PODCAST | Price-conscious car buyers drive up online use

Buying and selling trends in SA’s used car market is the focus in this edition of Business Day Spotlight. Host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Mark Ridgway, chief technical director at getWorth. 

GetWorth is a used car platform, buying and selling vehicles in the Western Cape. 

In a sector that carries competition from players such as WeBuyCars, AutoTrader SA and others, the company has moved to differentiate itself by offering an online tool that allows consumers to compare and rank the value of different cars, while giving price indications based on a factors. 

The company is looking to entice vehicle buyers to use its platform by appealing to price conscious South Africans.

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Ridgway says weighing up value in the used car market can be difficult. Even if a car shopper has a clear idea of which model they want to buy, the different prices, ages and mileages in the market makes comparison a daunting task for buyers. 

His team has created a platform that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced pricing algorithms to analyse millions of market prices over time and rank different cars accordingly.

The vehicle market expert also outlines the rationale for building such a platform; evolution of the used car market following the Covid-19 pandemic; buying patterns among consumers; the rise in consumers buying cars that they have not test driven; and an outlook for the sector in the future. 

Business Day Spotlight is a TimesLIVE Production.