The price of used pickup trucks has jumped 22%. Photo credit: Shutterstock US-based automotive portal CarGurus.com has just revealed the price of used pickup trucks has increased 22% in just four years. This is an alarming increase when compared to the 1% increase in CarGurus Used Price Index over the same period. The study also compared 3- and 5-year price retention among the top 50 most shopped vehicle models and found the average retained value for pickups was higher than for other body styles studied. Pickup trucks showed an average 18% drop in value from manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP)

e-Commerce giant shows support. Photo credit: Shutterstock Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group has agreed to support the expansion and promotion of Thailand small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The support was finalised with a letter of intent and also calls for Alibaba's assistance in developing Thailand's digital human resources and logistics systems and invites the Chinese firm to invest in Thailand's ambitious Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC). The area is considered a high-tech industry cluster, with an eye towards becoming Asean's leading economic zone for industrial, infrastructure and urban development. Alibaba Group owns several successful automotive websites such as Taobao, so it's no

Droom technologies posts a loss for FY16. Photo credit: Shutterstock India-based Droom Technologies, the e-commerce portal for sale of pre-owned and new cars, reported a higher net loss of R3.7 crore ($747,400AUD) during FY16 compared to R2.2 crore ($444,400AUD) in the previous year, Sandeep Aggarwal, founder and CEO of Droom told Financial Express. This financial year the portal has been experimenting with monetisation opportunities from its fintech business with insurance, loans and warranty. For the current fiscal (FY17) the company is expected to earn R65-70 crore in revenue but its losses are set to increase by 50% to R5.5 crore due

                               World's first car vending machine. Photo credit: businesswire.com US-based automotive portal Carvana.com has taken online car sales to the next level by launching a used car vending machine in Houston, Texas. The eight story structure houses 30 vehicles. Customers will have already picked out and ordered their car online from Carvana and scheduled an appointment to pick it up. Then they'll collect an oversize token to insert into a coin slot, activating the gears and lifts that bring the vehicle down to one of four delivery

Encuentra24.com offers property across Central America The online Malaysian classifieds business Frontier Digital Ventures has increased its stake in the Central American property portal  Encuentra24.com. FDV, which partners with entrepreneurs and online businesses within the property and automotive online vertical classifieds space, has upped its stake in Encuentras24 from 34.9% to 38.7%. This follows the increase of their 39% stake in Morocco's number one online automotive portal Moteur.ma in September. The Panama-based property portal advertises apartments, lots and commercial property listings in the high growth Central American markets of Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Honduras. The cash injection from FDV will provide E24 with

Denmark gets 100% online sales service for new VW model. Photo credit: Shutterstock European manufacturer Volkswagen is trialing a 100% online car sale process for its new model Up. Denmark was chosen for the program because of its citizens' penchant for online shopping, according to a VW press release. Customers can order their cars via Volkswagen's Danish website, and make payments with a credit card or smartphone-payment service. Going through multiple models and variations can make buying a car online a tedious process. But VW’s trial will be simple and easy as consumers can only choose an Up with two different

eBay expects its busiest Christmas period ever. Photo credit: Shutterstock Classified’s giant eBay.com claims Monday December 12 will be there strongest online sales date on record for Australia. The online shopping site predicts that more than 2.7 million people will visit eBay.com.au with 1.7 million of those users expected to visit using mobile device – an increase of 11% over the previous year. eBay says the number of live listings will jump 64% to 113 million, with the company’s Click and Collect service also expected to jump 51% over 2015. During the peak hour periods of between 8pm and 9pm

CarTrade.com focuses on finance and possible IPO. Photo credit: Shutterstock India-based automotive portal CarTrade.com has launched certification, valuation and transfer (of ownership) services to fill the gap in the used car financing space. Founder and CEO Vinay Sanghi argued that while the market for used car finance in India is estimated to be around Rs 1.2 lakh crore, only about 8% cent of the used cars sold are financed by an organised financier. This is because the financier needs data on the value of the vehicles, its condition, certification, name transfer, etc and there are few services available to assist in this process.

           Female only ride sharing app to launch in QLD. Photo credit: Shutterstock Shebah, a ride sharing app that only accepts female drivers and customers will be available in Queensland from February 2017. More than 245 drivers have already signed up to be drivers in their new location. Founder and company director Georgina McEncroe says she came up with the idea after noticing how intimidated female Uber drivers can when picking up male passengers. "I had seen another woman about my age who decided to drive, she was pulled up outside a pub and three boozed

New auto sales platform helps dealers fight back. Photo credit: Shutterstock Prodigy, a new automotive start-up that aims to be dealer’s answer to car buying changes has just launched in the United States. The company, based in Silicon Valley, says it provides dealerships with “a chance to fight back and adapt to rapidly changing car-buying habits". According to their news release, this is in response to an atmosphere of tighter regulation, online vehicles sales platforms and changed behavior in car buying. According to co-founders Michia Rohrssen and Marty Hu, Prodigy boasts six key features: Predictive inventory filters designed to narrow