8:00 am, September 19, 2021
Renault Group has bought a stake in Heycar’s parent company, Mobility Trader Holding, with a view to launching the platform in France.
Renault, along with its subsidiary RCI Bank and Services, confirmed the purchase earlier this week.
The French car maker will now contribute to the development of the Heycar platform in France.
Renault already owns Carizy – France’s leading start-up in customer to customer intermediation – and now plans to bring the two brands together.
Heycar is owned by Mobility Trader Holding GmbH, which is also backed by Volkswagen and Daimler.
The platform has been operational in the UK since 2019 and Spain since 2020.
Representing a large number of dealer groups of different brands at some 5,000 locations with more than 380,000 vehicles, it markets quality used vehicles online, sold by professionals to retail customers.
RCI Bank and Services will offer financing and services for each vehicle put online by Renault Group dealers.
Luca de Meo, CEO Renault Group, said: ‘We are very pleased with this project with heycar, which in just a few years has become a key player in the online distribution of used vehicles.
‘This agreement is in line with Renault Group’s strategy to increase value creation at each stage of the vehicle life cycle.
‘In line with the Re-Factory – the project to convert the Flins plant into a dedicated site for circular economy of mobility – through this partnership we intend to strengthen the competitiveness of our sales network across the entire used vehicle value chain: from procurement to after-sales, including reconditioning, marketing and sales of financing and services.’
The acquisition is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2021.
