Today, Rocket Internet’s car marketplace Carmudi has set foot(driven into) in Saudi Arabia to enables customers easily find or sell their car, motorcycle or commercial vehicle online.
The firm is pegging on what it calls its rapid success in the UAE, to continually execute its plan for expansion and global success.
According to Kerem Kuyucu founder of Carmudi Middle East, “The demographics and numbers show us that Saudi Arabia is a perfect market for automotive-related businesses. What they perhaps lack is a functional, user friendly and deep-in-content online portal to help consumers find the perfect car. Carmudi is going to be the solution to this pain point. We see the same potential here in Saudi Arabia as we do in other regions of the Middle East. Our expansion into the biggest market of the region has been on our agenda since day one. We are talking about a market where almost 1 million cars are sold every year.”
Backed by Rocket Internet and Middle East Investment Holding (MEIH) and a growing number of car buyers in the Middle East-75% of the population in Riyadh is between the ages of 18 and 35, internet penetration at 49%, (a region-highest) and smartphone penetration at 63%, accoding to Central Department of Statistics & Information (CDSI) in Saudi Arabia, the site aims to be used across th world.The firm says it has over 3,000 business to consumer (B2C) listings and over 50,000 monthly visits in the UAE.
Already live in Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon, Carmudi is doing tests in East Africa and signing car dealers to the site and will go live in Kenya soon according to people with inside information.