Imagine there was just one place you could go to for every morsel of information you need on a vehicle that you are selling or buying. Now you can thanks to a comprehensive database that contains exactly that, and you can find it under the hood of AutoTrader.
“Most vehicle marketplace websites in South Africa have a core weakness – a lack of structured vehicle data and transparency,” says AutoTrader CEO, George Mienie. “What we have done is create a comprehensive database that gives vehicle buyers and sellers all the information that they could possibly need in one place.”
There are 11 million vehicle identification numbers (VINs) stored that are mined amongst 4 million pieces of metadata which, in turn, are meticulously processed to create detailed taxonomy for vehicles – this system which has been 5 years in the making, gives AutoTrader the ability to provide consumers with the best vehicle search experience ever seen in South Africa.
“Historically, this data has been held by multiple third parties in proprietary code and description files, which often results in inaccuracies or inadequate information – this has been a problem that has plagued the local motor industry,” explains Mienie.
“For AutoTrader, South Africa’s largest online motoring marketplace, it is important for us to provide invaluable information to customers. As a result, we are pairing this new vehicle taxonomy database with other data sources in order to provide influential market information to dealers. By combining the vehicle taxonomy data with other critical information like transactional valuation data, retail price data and market supply and demand data, AutoTrader is uniquely positioned to provide accurate, live market information to all its customers.”
Those who use the tech giant’s AutoFuzion product would have found that, for example, a silver VW Polo GTI will sell quicker than a white one, and a black Polo GTI will sell for about R100 000 more than a silver one. It will also show that selling this car in the Eastern Cape will be successful in half the time it takes to do so in the Western Cape. It will also confirm Mpumalanga will command the second highest price in the land on average, as well as sell in the second shortest advertising period1.
And while the auto industry benefits from access the comprehensive database, consumers benefit from AutoTrader’s newly launched website where buyers and sellers will be rewarded with a tremendously improved search capability. “The new functionality makes seeking your next car quicker and easier than anyone else in the market – #SearchJustGotLit” Mienie concludes.
Try it for yourself to see how. AutoTrader https://www.autotrader.co.za/
1 Figures are based on averages on all VW Polo GTI’s listed on AutoTrader during the first quarter of 2019.
