A used car dealer with almost 30 years in the business and a background in developing software technology for automotive auctions created a service that is being marketed as revolutionary in the way dealers and transport companies ship vehicles.
Igor Iounatanov, Dealer Principal of Downsview Place Auto Group in Canada and National Car Store in the United States, told Canadian auto dealer that LiftN’Go is a fully-digitized product and is almost 80 per cent similar to Uber in the way it works. Individual and franchise dealers can use an app to connect them to transport companies in Canada.
The service is designed as an effective and immediate way for a dealer to ship a car or a volume of them from auctions, service facilities, or client’s homes and save money.
Iounatonov, a 47-year-old native of Russia, said the biggest problem a dealer has is transporting vehicles, because the process usually involves dealing with only one company and, depending on availability, it could take several days to arrange delivery of a shipment. He said his service will save time and money, because dealers will have access to multiple companies to expedite deliveries. The system will also benefit transport companies looking for return shipments after dropping off a load.
Iounatonov developed the idea several years ago when he owned XMTrade, Canada’s second largest automotive auction site — which he later sold to OTOLANE in 2016. He was talking to an individual at a trade show who worked for one of the biggest transport companies in Canada and did business with major manufacturers. He was told the company had a fleet of trucks that delivered cars every day, but had no backhauls.
“I thought if they are coming back empty, why not create a platform that helps people to bring cars quicker, and maybe in some cases, much cheaper. Usually the way it works on a normal day — you deal with one company only, and you call them and don’t know how much it costs or how long it will take,” said Iounatanov.
“In this case, we decided we could sell a (dealer) load and a transport company can see it (online). And if they have a truck nearby, they can pick it up and bring it and make some extra money,” he added.
Iounatonov and co-founder Dimitri Pressman started the service manually in 2020 and said it has experienced tremendous growth. The plan was to create a mobile platform, but it was put on hold due to the vehicle supply shortage. He subsequently decided to build the mobile platform because of the growth of online purchasing. A soft launch started back in April, and the full launch will happen in September.
