Rocket Internet’s auto classified site Carmudi, has launched in Ghana, some six months after it set foot in Lagos Nigeria last year as it’s first African city and then Cameroon as the second.
The online auto marketplace is expecting to take on Cheki Ghana, a One Africa Media company already established in the market with a substantial number of listings compared to it. Carmudi offers car, motorcycle or commercial vehicle listings and also helps offline vehicle dealers and agents set up a online presence via a personalized webpage, something Cheki also provides.
Time will tell who beats who, but in the moment the platform’s launch plus a recent announcement that the site has been been optimized for mobile the battle will be interesting. The site has also been launched in Vietnam and in the United Arab Emirates, weeks after it went live Philippines and Indonesia.
In a statement to TechMoran, Stefan Haubold, co-founder Carmudi said: “With high interest we notice that the automotive industry is increasingly thriving in Ghana, Vietnam and the United Arab Emirates. This is accompanied by a fast growing online oriented customer community which brings transparency into these dissected markets. However, there is still a lack in sufficient car classifieds platforms, which is why we push into these markets, now. Altogether, we see big potential for Carmudi to rapidly develop in these three promising countries, bringing us one step nearer to our goal of being the world’s top-player in automotive classifieds.”
Africa’s second hand car market is highly influenced by the growing middle-class, who have a disposable income to buy cars and homes. It’s this growing class that is also fueling the adoption of internet at home, in schools and on the go, via mobile.
Carmudi is expected to launch in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and the Maghreb soon and the firm says it will announce the launch dates for more more countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia soon.