Delaware Ford dealer builds tech startup to deliver used-car marketplace just for dealers

In response to franchised dealers’ frustrations when struggling to source used-vehicle inventory, a Ford dealer in Delaware has launched his own tech startup to deliver a technology solution.

Willis Ford managing partner Santosh Viswanathan is the founder of the new 20groupdealertrades.com, which offers a platform called SPIN where franchised dealers across the country can trade, buy or sell from each other, the company announced Wednesday. 

Viswanathan said that the technology he has introduced is an industry disrupter built to save dealers both time and money.

Instead of continually working in their own “silos” to source used-vehicle inventory, he proposes that dealers leverage his company’s platform, and work together instead.

“This technology is a disrupter in a retail environment where dealers have largely operated in silos and relied on paying heavy fees at the auctions,” Viswanathan explained in a news release.

When listing used inventory on the platform, each dealer has the control to determine their own time frame for vehicle sales, ranging from 45-day periods to 100 days or more.