Spending seven figures?This company actually bought this "car"!

Recently, domain investors have revealed that kanche.com has been acquired by Taocar.com! The specific transaction price has not been disclosed yet, but based on past similar domain transaction cases, our analysis suggests that the transaction price should be no less than a million dollars. Currently, the domain redirects to Taocar.com's main website.

Kanche.com was registered in 2007, making it 13 years old, and it carries the meaning of(kanche), which translates to "viewing cars" or "car inspection" in English. It's well-suited for building a platform related to the automotive industry. Another domain in the same series, kanfang.com, was sold for 1.53 million RMB earlier this month. Now, we've learned that kanche.com has also been acquired, indicating the high demand for "kan" series domains.

The buyer, Taocar.com, was formerly known as "Youka Second-hand Car Network" and was founded in 2006. It's an online platform for second-hand car trading created by Bitauto, a leading automotive media group in China. In 2017, it rebranded as "Taocar.com" and is now part of Beijing Taocar Technology Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Bitauto. Taocar.com's official website domain is(taoche.com), a double-pinyin domain acquired by Bitauto in 2012 for a price estimated to be at least in the six figures.

Speaking of Bitauto, it was founded in 2000 and is a leading automotive media group in China. In 2010, it went public on the New York Stock Exchange. Its founder, Li Bin, was also involved in domain investments and understood the value of good domains for businesses. Bitauto's official website domain is bitauto.com, which corresponds to its English name, BITAUTO. In 2011, Bitauto quietly acquired the Chinese domains yiche.com and yiche.cn, which now redirect to its official website.

In 2014, Bitauto made significant domain acquisitions, including the three-pinyin domain(huimaiche.com) for its Huimaiche platform, and the double-pinyin domain(diandong.com) for its electric vehicle website, with the latter rumored to have been purchased for 3 million RMB. In 2015, Bitauto made a substantial acquisition from Xu Jun, a domain industry veteran, securing the premium industry domain "贷款" (daikuan.com) for a transaction price reaching eight figures. It later became the official domain for Yixin Financial, a subsidiary of Bitauto. Additionally, Bitauto acquired the three-pinyin domain(cheguwen.com/.cn/.com.cn).

These are just some of the reported domain acquisitions by Bitauto. Besides those covered in the media, Bitauto also quietly acquired many other domains related to(che or car), such as(leche.com/.net),(woche.com), (chexian.com),(eche.com/.net), (maichebao.com), "服务车" (fuwuche.net), and now the premium double-pinyin domain "kanche.com," indicating Bitauto's commitment to acquiring "che"-related domains.

Bitauto is also known for having one of the most extensive and high-quality portfolios of automotive domains in China. Currently, three companies under the Bitauto umbrella have gone public: Bitauto, Yixin Car Loan, and NIO Inc. With such a focus on brand resources, Bitauto is poised for a promising future.

Let's take a look at other used car platforms and their domains, as they've also invested significant resources in acquiring premium domains:

1. Youxin Second-hand Car: xin.com

Youxin Group's "Youxin Second-hand Car" brand is a specialized e-commerce platform for used car retail services. Its official website domain is xin.com, which Youxin Group acquired from an investor for millions of RMB in 2014. In June 2018, Youxin Group went public on NASDAQ, and in March of the same year, 58.com announced its acquisition of assets related to Youxin Paimai (优信拍) for 105 million USD, approximately 744 million RMB.

2. Guazi Second-hand Car Direct Sales: guazi.com

Guazi Second-hand Car Direct Sales, launched in 2015, was originally known as "Ganjie Haiche." Its founder, Yang Haoyong, also founded Ganji.com. While the original domain haoche.com was acquired for millions of RMB, Guazi chose the versatile domain guazi.com as its official website domain. Although it's not directly related to the used car business, it helps distinguish the brand in a market where most car-related domains are associated with "che." Additionally, Guazi holds domains such as nangua.cn ("南瓜" or "pumpkin"), chesupai.com, and chesuda.com.

Data shows that in 2020, China had a vehicle ownership of 630 million units, potentially ranking as the world's highest. The automotive industry in China is in rapid development. Whether through traditional business models or peer-to-peer (P2P) models, the industry is highly competitive but also full of potential. Most Chinese used car websites choose domain names with the pinyin "che," such as Renrenche, which uses the three-pinyin domain renrenche.com, and Chemao, which uses chemao.com, among others.

Domains related to(che) also hold substantial value. For example, che.com was reported to have been sold for 22.22 million RMB, qiche.com for 12.85 million RMB, and cheyou.com for 16 million RMB. Dai Yue, the founder of Yuming.com, even sold the premium two-digit domain 17.com to 17 Qiche for a significant sum.

The entire used car industry in China is showing robust growth, with intense competition but also immense potential. New forms of websites are emerging, business models are evolving, and branding through domain names is becoming a significant part of the competition. This might bring about significant changes in the used car market.