Volvo invests in carwow

The Swedish subsidiary of the Chinese Geely Group, Volvo Cars, has announced an investment of an unspecified amount in the online marketplace carwow, which specializes in buying and selling vehicles. The minority stake is made through the in-house Volvo Cars Tech Fund. Through this investment, the company hopes to gain valuable insights into online sales, customer acquisition, and content creation, supporting the shift towards more direct customer and online relationships. Within a few years, carwow has developed into one of the leading European platforms. In Germany, the UK, and Spain, the portal, which employs more than 400 people across Europe, is one of the market leaders when it comes to new car purchases. Users can also sell their used cars online through carwow. The company, based in London, which started as a review portal, also operates a car channel on YouTube with over six million subscribers, and growing, argue the Swedes for the investment.

Information on digital purchasing behavior

The equity investment is the next step in the existing partnership between Volvo Cars and carwow. Both companies intend to cooperate on the subscription service and increase online traffic and sales figures for the premium automotive brand and its trading partners.

"Third-party marketplaces play an important role in every industry – also for Volvo Cars. We were one of the first car manufacturers to open up to online sales. Through the strategic partnership, we gain insights into online purchasing behavior and continue to learn from it," believes Lex Kerssemakers, Chief Commercial Officer at Volvo Cars.

The collaboration will help increase sales and achieve our goal of selling around half of the volume online by 2025, says Kerssemakers. The increasing online sales result, according to the Swedes, from changing customer behavior and industry trends. From 2030, the brand wants to offer only pure electric cars and become a leading global company in the rapidly growing premium electric car segment with millions of direct customer relationships, according to the vision. In addition to a comprehensive online presence, a simple ordering process for models and services, transparent prices and product information, as well as clear delivery times are required for this.

"Volvo Cars and carwow share the same ambitions: to make buying a car online as easy as possible and to facilitate the switch to electric cars for customers. Our investment in carwow is a good example of how the Volvo Cars Tech Fund supports the company's overall strategic direction," says Alexander Petrofski, Head of the Volvo Cars Tech Fund.