Carma: Skipping the Headache of Buying and Selling Used Vehicles

Sadra Abedinzadeh and Capital Auto Group, one of the large automotive dealerships in Canada, are creating a used vehicle marketplace for private buyers and sellers without a need for inventory. Abedinzadeh shares, “There are about 20 million vehicles annually sold in Canada and ten times that in the United States. We want to change the way that people buy used vehicles so that they enjoy the experience.”

The team plans to launch an entire suite of tools for selling used vehicles, including an online marketplace. The marketplace will have a Carma representative handle the transaction between car buyers and sellers to ensure a smooth process for both parties.

As they are developing the ambitious platform (due to be released in 2020), the team are successfully releasing stand-alone products like Trade Gauge. Trade Gauge can be added to a dealership website so that people can see how much their used vehicle is worth.

“We have dealerships from coast-to-coast using Trade Gauge. Over the last two years, there have been over 60,000 appraisals using our tool,” shares Abedinzadeh. “Dealerships get a lot of leads from many different sources and the average conversion rate is seven to ten percent. The leads that are generated using Trade Gauge are converting around eighteen percent.”

Abedinzadeh continues, “Most dealerships are focused on the sell side of the dealership business. They do a lot to sell the cars but half of their business is buying cars from people. That’s where we came in and made it possible to tackle that segment, as well.”

Carma has also launched a Sale Management tool for automotive dealerships called the Sales Board. The technology allows dealerships to live-track targets and goals by digitally connecting the sales, financial, and management teams.

As the team creates a suite of tools for auto dealerships from their home-base in Regina, they are strong believers in the Saskatchewan Advantage. “It’s the people. Once you find someone to work with your team, they are going to be with you long-term compared to other places. Here, you choose a company to work with and you are with them for the long haul.”

Founders: Sadra Abedinzadeh, Capital Auto Group

Incorporation Date: December 2016

Employees: 3

Website: https://drivecarma.ca/