WeBuyCars has deployed an AI system called “Blue” to autonomously purchase second-hand vehicles—marking a significant step in the company’s digital transformation strategy. The system, which requires no human input, has already bought more than 2,800 cars.
“Blue is a collection of machine learning models that incorporates our pricing models, historic sales data, market trends, and analytics,” said Chief Digital Officer Wynand Beukes.
The innovation is part of a broader effort to modernize the company, which until 2018 relied on spreadsheets to manage its entire operation. “When I joined, everything was run in a Google spreadsheet—including inventory and creditors. The system was breaking under the weight of success,” said Beukes.
WeBuyCars opted to build its own enterprise software from scratch to gain full control over its systems and data. Today, the company blends e-commerce with physical outlets, running 17 vehicle supermarkets and nearly 100 buying pods across South Africa.
Blue handles high-volume car pricing – like for the VW Polo Vivo – while fringe cases, such as classic cars, are still assessed by humans. “We let AI manage the standard stock and leave the unique cases to the petrolheads,” said Beukes.
In addition to Blue, the company launched “Orange,” a customer-facing AI agent that supports both external users and internal teams. It’s part of WeBuyCars’ commitment to experimentation and agile development.
“We’re never satisfied,” said Beukes. “If an idea fails, it fails fast – with minimal cost.”
