JONAH NWOKPOKU

Nigeria’s online car classified, Carmudi.com.ng has introduced a mobile application for android devices.

The mobile application which was unveiled during the company’s car dealers forum in Lagos, will allow users browse through over thirty thousand cars listed on Carmudi’s website.

The company said with over 30,000 vehicles listed online in Nigeria and 200,000 globally, the app will give users the opportunity and a rewarding experience of buying cars while on the move.

It noted that the app is also available to Android users in 20 countries across Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. The app is also available in nine different languages.

Features

The app features the same usability and filter functions as the official website. Customers can filter searches either by brand, model, year or price. Users can also share listings on various social platforms to gain opinions from friends and family if they are unsure.

Speaking on the app, Co-Founder and Head of Business Development, Carmudi Africa, Karl-Johan Sturesson, said, “We want to bring the massive choice of cars to the fingertips of our users all over Africa.

This is a huge milestone for Carmudi Africa and is a natural step in our ongoing strategy of being in the frontline when it comes to business development.

“The app will allow millions of users across Africa to find their dream car in just a single tap. We already have over one million users visiting our website globally every month.

Carmudi is changing the way consumers search and shop for cars. With mobile phones accounting for more than a third of the internet usage in the emerging world, Carmudi’s app will further strengthen its dominance there.”

Also speaking at the forum, Managing Director of Carmudi Nigeria, Christian Keller, disclosed that the app has achieved over 5,000 downloads within one week of its launch.

On the forum, he said, “The gathering is important to us since we need a synergy with the car dealers to boost access to this segment of the auto market. Also since we make our money through listing fees, it is just imperative that we work closely with them.”He pledged that Carmudi will continue to focuses on quality control and fraud protection.

On his part, the Acting President of United Berger Motors Dealers Association, Barrister Mmaduabuchukwu Akudu said Carmudi’s services have impacted significantly on their sales margin because of the internet’s ability to reach target market which they would ordinarily not have been able to reach.

“Because of our poor level of computer literacy, it was difficult for us to embrace Carmudi’s services in the beginning.

But by the time we began to see that Carmudi services impact on our sales, it became a paradigm shift as our total turnover completely doubled in less than a month. I believe that Carmudi has come to help us improve on our business. They have brought a positive change into the auto sales business,” he said.

While noting that the fairly car used business has come to stay in Nigeria, he observed Carmudi’s arrangement with the car dealers has helped to reduce fraud and that to further enhance online fraud protection, there should be a legislation allowing only accredited car marketers like Carmudi to sell online.