myTukar clearly sees an opportunity despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. It points to a finding by the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) that used car sales surged by 100% in the first six months of 2020. Sales have also been buoyed by the blanket loan moratorium and other government financial incentives as well as Malaysians shifting from public transport to private car ownership. Fong Hon Sum, CEO of myTukar, sees East Malaysia as an untapped market and wants to change that fast. “Currently, only an estimated 26% of used car dealers in East Malaysia are conducting their transactions online,” he said. He also predicts that the Pan Borneo Highway mega project will be a boon for the automotive market. A relatively young company which began operations only in 2018, myTukar has since embarked on an ambitious and aggressive expansion strategy, opening seven branches last year alone. That’s probably only possible because of a generous investment of US$30 million from Carro, a Singaporean used car e-commerce platform, in 2019. myTukar’s close competitor, Carsome, did raise US$50 million from global investors in that same year, but it’s been around since 2015. With used car sales climbing, it’ll be interesting to see which of the two eventually takes the top spot. And it remains to be seen if myTukar’s aggressive expansion strategy pans out or ends up as another example of exuberant overreach. (Source: myTukar press release)
