MotorWeb - from start-up to success

MotorWeb has been a mainstay and integral part of the automotive industry for many years by packaging and selling vehicle information and reports to finance companies, insurers, dealers and the public. Trade Me last month announced it was paying $19.5 million for the one-stop shop and describes the acquisition as a “good strategic fit” because of MotorWeb’s reputation and expertise in data – and that will bring added value to the website company and its customers. And Chris Knight, managing director of MotorWeb, says: “It’s another exciting chapter in the life of MotorWeb and we’re looking forward to seeing it continue to grow as part of a great Kiwi company.” You can read our previous online article by clicking here – while an interview with Trade Me CEO Jon Macdonald appears in the first Autofile issue of 2014. With all this in mind, Autofile Online delves through some of the vehicle information authority’s online archives for this edited selection of news – kicking off after MotorWeb was founded by chief executive officer Patrick Costigan in 1997 and when it started trading in 2000. May 22, 2001: Firm gives trade online registrations Car licensing and registration will soon be available online to the vehicle trade. OnTap Information Ltd is to extend the MotorWeb Vehicle Information Report (VIR) system it launched two weeks ago, which checks the condition and ownership of vehicles. It’s aimed at the consumer, while online registering and licensing is to be trade only. Founder Pat Costigan says instead of leaving offices to complete licensing and registration paperwork, mechanics and traders will be able to do it online and the data should integrate with back-office systems. Developing the VIR took more than nine years and more than $1m. Getting government approval for the information took a number of years. Registration starts in a few weeks followed by vehicle licensing and re-licensing in June, with online securities and road-user certificates in a few months. “We’re bringing the motor vehicle industry the same level of information the travel industry has enjoyed for a number of years,” says Costigan. The VIR system for the public can highlight legal or ownership problems with vehicles. Already used by dealers, and at auctions and car fairs, the service can reveal vehicles with money owed, if they are stolen or of interest to police, have suspicious odometer readings, or trigger one of 44 other alerts. The service costs $25. May 22, 2001: On Tap seeks capital for growth A lack of $200,000 venture capital could cost OnTap Information “tens of millions” in lost exports. Costigan says an Asian country has approached the firm about automating its vehicle registration system, but his company cannot raise the capital and needs “a couple of hundred thousand”. Government agencies have given some small grants but nothing exists to help OnTap now. Venture capitalists say the product is at too early a stage of development. It has tried to find angel investors, receiving some help from The Warehouse’s Stephen Tindall. Costigan says: “The project will disappear because there’s no capital. It’s potentially worth many tens of millions but it’s the old story of Kiwis missing out.” May 1, 2002: MVSR / PPSR – are you covered? The government’s new Personal Property Securities Act (PPSA) may complicate your business because all new securities for vehicles must be registered on the PPSR, not the MVSR. For the next six months, dealers must search both databases when checking vehicles. Searches must also include current and past plates to ensure the vehicle isn’t encumbered. This will involve extra time, effort and frustration as you visit multiple websites, or make several phone calls and collect numerous bits of paper. The good news is the VIR has been developed to do all this. In less than 60 seconds, you get a document that gives you the full story on any vehicle for one flat fee. June 25, 2002: More car services to go online OnTap Information is ready to expand to include online change of ownership and registration. The aim is to give yards, auction companies and other outlets the ability to change registry details for cars they sell and offer it as a service to the public. Costigan says OnTap is web-enabling the service so it could be used by anyone, but the public will not be allowed to use it directly. The service will be particularly useful in rural areas where the nearest post office is further away than the local car yard. April 14, 2003: MotorWeb wins e-business of the year MotorWeb won the Computerworld e-Business of the Year Award against major competition with its web-based business where car dealers sign up for an account, order, receive and pay for information products all via the internet. The award confirms MotorWeb as a leader in e-business efficiency and this knowledge has been incorporated into its products. Its focus is to eliminate paper processes and simplify legal compliance. There are no up-front fees or monthly charges. All a dealer needs is internet access. While the system is simple to use, free training and support is available. 2009: Bayer Innovators Awards – information and communication technology winner Patrick Costigan became a pioneer in the e-government space. When the internet was in its infancy, he sought to gain electronic access to registries to generate vehicle reports and facilitate changes of ownership and other compliance. The system has grown to include online documentation and is expanding to take on overseas opportunities. He recognised the potential of facilitating motor industry transactions with government departments to improve consumer protection and reduce compliance costs – business to government. This was unlike every other web enterprise that seemed to be pursuing the sale of retail products to the public – business to consumer. MotorWeb has won awards such as the Computerworld e-Business of the Year Award, highly commended in the Westpac High-Tech Awards 2004, and placed in the Deloittes Fast 50 in 2005 and 2006. Costigan was recently featured in the IBM Business Insights campaign on innovation. For more than 10 years, Costigan has also been the chairman of the NZ Inventors’ Trust, which helps inventors and entrepreneurs to protect, develop and commercialise ideas. July 26, 2010: Car data dealer chases bigger market MotorWeb is about to do for Australia what it has done for New Zealand by packaging data it into a commercial product. If the three-year trial is a success, there will be a three-year supply deal with the Australian insurance industry. After that, it will have the country’s motor trade to compete for. From an idea Pat Costigan had in 1992, he has built a business founded on gaining access to the motor vehicle registry and the first was persuading government officials to give MotorWeb access to the registry. “I went to them and said, ‘all I need to make this happen is to have an interface to plug into and I’ll take data out and combine it with other data,” he says. “Then I’ll modify and write it back to you.” After presentations covering his business plan and data security and privacy issues, he was given the go-ahead. By 2008, MotorWeb dominated the trade end of the market. Australia, with a population five times New Zealand’s, has more potential. In 2007, MotorWeb persuaded authorities there it could commercialise their data. It was up against global IT providers when Austroads, representing eight state and territorial road transport authorities, including the NZTA, went to market for a solution. None of MotorWeb’s multi-national rivals could promise more and it convinced Austroads to set up the trial at the company’s expense. The pilot project must prove the service’s viability. March 4, 2013: Car dealers enjoy new online service Dealers have an easier way to meet some legislative requirements without the need to file paper forms. MotorWeb, developer of the VIR, has launched the first of a series of online transactions for the industry. Car dealers can register a vehicle into the Dealer Network, a MR13C transaction, with just a few clicks of the mouse. Previously, a lengthy form had to be filled in, but details are now sent directly to the transport registry at the click of a button. MotorWeb will soon launch the only internet-based vehicle change of ownership (MR13B) facility. This allows dealers to transfer ownership into customers’ names. For the full versions of these stories and more articles, including the awards MotorWeb has scooped down the years, log onto http://www.motorweb.co.nz/press/