Zigwheels PH, Carmudi PH still bullish on digital automotive advertising

MANILA: As more consumers turn to online means for their purchases, automotive portals Zigwheels Philippines and Carmudi Philippines look to leverage the digital platform to serve the growing market amid a "new normal."

Given the increasing number of companies beefing up their online spend to reach wider audiences, Carbay Philippines, Inc. CEO Cholo Syquia shares his insights on how this trend has affected the automotive advertising market in the country, coming from the company’s recent acquisition by leading Indian auto tech group, CarDekho.

Under CarDekho are Zigwheels.ph and Carmudi.com.ph, two strong and distinct websites offering new and used cars. Zigwheels Philippines is skewed toward new cars, while Carmudi Philippines toward used vehicles.

Going digital

While brick-and-mortar showrooms and shops aren’t going away anytime soon, Syquia shares that people are increasingly using online platforms not just to gather information but to make purchases as well.

According to Syquia, this is something not lost on automotive brands, and it shows in how OEM (original equipment manufacturer) ad spending has long started to shift from traditional media to online.

“Less than a decade ago, automotive brands allocated less than 5% of their marketing budgets to the digital domain. Today, that figure is 30%, with some brands even going higher. All signs point to this development maintaining an upward trajectory for the foreseeable future,” he said.

 OEM revenue driver

Most revenue comes from brand-new cars or OEMs, easily contributing between 60% to 80% of business.

In addition, Syquia said that they are aware of the tremendous opportunity presented by motorcycle sales — a particularly promising revenue stream in light of its growing popularity as a mode of transportation in the Philippines.

“Carbay Philippines Inc., which operates both Carmudi Philippines and Zigwheels Philippines, is in a good position to capture advertising monies from car and motorcycle manufacturers, as we have the biggest digital audience in this space with over 10.7 million users and 17.6 million sessions as of 2019.” Syquia said.