e south business BAYIndia -east ( Motors B Asian 2B) countries model is planning to dominated Germany to take its , business Spain the busi and to - , by ness to consumer (B2C) models. Being the leading online marketplace for sale of second hand vehicles to automobile dealers in India, the firm is planning to bring the best practices experienced in India to markets overseas. “We are planning to take the B2B platform to global markets where we think the model working in India can be applied.“ says eBay India Motors director Amit Bhartiya. These countries have been largely the ‘new car’ markets, he added. ebay India Motors is also planning to introduce the same model in China, though at a later stage, since “the country has just begun to explore the used car market and therefore the concept is in its nascent stage.” Global markets will now get a taste of the best practices being witnessed in online buying and selling market in India, which as per analysts is close to $2 billion. However, a timeline has not been decided as to when the practices will be implemented overseas. “We think that the B2B model will be a success in the markets that we are exploring but the time taken to adopt the system will depend on the markets,” adds Mr Bhartiya. Closer home, Punjab has been able to feed its fetish for the Mercedes as buyers from the state have begun to purchase the car online, adding to its repertoire of being the Merc capital of the country. Buyers or dealers from Punjab have been actively buying Mercedes off the eBay platform. “Dealers from Punjab are facing a crunch of supply, so even the online demand is high. Other than looking for deals in the region, they would go for purchases to as far as Mumbai,” adds Mr Bhartiya. That’s a positive sign because Mercs are not often sold in the used car market as most owners tend to hold onto their cars. Therefore, company officials say that the number of Mercs sold on eBay India Motors is still in single digits, where a Merc priced at 25 lakh is sold at Rs 7-10 lakh. Although the Merc fever still persists in the region, it’s the heavy commercial vehicle (HCV) segment to which the state contributes the most. “Punjab is the largest contributor to the HCV, used trucks and trailers segment in the country online, along with Haryana. In addition to this, Punjab sees the largest consumption of diesel SUVs and MUVs,” says Mr Bhartiya without disclosing any figures. Every five minutes, a vehicle is sold on the site and going by the quantum of sales, the highest traction is recorded in the HCV segment. A large number of fleet operators from cities such as Moga, Bathinda and Amritsar in Punjab and Hisar and Rohtak in Haryana have been participating in purchasing while eastern UP accounts for the higest number of sales of three-wheelers. eBay India motors will expand its network of its present 700-800 dealers in the north as it plans to target transport nagars and tractor mandis.