The CEO shares on how far Carsome has come since its founding in 2015
Having first graced the cover of Tatler Malaysia back in 2019 and being inducted into the Gen.T list, Eric Cheng, together with his co-founder Jiun Ee Teoh have scaled Carsome to greater heights.
Having started out their journey locally in 2015, with a seed funding of US$350,000, Carsome expanded into Singapore the following year, and by 2017 already had a presence in Indonesia and Thailand as well.
And the business model developed alongside, as it grew to become a trusted source to buy and sell used cars—starting off with a relatively low figure of 1,000 cars annually to 40,000 prior to the pandemic, and having celebrated the company’s 100,000th seller back in 2020 to now having introduced the first-ever Carsome Certified Lab, which is capable of turning over 2,000 cars within a mere month!
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We catch up with Cheng, who gladly gives us a tour of the Carsome Certified Lab and fills us in on some of his proudest achievements thus far.
“Since day one, Carsome’s mission has been laser focused, as we take on a customer-first approach in all that we do in order to gain users’ confidence,” explains Cheng on how the business has been doing well. After all, it is important to build trust, especially in a business that’s predominantly dealing with used cars.
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Furthermore, Carsome seemed to have been pandemic-proof, as the effects of Covid-19 increased the number of cars being traded within the market. One of the reasons is that there was a paradigm shift, with more people wanting their own vehicles, in order to not only physically distance themselves from others, but to also ensure the cleanliness of their surroundings. But of course, there were others too, who sadly were forced to sell their vehicles in order to cut costs or fund their livelihoods—which Carsome also provided an avenue for, as it offered a lifeline to some sellers by providing instant cash, should someone need to sell their car right away.
“We have been growing from strength to strength, and continue to have a strong foothold within the Southeast Asian market. In fact, we are larger than the top 10 dealers within the region combined. The pandemic also contributed to the rise in our business as it promoted a shift in user behaviour towards more personal modes of transportation while the increased digital presence, which was accelerated by the pandemic, sees online consumption continuing to be a major growth driver for Carsome,” expounded Cheng on how the platform grew in popularity and utility during the pandemic.
