Will selling cars become a lot less profitable than it was?
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Breakfast Business with Enterprise Ireland on Newstalk. There was a time when buying a car meant a trek down to the shiny Arthur Daly showroom nearby and feigning knowledge about what torque or ABS meant. Nowadays, we do much of our shopping for cars online and some even buy the vehicle without even setting foot in it.
What online platforms does Motion Group operate and why do they matter for car buyers?
Much of that is thanks to platforms such as Carzone or Cars Ireland, all of which are owned by the Motion Group. But in an age of improving public transport and even self-driving taxis, will selling cars become a lot less profitable than it was? Ger Toher is the chief operating officer with Motion, the parent company behind Carzone, Cars Ireland and Cartel. Good morning, Ger. Morning, Joe. What's the difference between Carzone, Cartel and Cars Ireland?
How do Carzone, CarsIreland and Cartell differ in service and purpose?
Well, Joe, Cars Own and Cars Ireland are relatively similar. They're new and used car classified platforms. 50,000, 60,000 cars for sale there all the time. Whereas Cartel is actually, it's a consumer protection service. It's a car history check. So if you're buying a car, you want to make sure you're not going to get a bad deal or get stuck with the wrong thing.
Or one that's been criticized.
Or one that's been crashed or has mileage altered, something like that. You can check it, pop your reg into Cartel and get a full history on the car.
Okay.
And how much does it cost to get that check? The standard report is just 20 euro.
How much does a Cartell vehicle history check cost and what does it include?
There is some, you can do some really detailed checks up to 40 euro, but that's, it's a very small cost, particularly if you're gambling. Well, if you're spending thousands. Absolutely. Yeah, yeah.
And do the insurance company play ball in providing enough data for you for the cartel side of things?
Not always. Unfortunately, damaged vehicle data that comes from the insurance companies, they only have to give A and B by law. A and B is a full write-off or something? A and B is a full write-off.
Why don’t insurance companies always share detailed vehicle damage data with Cartell?
Shouldn't be on the road. And they have to give that. They're compelled to give that, which is good. And that's a safety issue. With Cs and Ds, where a vehicle can be repaired, can be put back on the road, the data is a little bit sketchy. We get it from some. We don't get it from others. It's something the cartel is always lobbying to try and improve.
Why are the insurance companies so reticent to provide this?
There's commercial implications. They have a lot of cars coming in and out of their book. There's... They have to sell these vehicles on, they have to close claims, and there's commercial implications and the value by sharing that information. But as a safety issue, ideally, like it is in the UK, this information will be publicly available for every single car. And how does CarZone and CarZone, how do they monetize their websites? Well, we make our money simply by the advertiser of their cars paying subscriptions to us, private people placing their ads on our platform. They pay a monthly fee to list all their cars. We try and help them sell as many as possible, as quick as possible.
How does Carzone monetize listings and do they take a cut of car sales?
So you don't get a cut of the sale? We don't. We don't make anything out of it. So we're prioritising the users of our platforms, giving them choice, having a trusted place where they can be safe to buy and that they can kind of buy with peace of mind.
Yeah. The second hand car market in terms of prices absolutely exploded after lockdown. Why was that?
Absolutely. It's supply issues, Joe.
But they've stayed high.
They have stayed high. It kind of set. It's like anything when you change, you know, when we brought in a new currency, the euro and the prices go up and it stays there. It's hard for things. It only goes one way and it has continued to do so. And, you know. Saying that, the quality of cars has improved as well, but supply chain issues has led to the general cost of everything rising a little bit. And we've seen that across Carzone and Cars Ireland over the last couple of years. Albeit, I would say it has stabilised in the last kind of 18 months. And does your platform enable any haggling between buyers and sellers?
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:01–0:23
2
What online platforms does Motion Group operate and why do they matter for car buyers?
0:23–0:50
3
How do Carzone, CarsIreland and Cartell differ in service and purpose?
0:50–1:25
4
How much does a Cartell vehicle history check cost and what does it include?
1:25–1:56
5
Why don’t insurance companies always share detailed vehicle damage data with Cartell?
1:56–2:57
6
How does Carzone monetize listings and do they take a cut of car sales?
2:57–4:04
7
Why did second‑hand car prices spike after lockdown and have they stabilised?
4:04–6:55
8
Will cars still be needed in 20 years and how will EVs and self‑driving tech change the market?
6:55–7:16