Nigeria’s automotive industry will going forward witness a disruption in the buying and selling of Nigerian used cars as the Cars45 and its parent company, Jiji recently entered into a new partnership deal with GAC Motors.
Under the partnership, Cars45 will have access to used GAC brands of vehicles that will enable Car45 to substantially grow its inventory and give its customers ample choices.
It will also cover brand-new GAC cars. Here, Cars45, which is the domain for used cars will handle the sale of used GAC cars while the brand-new ones will be sold on the Jiji platform.
Speaking at the partnership agreement signing in Lagos recently, Maxim Makarchuk, chief operating officer for Cars45 and investor relations head for Jiji, said as a leading automotive technology company that has been revolutionising the way people buy and sell used cars in Nigeria, Cars45 believed that long-term partnership is significant for growth.
“We are excited to announce our partnership with GAC Motors, an automobile manufacturer known for its cutting-edge technology, innovative designs and commitment to quality. We will combine our strengths and expertise to create a better car buying and selling experience. Together we will continue to uphold transparency, convenience and set new benchmarks for the industry,” he said.
He said Cars45 is committed to exceptional customer experience, which has earned it a reputation in the industry, especially as regards providing transparent and fair pricing to its customers.
“We ensure that our customers receive fair deals for their cars through its accurate and transparent pricing system. We give customers transparent deals from the pricing perspective and features perspective. We provide inspection reports on every car we sell from more than 400 parameters to ensure customers know what they are buying, and we become trusted partners in this process. We also provide a convenient and hassle-free experience for both the buyer and the seller of used cars,” he explained.
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According to him, Jiji recently acquired Cars45, and the partnership will enable the company to focus on the mission of helping people buy cars given the expensive network of Jiji which covers the whole of Nigeria via its inspection centres and a robust online platform visited by over 15 million people in a month.
He further said that GAC Motors is one of the best companies that sell cars suitable for the African Market and is also known for its durability, adding that GAC Motors produces vehicles designed to withstand the challenging condition of African roads and also ensure world-class performance.
Makarchuk further said that GAC Motors has a huge focus on safety, which is why it clarifies the safety features of their vehicles and also addresses the importance of protecting drivers as well as passengers on African roads.
Also speaking, Jubril Arogundade, general manager of commercial and Group Communications for GAC Motors, said the business of the firm in Nigeria has been successful with the partnership.
He said the partnership will create disruptive sales and marketing opportunities for automobiles because Jiji and Cars45 platforms are reliable and reputable in the e-commerce space as people know Cars45 in the used car market.
“GAC Motors does its B2C business by allowing people to come to the showroom but with this partnership, more people will get to experience the beautiful features of GAC cars. It will be difficult for us to get to the target market depending only on the physical showrooms that we have across the country which is why we have decided to partner with the giant in the e-commerce market for the automobile in Nigeria which is Cars45 to provide Nigerians the opportunity to buy GAC cars,” he explained.
He said the company also launched a project called Swap, which will create a platform for people that have used GAC cars for a period of seven to five years to bring back their cars for swapping.
“The car you are bringing to swap will be evaluated by Cars45 and it will go on their platform for buyers to purchase. We are interested in making sure that every household in Nigeria has a GAC car which could either be a brand new or used car. In Nigeria, most people who want to buy used cars usually go for tokunbo which are imported into the country and had been used for 15 to 18 years abroad.
Pointing out that depending on tokunbo makes owners of new cars unable to do business because Nigerians have low purchasing, Arogundade said the partnership will create a market where new cars sold in Nigeria and the secondhand value of those cars will also be sold here to keep the money within Nigeria and grow the nation’s GDP.
“The cars sold to people as brand new today will be sold to another person as used cars in two years’ time within the same ecosystem, which is revolutionary. GAC Motors is known for quality from the design to the suspension, electronics, and safety of the vehicle to the cooling system and everything about our car is top notch and we want everyone to experience it,” he said.
Arogundade said that GAC Motors has a big assembly factory in Nigeria, where cars are assembled including Lagride cars even as he called on every user of GAC cars to take advantage of both the Swap initiative and the Cars45 partnership to exchange their used cars for new one.
“In all of the GAC Motors showrooms, we are going to be having the Cars45 people sitting with us to get your used GAC cars assessed before they will be put through the Swap process. The quality of evaluation done by Cars45 is amazing and it is what we need to take the industry forward,” he added.
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