It has taken out the Gold Stevie Award for Most Innovative Company of the Year (up to 100 employees) at the 14th annual International Business Awards.

The win followed Carzoos last week winning the Innovation and Tech Excellence award at the inaugural CXO Leaders Awards in Sydney.

AP Eagers opened its first Carzoos store in November 2016 at Westfield Garden City shopping centre in outh Brisbane. It then opened its second at Westfield North Lakes in the northern suburbs of Brisbane.

The company’s CEO, Martin Ward, said in May at the annual general meeting that the business was going through phases that were vital for new innovative products.

“Carzoos, at this stage, is an investment into the future of automotive retailing and the insights we are gaining are also assisting us to adopt our core retailing operations,” he said.

The International Business Awards, called the Stevies, are one of the world’s premier business awards programs.

All individuals and organisations are eligible to submit nominations, with more than 3900 international nominations received for the 2017 awards from more than 60 nations and across almost every major industry.

Carzoos: Dan Kemp General Manager – Innovation & Marketing and Antoinette Banwell General Manager Carzoos

Stevie Award winners were determined by the average scores of more than 200 executives worldwide who participated on 12 juries.

Carzoos head of innovation, Dan Kemp, said: “To be recognised on the world stage alongside leading edge organisations and brands is an absolute thrill and testimony to the vision and hard work by a lot of stakeholders”.

“We are extremely proud that the Stevie Award judging panel has recognised our total devotion to improving our customers’ journey,” he said.

“Carzoos is a completely customer driven mission that is more than tech driven retail stores and a seamless online experience. It is an entirely new way to buy and sell used cars that leaves customers fearless.

By Neil Dowling