore’s automotive history, consumers have a VIP Concierge service that gives them a cash rebate of up to $4,500 just to provide them a hassle-free experience of buying and selling a car directly with another consumer. It is like having a chauffeur who pays you to let him drive you around. sgCarMart Connect partners with eight leading financial partners and more than five insurance companies to provide consumers the best rates in Singapore. We also help consumers to perform the vehicle transfer of ownership with the Land Transport Authority (LTA) on their behalf and provide the necessary documentation for vehicle handover. SBR: How is the business doing since operations started early this year? As high COE prices continue to take center stage in Singapore, sgCarMart.com saw a 112% surge in direct owner listings as more sellers choose to cut cost by selling directly to another consumer. That being said, sgCarMart Connect, which was officially launched in March 2012, has already processed over $8 million in auto loans. SCMC founder Jijin Fu
Making easy money out of used cars sgCarMart Connect offers stress-free direct auto-purchase transactions
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uying a car from a private seller instead of a dealer often means that the buyer has to arrange for financing himself. In addition, he has to deal with the hassle of sourcing multiple motor insurance quotes and settling the legal ownership transfer of the vehicle himself. sgCarMart Connect has partnered with sgCarMart, which bills itself as the No.1 car portal in Singapore, to launch what they claim as a ‘revolutionary’ suite of free services for direct buyers and sellers of used cars. sgCarMart Connect will provide direct car sellers and buyers an end-to-end direct solution to transact their car directly online, including assisted online listing, vehicle mechanical inspection, sourcing for multiple insurance quotations, sourcing for multiple financing quotations and legal transfer of the vehicle ownership. It claims that it is the first company in Asia planning to offer a consolidated interface to help owners manage their cars’ entire financial, insurance and repair life-cycle for free. The firm was incorporated in July 2011 and officially launched March this year. It boasts of having facilitated over 7 million in direct auto loans in the last 8 months of launch. Singapore Business Review spoke with sgCarMart Connect founder Jijin Fu to learn more about this new initiative. SBR: What is this new offering all about and how will
22 SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | JANUARY 2013
SBR: What other services do you plan to offer in the next few years? sgCarMart Connect is also the first company in the region that plans to offer a consolidated interface to help car owners manage the entire lifecycle of owning a car -- from tracking monthly loan installments, multiple quote submission for annual insurance renewals, to finding suitable vendors for car servicing, repairs and modifications. We also provide instant car valuation and car auction facilities. Soon to be launched is the sgCarMart Connect’s flagship platform - Car Nexus 3.0. It’s the combined force of 3 systems. First is the ‘Financial Nexus’, which provides regular updates on your outstanding car loan, installment payment, and refinancing options. It also provides competitive multiple insurance quotes one month prior to insurance renewals. The second one is the ‘Maintenance Nexus’, which provides location detection services on the car repair and servicing workshops nearest you. It also provides promotional rates to annual car inspection and evaluation services, plus information and recommendations on car modification and enhancement. Finally, the VIP Concierge Nexus, which is a lifelong VIP concierge service for car valuation, assisted insurance renewals, and auctioning facilities. SBR: How do you expect sgCarMart.com to contribute in your future growth? sgCarMart Connect is the exclusive finance partner of sgCarMart. sgCarMart is Singapore’s No.1 Car Portal for seven years running. sgCarMart has a traffic monopoly of over 95% of market share in terms of visits and pageviews versus our competitors in Hitwise Top 30. This translates into 2.2 million visitors and 36 million page views monthly with 99% of all car listings in Singapore listed on sgCarMart. With sgCarMart Connect Best Price Guarantee, sgCarMart.com customers can get a seamless experience in directly buying and selling a car as well as the best rates available for car loans and insurance.