Croatia Gets a Globally Unique Platform for the Sale, Purchase and Maintenance of Cars

Neostar.com is a new, one-of-a-kind platform for the sale, purchase and maintenance of vehicles that introduces innovation on a global scale. Any person or business can advertise and sell used vehicles on the platform completely free of charge, while buyers get a transparent insight into a vehicle’s condition, thanks to Neostar’s 60-key-point inspection, as well as purchase security because all vehicles bear the manufacturer’s or Neostar’s warranty. The platform likewise provides online vehicle servicing arrangement, with transparent pricing and reliable service quality.

What sets the platform apart from all common methods of selling and purchasing used vehicles is the simplicity of the process, as well as the comparability, reliability, and transparency of the available information, and security for all its users. The seller registers to the platform by entering some basic data about the vehicle, and the rest of the information is entered by the inspectors after they have examined the vehicle through 60 key points, photographed it and made a 360-degree recording. This inspection is usually done as early as 24 hours after the seller had entered the vehicle for sale. Moreover, all vehicles advertised for sale through the platform bear either the manufacturer’s or Neostar’s warranty.

With such approach, Neostar can address the biggest challenges and issues in the trade of used vehicles that have been identified in a 2019 survey by the Innovation Institute on more than 1,100 respondents. More than 50 percent of those surveyed found the biggest challenges and issues accompanying the purchase of used vehicles to be unreliable information or poor vehicle-related information quality. On the other hand, the survey has shown that trust and transaction risk rate high on the list of concerns when purchasing used vehicles. That is why Neostar.com has put a strong emphasis on absolute transparency and uniformity of all key vehicle data, expert inspection, and warranty issuing.

All services are completely free of charge for the sellers, while the information reliability and transparency, as well as the warranty, provide the security that any used car buyer desires. It is possible to carry out the entire purchase, including payment, online; however, one can also inspect the car in person before making the final decision.

This is a multichannel platform, which makes it unique on a global scale, seeing as, in addition to the said used vehicle sale or purchase, the platform provides an overview of the available repair shops on a map, as well as choosing and scheduling appointments for vehicle servicing, with transparent pricing and service reliability. Any user, who registers their vehicle, will be notified by the platform when it is time for the regular vehicle maintenance, e.g. annual servicing, or tire replacement. In addition to the already mentioned services, Neostar is planning to enable securing loan agreements online to purchase vehicles as well as obtaining insurance online via its platform.

The company behind the platform is Croatian startup Neostar, by year-end the investments in the platform’s development will exceed HRK 35 million. Neostar’s long-term goal is to attract new investors and investments to enable the platform’s further development and expansion to other markets.

“Globally speaking, the automotive industry as a whole, car trade included, is not among the leaders in the digital transformation. In fact, we can argue that it is lagging behind in this particular area. Based on our experience with online sale of both new and used vehicles so far, we have noticed that there is room for consolidating and digitalizing services related to the trade and maintenance of used vehicles, not just locally, but globally as well. That is why we launched the startup Neostar, which is based here in Croatia but has global ambitions. For us, launching this platform on the Croatian market is just the first step that will eventually lead to our expansion to other markets, seeing as such a multichannel platform, which comprises the entire used vehicle ecosystem, does not exist in any other market. In terms of the innovation that we have brought to this particular segment of the market and industry, we can say that we are a used vehicle AirBnb of sorts. We are confident that the Neostar platform can change the way used vehicles are purchased, sold and maintained on the European market,“ said Dimitrije Trbović, President of the Management Board at Neostar.

An interdisciplinary team of local and international experts has worked on the platform’s development for three years. Neostar launched the research and conceptual development of the new platform in 2018, and a year later, in 2019, the company started the IT development with a team of around 30 experts of different profiles. Span is Neostar’s external partner in development.

Besides the basic IT solution, developed specifically for this platform, the platform also comprises the world’s top ready-made customer support solutions by Zendesk, as well as the ORACLE CX cloud solution for digital marketing, whose implementation was carried out by a number of international experts as well. Furthermore, the platform’s top tech solution includes the Azure system, guaranteeing sustainability and long-term reliability of all the activities that will be carried out via the Neostar.com platform, including all forms and types of payment.