Daimler is to take a 20% stake in the Heycar used car platform launched by VW Financial Services AG in October 2017.

Daimler is to become a new investor in used-vehicle platform Heycar

The stake is being acquired as part of a capital increase at Mobility Trader Holding GmbH, which operates Heycar in Germany through its subsidiary Mobility Trader GmbH. Under the deal, Daimler Financial Services will be given a seat on the advisory board of Mobility Trader GmbH. Any international expansion would also see Daimler get a seat on the advisory board of each additionally founded national company.

Heycar was set up as the start as a cross-brand premium used-vehicle platform focused on authorised dealers – it already deals with more than 1,000 dealer groups of different brands at some 3,000 locations with over 300,000 vehicles. Vehicles must be no more than eight years old with a maximum mileage of 150,000km and come with a warranty.

The carmakers said the deal, made for an undisclosed amount, would enable the further expansion of the Heycar service as a cross-brand platform for manufacturers, dealers, automotive banks and customers

Dr Christian Dahlheim, Member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Financial Services AG with responsibility for Sales and Marketing, explained: “With Heycar, we positioned ourselves from the outset as a cross-brand quality platform for used vehicles of every automotive brand. So we are delighted to welcome Daimler as a further investor in the Heycar concept. This will allow Heycar to continue on its path as a high-quality and consistently customer-focused alternative to platforms such as mobile.de and Autoscout24. We are open to further investors and believe that this underpins our claim to brand neutrality.”

The deal is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2018.