OLX invests $89m in CarFirst to combine network for auto sales

Both companies will provide users offline and online auto experience

LAHORE: OLX has announced an investment of $89 million in CarFirst, an ancillary of Berlin-based start-up Frontier Car Group, in a bid to utilise each other’s platform to gain an added advantage in the respective secondhand auto markets.

The global deal was signed about a week ago, but in Pakistan both companies announced the investment on Wednesday, though they did not give any exact investment figure that Pakistan’s secondhand car market would get out of the deal.

OLX has its presence in 40 countries and is an online classified platform whereas CarFirst is a relatively new, offline platform, having presence in only six countries.



“Both companies will work together to provide our users a comprehensive offline and online auto experience in the sector,” said OLX Pakistan Chief Executive Officer Bilal Bajwa at a press conference.

The combination of OLX’s online auto inventory and CarFirst’s car trading services is expected to provide buyers, sellers and dealers with industry-leading products and services.

“Car sellers will be able to sell their cars through either the OLX’s classified platform or at CarFirst’s purchase centres. This will bring the world of online car trading together with an on-ground network of value-added car services,” said a statement issued on Thursday.



“This new investment comes at the perfect time for us to expand operations,” said CarFirst CEO and Co-Founder Raja Murad Khan.

He said in coming years, both companies would integrate their services to provide users top-of-the-line experience in selling and buying used cars, including many new products and services that had never been offered before in Pakistan.