Now Toyota is on Lazada — with cars up to S$13,000 off
Derryn Wong
30/04/2020
Toyota distributor Borneo Motors has put its demo cars on the online mall for the public to book
SINGAPORE — Toyota distributor Borneo Motors is the latest car company to open a shop on Lazada, the online mall. The company has put its demo cars on Lazmall, the part of the e-commerce site reserved for brand owners or their custodians.
Demo cars are those that potential buyers test out when they visit the showroom. Car companies usually dispose of them before they hit a certain mileage, but because they’ve been around the block a few times, demo units are usually discounted.
Click here to see the store.
What’s in store
We’ve compiled an entire list of the cars on sale on the website, with the discounted price first, and matched them to the last pricing from before the circuit breaker period kicked in. All prices quoted are inclusive of COE.
Sedan
Toyota Vios E – S$71,888 – list price S$76,888
Toyota Corolla Altis Standard – S$90,888 – list price S$92,888
Toyota Camry 2.5 – S$137,888 – list price S$145,888
MPV
Toyota Sienta Standard – S$87,888 – list price S$95,888
Toyota Prius+ – S$110,888 – list price S$117,888
Toyota Previa Aeras 2.4 –S$149,888 – list price S$162,888
Toyota Vellfire – S$197,888 – list price S$207,888
SUV
Toyota Harrier Turbo Premium – S$130,888 – list price S$139,888
Toyota RAV4 – S$119,888 – list price S$127,888
Toyota Fortuner – S$161,888 – list price S$172,888
As usual, CarBuyer.com.sg has tested almost every one of these models, so click on the names to read our reviews of each. Note that the Sienta MPV is the facelifted model which we haven’t tested, though, while our review is of the Toyota Corolla Altis Elegance, one step above the Standard model listed in the price. We also tested the Toyota Alphard, the sister model of the Vellfire, which looks slightly different but is otherwise identical.
The Toyota store on Lazmall lists a Camry 2.5 with “from 1,500km” on the odometer for S$137,888 with Certificate Of Entitlement (COE), for example. That’s S$12,000 off the list price of S$149,888.
Borneo has demo units of eight different Toyotas on Lazada. It did not say how many cars are available but says the number is “highly limited”.
The company is the latest car brand to open shop on Lazada. Earlier this week, Audi put its brand boutique online there, while Volvo has its own Lazmall presence for various models.
BMW was the first to flirt with online sales at Lazada, by launching the 1 Series hatchback there in August 2019.
Lazada isn’t the only game in town. Cycle & Carriage has conducted its own online flash sale for Kia cars (and is conducting another that goes ‘live’ tonight), while Champion Motors auctioned a range of Suzuki cars online last week.
Increasingly, car companies see e-commerce as one way to mediate the heavy cost of showrooms, and trim headcount in the sales department. Since the ongoing circuit breaker measures have made showrooms off-limits to the public, platforms like Lazada have offered a quick way to put showrooms into the hands (or on the desktops) of buyers.
Cars aren’t actually transacted on the site, however. Instead, buyers merely reserve each car with a S$500 booking fee. A sales person then gets in touch to complete the deal. For the time being, the human element in car retail can breathe easy.
Additional reporting by Leow Ju-Len
About the Author
Derryn Wong
CarBuyer's former chief editor was previously the editor for Top Gear Singapore and a presenter for CNA's Cruise Control motoring segment.
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