ABHISHEK MOHAN
Managing Director
CARMUDI PHILIPPINES
Abhishek Mohan, the new managing director of Carmudi in the country, is no stranger to the Philippines.
He earned his MBA at the Asian Institute of Management 10 years ago and found work in the country that wherever he is assigned abroad this Indian executive would now refer the Philippines as home.
Appointed only in December this year to head the country’s largest online car classified company, Mohan is in for a deeper affair with the Philippines and the Filipinos.
THE COMPANY
Carmudi is an exciting and new kind of online car classifieds that allows you to sell or buy your car, motorcycle or commercial vehicle in the fastest possible way. Carmudi has rapidly scaled to 20 countries across Asia, Africa, Middle East, and Latin America employing over 500 people and counting.
With other online car platforms, consumers usually search based on two things: car brand and price range. But Carmudi offers much more than that by enabling users to browse for cars based on their lifestyle preferences using our sophisticated search filters. From its transparent and trusted listings, to price negotiation options with sellers, to prompt notifications via e-mail and SMS, the platform serves as a 24/7 salesman that ensures the best communication between buyers and sellers.
Carmudi is 100-percent free for private people posting their vehicles online. But it charges listing fees to commercial car dealers for providing an unbeatable service.
Carmudi generates between 25,000 to 35,000 leads per month. This is just scratching the surface because the motorization stage in the country is just starting.
Consumers no longer have to worry about randomly picking dealers, as Carmudi has ensured that the dealers are trustworthy. The ease, speed, and convenience is what makes Carmudi stands out from buying car the old fashion way. Users can browse various showrooms in a few minutes where doing that physically would take days.
SECURITY
Mohan has inherited an organization that has long been established in this country.
“I walked into the top online classified company. It is not something that I inherited something that I need to fix. Carmudi has a strategic position and is well in place,” says Mohan.
As he is fortunate enough to hit the ground running, Mohan has lined up activities that will focus on improving its quality assurance (QA) procedures to ensure both buyers and sellers have enough protection and the Carmudi site provides the most reliable information.
“We will be largely moving into more and more activities that will bring buyers and sellers closer and make sure our site has the most reliable information when it comes to cars on sale online,” says Mohan, who once worked with IPVG as vice-president for strategy.
Incubation and start-up investments. He also work with e-games operations and other technology firms.
A dedicated Carmudi Account Manager visits the dealer’s showroom, collects data on the vehicles, takes high quality pictures of their vehicles, and uploads them onto Carmudi.
What Mohan will be concentrating on is to continue and enhance what his predecessor Subir Lohani, who was assigned a bigger market in Indonesia.
Mohan has emphasized a strong QA every time a motor vehicle goes on display on its portal.
Carmudi takes great measures in protecting our users. “We place a high priority on quality and trustworthy listings. For each car dealer, a dedicated account manager verifies each and every car through personal visits. We then have a quality control department which verifies all the technical details and contact information of the seller before a vehicle is advertised online. Carmudi values strong customer relationships, which can only be established through trust,” he says.
“The QA team will scrutinize the picture, specifications and features of the vehicle,” says Mohan. While most of the probing and information are taken from the side of the seller, Carmudi has a QA system that can sanitize the information given.
Mohan acknowledges that scams are everywhere. If the car price is too low, that should trigger some more background check on the car.
“We discourage people from paying deposit until they have inspected the car physically at the dealer’s site,” says Mohan.
There is no physical check though, but Carmudi experts will have to check on the information provided, specifications and features of the car. It will also scrutinize the picture of the car given.
“We always advise clients not to transact online and make sure they see the car physically,” says Mohan.
“We don’t do the physical checks at present, just make sure that the information provided is correct,” he adds.
But Carmudi is not leaving any stone unturned on its focus to quality and security of its listing. It is moving up its security procedures to a higher level by conducting physical checks of the car. This means they will be hiring more people to do this. Carmudi employs 63 people now.
“We will be rolling out new initiatives in the next weeks to include physical checks,” he adds.
In the screening of cars for display, Carmudi has to ensure it has a clean and able buyers and sellers. This is one way to facilitate easier and quicker transaction between buyer and seller.
He emphasized that its quality service is defined by the quality of information they gather about the automobiles they carry.
“So we have stringent rules and processes,” he says. Carmudi is now number one in Metro Manila in automobile traffic for car buyers and sellers but Mohan said they are equally committed to serve the provincial areas like Iloilo, Bacolod and Davao.
LISTING
With robust growth in car sales, Carmudi has become more active in the new car business. This means they have to work on new information and compare it with its research especially in pricing.
“We have to work with car dealers and OEMs from all brands,” he says. There are now at least 27,000 listings on its website but which is expected to grow by 75 percent this year. Now, Mohan will focus more on brand new cars because this sector has good value proposition.
Doing business with the brand new car is also unique because just one model listing can sell 10 times more but the listing of one used car is just a single sell.
For used cars, Carmudi has a team of collectors that go also into dealerships car exchanges. Carmudi generates 25,000 to 35,000 leads per month. Sales of used cars may be difficult to track, but Carmudi refreshes the listing every two weeks.
Carmudi generates its income from listing fees, which they charge on a monthly basis. The company, however, is moving into insurance and financing as the way forward.
“The potential for car ownership in this country is high because the motorization level is low,” he says. The growing middle class in the Philippines has enabled more people to buy cars.
“The motorization rate is going to pick up and we have young population so this is a great time,” Mohan added.
GROWTH
Carmudi has grown tremendously. 2014 was a stellar year for Carmudi and an equally great 2015.
“Carmudi will continue to bring the best user experience to our customers when it comes to motorcycles, cars and commercial vehicles,” he reiterates.
According to Mohan, this unique online classified business could take 4 to 5 years to become profitable so they are now focusing more on growth rather than profitability. Carmudi was founded only in 2013 in Germany under the Rocket Internet Group.
“We are number one in this country now, which is still far from its potential,” he adds. The market continues to post double-digit growth and there are lots of new car segments.
“We have yet to reach that growth potential,” says Mohan. To take advantage of that growth potential, Mohan has started some initiatives in Cebu by putting up billboards and a few events. They have five people in Cebu. An office in Davao will open in the second quarter this year.
“Growth has been exponential because of the strong growth in the Internet, smartphones and motorization momentum in the country are perfect formula for first time car buyers,” he adds noting that majority of its clients are first time car buyers. He sees the age bracket 24 to 38 years of age as drivers of growth in the automobile sector.
But more than the upbeat economy, Carmudi’s growth is based on the fact that its clients both sellers and buyers trust them because they ensure their products or listings go through strict security procedures.
OFFLINE
Being an online classifieds company, the current focus of Carmudi is of course online, which accounts for 70 percent of its resources. But since the company is just starting and needs to build up its presence and image, Mohan says it is important for them to balance its attention to both online and offline.
“You can adapt online advertising but offline presence is still very important,” says Mohan. As such, they would still advertise in the newspapers and put up some billboards.
Thus, aside from its Cebu office, Carmudi will have to set up its first actual office in Davao by the second quarter this year.
“Offline is the new online,” he says adding that being an information layer they need to connect with dealers and that is driven by offline activities. Once the provincial offices are set up, there will be additional manpower needed to boost collections, tagging, and to maintain relations with industry players.
STAND ALONE
With his work experiences and stay in the Philippines, Mohan offers a first hand account of how this country has advanced over the years.
The economy has expanded as a one single market. In the past, it used to be lumped along with Vietnam and Indonesia.
“Now it is on its own, a stand alone upwardly very mobile market,” says the 34-year-old Mohan.
“I am quite excited of what is to come. I’ve seen the banking sector and the automobiles market expanding and Filipinos can now afford consumer electronics and more,” adds Mohan, who finished his undergraduate in a British boarding school in India.
With Carmudi, he would be able to once again make use of his analytical mind.
The company itself is very analytical and this the same strategy he would like to implant to his team.
True, while everybody is complaining and cursing the traffic, Mohan says the traffic is telling everyone that something has gone wrong.
“The traffic is a symptom of an underlying illness, which is the issue of the lack of infrastructure for public transportation,” he adds noting that other countries with higher car ratio per capita than the Philippines have better traffic situation.
“The many cars on the road is not the issue but the roads are,” says Mohan. He considers the current traffic woes in Manila as a classic case of a developing economy. It is a proof of growth outpacing infrastructure development.
“If there are economic opportunities outside of the city, people will stay where they are and that will take pressure on infrastructure away from the city,” says Mohan.
“The worsening traffic situation is not a result of increased car ownerships but the lack of economic opportunities in the regions which force people to move into the city,” he adds.
YOUNG
The young Indian executive maybe younger than most CEOs but said that at Rocket Internet group he can be considered senior. This means the online business is really driven by the young people. That makes this industry so refreshing.
“You’ll never know what life hands you,” he says. It just so happened that the Carmudi offer was a perfect fit for Mohan.
Mohan, who has been living in the country for the past 11 years, is spending his most productive years here. He has quietly settled and comfortable here. He does not worry about the upcoming elections. He is confident the country’s economy will continue to grow whoever among the aspirants for the top post of the land will sit in Malacañang.
“The formula is already in place for the growth of the young population. The Philippines is already in that stage,” says Mohan.
“In Carmudi, no matter how hard you work, what work you’re doing, we measure pretty closely the output,” he says. That’s why he does not concern about hours being spent in the office as long as you deliver.
Even if Carmudi is just new in the country, it has already initiated some meaningful engagement with the community with its scholarship program, which they intend to double the number of scholars this year. It is also involved with the World Vision as they are active in its advocacy for road safety. He noted of the 12,000 road accidents in the country and growing.
“We are working with original equipment manufacturers to implement safe travel measures,” he says.
NON-NEGOTIABLE
While he may be a nice guy to be with, Mohan has put more importance on integrity and loyalty in the workplace saying these two are non-negotiable for the leader who is more of a mentor and a teacher.
According to Mohan, integrity and loyalty evolve in the workplaces.
“Employees must have passion for their work and the workplace must also translate this into loyalty and into the formation of a discipline. If there is discipline at work, there will be no corruption because that is disloyalty to your job,” says Mohan whose rule is never to allow emotions to play in decision making.
One way to keep good people is to pay above market rates to its existing 63 staff.
“I love it here. This is home now,” says Mohan adding that even when he is assigned abroad he would always refer the Philippines as home and India for vacation. Mohan has declined job offers from the banking and manufacturing companies in India as he prefers working in the technology area and he found a fulfillment in that dreams in the Philippines.
Mohan has even become a defender of the Filipinos as he debunked an impression on the efficiency issue of Filipino workers. He said efficiency issue sometimes crop up because of the mistake of giving the right people with the wrong job.
“If someone has no inclination with numbers that will not work for him so we have to put strong systems in place to enable him to perform better,” says Mohan.
“I just like it here where everybody is nice and my best friends are here. I have a girlfriend here and am very comfortable and more relaxed,” says Mohan, who has been around the country more than the ordinary Filipinos. He rated Sagada as the nicest place among the spots he’d been to in the country.
“I am quite settled here and I’ve been to Bohol several times,” he adds.
While Mohan is settled comfortably here, he does have a big responsibility ahead — making car shopping experience a whole lot easier for its users. With someone who knows the local market at the helm, Carmudi is in for a smooth sailing.