CAV Invests in CarAdvice

Classifed Ad Ventures, through its investment company, CAV Investment Holdings Pty Ltd, has take a stake in the Australian based online automotive site, CarAdvice.com.au. In the process, Simon Baker, the CEO of Classified Ad Ventures, has joined the Board.

CarAdvice has over 450,000 unique visitors per month and has just launched a classifieds section – clearly taking on CarSales.

Here is the announcement from CarAdvice.

CARADVICE TAKES ON CARSALES

Sydney, Australia 10th November 2009 – CarAdvice.com.au – Australia’s largest editorial only automotive site has embarked on an aggressive growth strategy and has the market leader, CarSales, firmly in its sights.

Firstly, Simon Baker, internet veteran and former CEO of the REA Group (realestate.com.au) has invested in the business and joined the board. He brings to CarAdvice a wealth of knowledge and experience in building online classifieds businesses.

Secondly, CarAdvice has just released its classifieds section of the site. Private sellers and dealers are now able to advertise their used cars to CarAdvice’s 450,000 unique visitors (source Google Analytics) at half the price charged by CarSales.

Lastly, six months of editorial improvements and 20% month on month growth have been rewarded with a strong increase in traffic. According to Google Analytics, nearly 450,000 people visited CarAdvice in October. In addition, new research conducted by Nielsen shows that CarAdvice is the 3rd most visited vehicle editorial site in Australia behind Drive and CarGuide and ahead of CarSales.

CarAdvice CEO, David Holmes, said; “CarAdvice has strong momentum and 2010 should deliver strong growth for the business. Over the last 2 years we have built a large and loyal readership for our motoring editorial. We now believe we can leverage this readership into the lucrative motoring classifieds market and take on CarSales in their core revenue area.

“The value of Simon’s online classifieds experience, our continued strong readership growth, and experienced team has positioned us to do well in the online car classifieds market and to chase the car manufacturers advertising dollars.

Car Advice is also positioned to do well in markets outside of Australia as 40% of its traffic being sourced from overseas with the US being the next largest country.”

Commenting on his investment, Simon Baker said, “We invested in CarAdvice as the business has significant growth potential – both in Australia and selected overseas markets. They have already done the hard work in building a large relevant online audience and this positions them well to take on the lucrative automotive classifieds and display advertising markets. In addition they have a strong, experienced and passionate management team. I am looking forward to working closely with the team.”