Mobile wheels with Call-a-Car

McCarthy Call-a-Car is going one step further by allowing millions of people to browse its database using their GPRS-enabled cellphones.

McCarthy Call-a-Car is going one step further by allowing millions of people to browse its database using their GPRS-enabled cellphones.

Lourens Botha, the e-business advisor to McCarthy Motor Holdings, says there are currently around 26 million users in South Africa with a large proportion using GPRS-enabled cellphones. As with the recent boom in internet usage and e-commerce, Botha expects that up to 30 per cent of cellphone users will connect to the internet and conduct transactions using GPRS technology over the next three years.

“The latest generation cellphones are all GPRS enabled, thus allowing a larger portion of our population the opportunity to buy a vehicle by simply using their cellphone,” he said.

Connect to the site using your cellphone by punching www.callacar.co.za and connect to the browser. Similar to the website, vehicle searches can be conducted according to price, make, series and region to optimise your search.

The cellphone operation runs parallel to the Call-a-Car call centre and website.

According to Brand Pretorius, chairman of McCarthy Motor Holdings, Call-a-Car, which has been extensively tested over the past six months, is a trailblazer in cellphone retail in the South African motor industry.

“Cellphone banking and SMS communication have recently increased and improved in leaps and bounds, and GPRS has made it possible to conduct mobile commerce in an efficient, safe and user-friendly way,” said Botha.

McCarthy Call-a-Car can be contacted on 0860 22 33 44 or visit their website at www.callacar.co.za