The Webmotors Journey - Automotive Classifieds & Finance in Brazil

When carsales acquired a strategic stake in Webmotors in 2013, it was more or less a business unit within Banco Santander that was fighting it out with iCarros to be Brazil's number 1 automotive vertical classifieds website.

Santander invited carsales into Webmotors to help transform its thinking as part of the bank to that of an absolute number 1, legitimate automotive classifieds website that provides an online channel for effective consumer financing.

As we get towards the middle of the 2018 calendar year, the Webmotors business is now run as a nearly totally autonomous business and is the clear number 1 automotive vertical classifieds website in Brazil that is bringing enormous value to the Santander Financiamentos business along with the thousands of car dealers who chose Santander as their finance partner, not to mention the millions of consumers buying and selling their car on the Webmotors platform.

As I talked about in a previous post titled "What Does Brazil Know That We Don't?", the three leading automotive vertical classifieds websites in Brazil are owned by banks: Webmotors is owned by Banco Santander (70%); iCarros is owned by Banco Itau; and Meucarronovo is owned by BV Finaceira. This is unique to Brazil (and not the only thing that is unique to Brazil!).

So how do I think carsales has brought increased value to the Santander Financiamentos business? By changing the focus of the business to helping dealers and consumers to sell cars (as opposed to advertising) as the key metric rather than having finance drive the business. Finance can only come about if a car is sold so this thinking isn't revolutionary but it is a mindset change in Webmotors, in Santander Financiamentos and with the Dealers.

What has been the difference is an unwavering objective of delivering sellers value and helping them to understand, embrace and manage the value that Webmotors is bringing. This has come about in a number of different forms and there is not one thing that has put Webmotors into the position it is in today.

People - I love visiting Brazil and working with the passionate, smart people at Webmotors. The thirst for learning and achievement is there in each and every visit. We have a great team in place with a fantastic leader. We all know in business how important people are in an organisation. When you can combine passion with smart people across a business of 170 plus people being led by a great leader with a fantastic support team who are smart and engaged, I think you are on the verge of something special.

Product & Technology - Webmotors is an online business that therefore relies on Product & Technology which must be at the forefront of your competitors and peers. One of the first things we had to do in 2013 was create a Product & Technology team by hiring a CIO and to move the technology platform out of Santander. It is hard to believe now that Webmotors did not have its own Technology team some 5 years ago. Development changes would be submitted to the Santander team and prioritised against bank priorities. Being nimble or agile wasn't in the vocabulary. Today Webmotors Product & Technology is in great shape led by a couple of incredibly talented and passionate people and getting better by the day enabling us to provide enormous value to buyers, sellers and Santander.

Education - This one cannot be underestimated both internally and externally. Internally it is about educating ourselves. Everyone at Webmotors had to understand and believe in our objectives. As I say to the Webmotors team what seems like all the time, "we at carsales are not smarter than you guys, we've just lived through this stuff before". This continued education of Webmotors people of carsales thinking along with their expertise on the local Brazilian market is a formidable partnership.

Santander Financiamentos - One of the great advantages Webmotors enjoys is the support of the Santander Financiamentos business and in particular, the 1,000 odd strong people out in the field visiting and supporting dealers. The association of Webmotors and Santander and the value proposition that exists therein provides for a unique offering to car dealers and in return, both the Webmotors and Santander Financiamentos businesses. As mentioned earlier, the Webmotors focus is on helping sellers sell cars. By having over 1,000 Santander people visiting dealers living the Webmotors focus of helping sellers sell cars, an unparalleled value is created for the dealers and Webmotors.

carsales Strategic Focus - This might be a little self-indulgent but I have no doubt the role that carsales has played in where Webmotors is today. The mindset of everyone at Webmotors had to shift in order to facilitate change, this is why Santander brought carsales into the business and each time I'm there it gives me great pleasure to see that change of mindset in action and continually growing.

What has been particularly pleasing is what has been achieved in the past few years in a Brazilian economy that has been poor at best. Where other Australian companies have seen their interests in Brazil take a hit, Webmotors has bucked the trend to prove that money can be made when value is delivered. Now that the economy appears to be turning a little, we are in great shape to take advantage of it.

While we are pleased with where Webmotors is today, this is still only the start of the journey. Brazil is an exciting, unpredictable place and none more so than in the world of online automotive. Webmotors is primed, ready and willing to take it on.