9:22 am, February 9, 2024
Bosses at used car marketplace Carwow are celebrating this week after it was revealed the firm enjoyed drastic growth in 2023.
Analysis of online data showed that the company grew its total number of dealer accounts by 75% in the last calendar year, while its number of active monthly users shot up by 47%.
The outfit also saw used vehicle sales rise by an impressive 68%, compared to 2022 as the firm continued to grow at a rapid rate.
Insiders have put the success down to an ability to match its stock availability with the requirements of its dealer partners.
Throughout 2023, more than half (53%) of stock was less than five years old, and nearly two-thirds (60%) had less than 30,000 miles on the clock.
Carwow say those levels are the ‘sweet spot’ for used car dealers, helping to contribute towards record sales of lower-cost cars.
The company has also revealed which of its lots attracted the most interest from bidders last year.
Coming out on top was a 2017 Ford Fiesta, which fetched 31 offers from dealers, followed in joint second by an Audi S4 and a Volkswagen Golf-R with 28 bidders each.
Joint fourth place was split three ways between a Mini hatchback, a 2017 BMW X3 and a 2019 BMW 3-Series Touring, with 27 bidders apiece.
Rounding out the top 10 were two more examples of the Volkswagen Golf R, another 2017 BMW X3 and an Audi S3, each securing 26 bidders.
Sally Foote, chief commercial officer – Sell My Car, at Carwow, said: ‘2023 was a remarkable year with 83% growth in revenue for our SMC business.
‘We invested heavily in developing our consumer-facing Sell My Car product across all markets, and we underwent a game-changing global rebrand.
‘In the UK, we added LCVs to our stock mix, changed to a round-the-clock bidding model, improved listing integrity, and introduced document collection and vehicle delivery services. These, and hundreds of other changes, make Carwow the ‘go-to’ source for a growing number of dealers.
‘We’ve had a very strong start to 2024, with more dealer offers in our daily online auctions being accepted in January than ever before – a 63% increase year on year.
‘This Valentine’s Day we’re running a new consumer campaign by getting the public to ‘break up’ with their cars.
‘We know there are plenty of good reasons for sellers to break up with quality cars – over a third (38%) of motorists sell to upgrade to a bigger or better car that suits changing needs and lifestyle requirements, while a quarter (25%) sell because they no longer need it.
‘That means more fresh quality stock for dealers in our daily online auctions.’
