eBay Revs Up With Auto Tech Company Acquisition

A recent acquisition by eBay indicates that the online marketplace has designs on souping up its offerings in the automotive category.

The company announced earlier this week that it has acquired Cargigi, a provider of online advertising and marketing services for the auto industry. With the company now in its folds, eBay intends to leverage Cargigi’s technology to help onboard auto dealers’ inventory onto eBay’s namesake website.

Futhermore, the addition of Cargigi — which a press release explains will take the place of eBay’s Dealer Center — will allow eBay to expand its structured data capabilities for the vehicles industry, to which its primary access point is its eBay Motors division.

“EBay continues to enable commerce through technology,” stated Jay Hanson, vice president of merchandising of hard goods at eBay, in the release. “With Cargigi’s state-of-the-art technology, our eBay Motors dealers will be able to easily grow and manage their business and, importantly, create the best shopping experience for buyers.”

As part of the acquisition — the financial terms of which were not disclosed — Cargigi Founder and CTO Tony Hoang and his team of more than 30 employees, including engineers and designers, will join the eBay Motors business unit.

“Cargigi was built with passion and a spirit of innovation that has helped power its success over the years,” stated Hoang in the press release. “After making a significant impact on the automotive sector early on, Cargigi quickly became one of the top classified marketing service providers for thousands of dealerships nationwide. As Cargigi has continued to scale, it has remained singularly focused on innovating and creating great products.”

“With the company’s strong automotive DNA, Cargigi has evolved into a vertical support platform for major automotive classified websites globally,” continued Hoang. “As an integral part of the eBay Motors vehicles business, Cargigi will bring greater value to its U.S. sellers and enhance the experience for eBay vehicles sellers.”