COX Automotive Australia has formally completed the acquisition of DealerCell following the approval of the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB).

The sale agreement was signed in July but the completion of the transaction was subject to approval by FIRB and all closing conditions have been achieved.

DealerCell joins the Cox Automotive family of brands alongside Dealer-Auction, Dealer Solutions, Kelley Blue Book, Manheim, Sell My Car and Xtime.

DealerCell is a growing software company that develops and operates sales and customer management software products for motor dealerships, finance companies and OEMs. It also provide online sales platforms, finance solutions and lead management systems to enable dealer retail sales.

DealerCell’s main business model revolves around its online sales enablement platform for an auto finance approvals system for dealers. The loan approvals platform has been revolutionising the finance sales process in dealerships.

Dealers who subscribe to DealerCell are able to find out what car buyers can afford to purchase by getting instant online finance approvals early in the sales process.

Using the DealerCell process in the showrooms, dealers are currently able to achieve finance penetration rates of more than 60 per cent.

Cox Automotive Australia CEO Rob Whiten said: “Cox Automotive has been pursuing a strategy of digitising the wholesale and retail automotive experience, to provide our customers the tools they need to keep their businesses moving forward in rapidly changing markets.

“DealerCell will play an integral role in achieving our ambition to offer a truly connected suite of retail-focused solutions for our customers.

“Combined with the powerful collection of our existing Cox Automotive brands, our objective is to offer products and services which span the entire automotive ecosystem, improving the consumer experience whilst streamlining processes for our customers in order to generate new business and maximise their profitability.

“Especially in the current environment, with this acquisition, Cox Automotive is strengthening our focus on digitising the online consumer car buying and finance experience for the benefit of dealers, OEMs and finance companies.

“This further investment by Cox Automotive US is a clear sign of their confidence in our strategic direction and in the Australian and New Zealand markets.”

DealerCell CEO Mark Lancaster said: “It is both a proud and exciting time for DealerCell and our talented and passionate employees. In a relatively short time, we have established ourselves as a valued partner of the automotive industry with services and solutions that clearly resonate with the needs of our customers.

“While we have already achieved pleasing traction in a highly competitive industry, we are all looking forward to just how far we can take the business as part of Cox Automotive.”

“We know that we can play a pivotal role in helping our customers navigate through difficult and challenging times and as part of the connected set of Cox Automotive brands we can now have an even greater impact.

“Our aim is to help our customers evolve in keeping with the changing needs of their customers and ensure dealers, OEMs and finance companies succeed in constantly changing markets.”

By John Mellor