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EVERY car dealer in Australia now has the option of getting income from its vehicle stock through an innovative subscription service launched by Australian businesses Carly and I-Motor.

I-Motor manages more than 700 dealer websites which display over 50,000 vehicles and attract over 15 million page impressions a month. 

I-Motor will offer the ‘Car Subscription Solution’ to each of these dealers and Carly and I-Motor will jointly promote this product to existing Carly dealers and all other automotive dealers in Australia.  

Carly is part of Australian publicly listed company Collaborate Ltd and I-Motor is an independent consultancy business based in Melbourne.

The Car Subscription Solution proposed by Carly and I-Motor will let dealers introduce a new revenue stream and allow customers to view cars already on the dealership website, said Collaborate chief executive Chris Noone.

He said the fact the vehicles are already on the website means no additional marketing expenditure and the ability for the customer to complete the subscription process entirely online makes the process quick and easy.

“This deal with I-Motor represents a major step forward for Carly and car subscription in Australia, in terms of volume of cars, customer reach and simplicity,” Mr Noone said.

“For the first time, we are exposing a large supply of cars to customers who can subscribe online. 

“Dealers now have a powerful new way of generating revenue from customers who may not be prepared to make a long-term financial commitment to a vehicle right now and otherwise may be lost.”

I-Motor managing director Tony Malby-Luke said the subscription model fills in the gap between an Uber relationship that is “minute by minute”, Hertz which is “one day to a week” and buying a vehicle outright.

“Carly saw this gap as creating a ‘Netflix for cars’ where you can change the channel – or the car – as often as you want to based on repayments,” he said.

Chris Noone

“So while it helps the customer get the car they need at any particular time, it also gives the dealers an instantaneous income.

“Subscription provides dealers with a new revenue stream for cars and enables new customers to be secured in this challenging sales environment without heavy retail discounting.

“It also helps dealers with slow-moving stock that may have attracted lower financial returns.

“Although the vehicles in the subscription service by the dealer will depreciate, it is more than offset by the income generated by the service.

“It won’t take long for people to be talking about this option where you can change your vehicle based on your budget as often as you like.”

Mr Noone said that digital marketing was “an area of great focus for automotive dealers, despite the challenges of converting web traffic into foot traffic in the dealership and eventually into the sale of a vehicle”.

Carly team

“The Car Subscription Solution solves each of these challenges by enabling the customer to complete the subscription process entirely online and offering a lower commitment alternative to an outright purchase of a vehicle, a loan or a long-term lease,” he said.

Under the program, Carly accesses dealer-owned vehicles and offers them with a subscription service to customers. 

Carly is not new to the game and is Australia’s first flexible monthly car subscription business that allows customers to switch the car to suit lifestyle changes.

It states that the service gives customers a choice of multiple brands and varying types of vehicles, from economy to luxury, hatchback to SUV. 

The subscription service does not have upfront fees or long-term lock-in contracts. Vehicles come with registration, servicing and maintenance included and customers can start, change or stop the subscription at any time. 

I-Motor is an automotive consultancy business that aids OEMs and dealer networks in solving problems with the digital medium. It has offices in Melbourne and Sydney and satellite operations in other centres including Perth.

The company said its primary focus is customer service and claims an average of more than 93.7 per cent customer satisfaction over the past six months.

By Neil Dowling

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