Carsome acquires digital automotive content brands WapCar, AutoFun

CAR e-commerce platform Carsome on Thursday (May 5) announced it will fully acquire digital business WapCar AutoFun, which owns automotive websites under the WapCar and AutoFun brands in South-east Asia, from Tang Internet and its subsidiaries for an undisclosed sum.

Upon the acquisition’s completion, WapCar AutoFun will be established as a fully-owned subsidiary of Carsome group in Malaysia.

WapCar AutoFun established both brands in 2019, operating automotive content websites across Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam. As of the fourth quarter of 2021, WapCar AutoFun’s platforms had over 6 million average monthly active users.

Carsome co-founder and group chief executive officer Eric Cheng said that the partnership will enable Carsome to capture and serve customers from the early stage of car exploration and bring a “more engaging and fun experience” to the car transaction and ownership journey.

“We believe our collaboration through content, technology and data will augment our ability to bring trust, transparency and choice to customers together,” he added.

This comes after Carsome in March appointed a new head of mergers and acquisitions and eco-system strategy, as well as announced it will be acquiring a 51 per cent stake in Singapore-based used-car dealer CarTimes Group.