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CAR Group Limited
CAR Group runs the big online marketplaces where people buy and sell used cars, and makes most of its money by charging car dealers to list their vehicles.
CAR Group owns the websites where a lot of the world goes to shop for a used car. In Australia, that's carsales.com.au, the place most people start when they're hunting for a secondhand vehicle. It also owns big auto marketplaces overseas, including Webmotors in Brazil, Encar in South Korea, and Chileautos in Chile, plus a majority stake in Trader Interactive, which runs niche vehicle and equipment marketplaces in the United States. It even owns a chunk of a business that provides the software car dealers use to run their lots.
Here's the simple engine underneath all of it: car dealers need buyers, and buyers go where the cars are. CAR Group sits in the middle and charges dealers to list their inventory and to stand out with featured ads. Because buyers keep coming back to the same familiar site, dealers have little choice but to pay to be there. That two-sided pull is why the business is so profitable — it's a bit like owning the town's only noticeboard where everyone posts cars for sale. The company used to be called carsales.com.au, which tells you how it started: a single Australian website. Over time it bought its way into new countries and new kinds of listings, expanding well beyond cars into things like trucks, farm equipment, boats, and motorcycles. That push overseas matters because Australia is a small, mature market — growth has to come from somewhere else. The car marketplaces are also somewhat protected from economic ups and downs, since people buy used cars in good times and bad, though a weak car market or a dealer squeeze can still sting.
CAR Group is a cash machine. The marketplace model costs relatively little to run once the site is built, so a fat share of revenue turns into free cash. The company uses that money to pay dividends, buy back shares, and fund acquisitions. The main risks are competition from other listing sites, the health of the used-car trade, and the fact that it now depends on several foreign markets where currencies and local conditions can swing results.
Saved answer · last researched 3 Nov 2026