Daimler, through its financial services division, will become a partner and investor in used vehicle platform heycar, which was launched by Volkswagen Financial Services in October 2017.
Daimler said it would acquire its stake as part of a capital increase and, on completion, hold 20% of Mobility Trader Holding which operates the heycar platform in Germany through subsidiary Mobility Trade. Daimler Financial Services will have a seat on the advisory and – if heycar expands internationally – a seat on the advisory board of each additionally founded national company. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price. Once approved, the transaction is expected to close in fourth quarter 2018.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Daimler said: "Used vehicles are increasingly being bought and financed online. With our strategic investment in heycar, we are enabling the further expansion of a cross-brand platform for manufacturers, dealers, automotive banks and customers on which everything is available from a single source, from purchase through to financing and insurance."
heycar was founded in October 2017 as a cross brand premium used vehicle platform focused on authorised dealers which now represents 1,000 dealer groups of different brands at 3,000 locations with over 300,000 vehicles. CEO of the Berlin based startup company is Markus Kroeger who previously held management positions at major digital companies such as PayPal and Delivery Hero.
heycar is limited to used vehicles up to eight years old with maximum mileage of 150,000km. All vehicles come with a warranty from the dealer, manufacturer or insurer. There are compulsory service standards for the affiliated brand dealers, who must also satisfy defined quality criteria.
"In July 2017, we became the first manufacturer to offer an online sales platform in Germany. And, starting this year, there is also a trade-in facility for customer vehicles. As far as our dealers are concerned, the new channel means even better sales opportunities," said Carsten Oder, head of Mercedes-Benz Cars Sales Germany.
