Press Release

April 27th, 2023

Car Sales and Distribution Fully Datafied... Aiming at the U.S. and Southeast Asian Markets​

Digital transformation has only recently become a key topic in the automotive industry. Despite its long history, the sector has seen relatively little change, with core technologies remaining the same and leadership rarely shifting. Change was often seen as unnecessary or even inconvenient. However, as the industry rapidly transitions from internal combustion engines to electric vehicles and incorporates various ICT technologies, digital transformation is now underway across the board.​

​ Digital transformation in the automotive industry spans from production to sales and distribution. One significant trend is the digitalization of sales and distribution, which involves converting essential data—such as sales status, test-drive program details, and loan information—into digital platforms, making it easily accessible to both dealers and customers.​​

​ One company leading this trend is Epikar (CEO Han Bosuk). Founded in 2016, Epikar is a small company with just around 20 employees, but its distinct development capabilities have earned attention for pioneering a relatively unexplored area in the industry. Epikar is the only company in Korea offering digital solutions to automotive dealerships, and even globally they are a rare example. Notably, about 90% of Epikar’s staff are dedicated to R&D.​​

​ Epikar offers a digital platform called the Dealer Management Solution (DMS), which facilitates the digital transformation of traditional dealership operations. Tasks that were once handled manually or in-person—such as test-drive requests—can now be processed entirely through the platform, from application and approval to vehicle assignment and management. This not only saves time and costs but also enhances overall efficiency.​​

​ CEO Han Bosuk commented, “If I had to describe Epikar in one sentence, I would say that we lead the digital transformation of the entire customer experience in car sales by providing the necessary platform. The auto industry has many longstanding customs, and we believed that digitizing these processes and applying them via mobile would not only improve customer satisfaction but also increase profitability in the automotive sector. Since few startups were making this attempt, we decided to take it on.”​​

​ Currently, BMW Korea and its official dealerships are using Epikar’s DMS-based BTS (BMW Test- drive Solution) platform, enabling more than 70 BMW showrooms nationwide to manage the full test-drive process via mobile. Epikar also supplies its Intelligent Workshop System (IWS) to 79 BMW after-sales service centers across the country, allowing real-time tracking of vehicle movement from check-in to check-out. Through these systems, Epikar is collecting large amounts of big data to further refine its services.​​

​ Epikar has set its sights on global markets as its next step. Unlike Korea’s market, which is dominated by large corporations, fragmented markets like the U.S. and Southeast Asia are seen as better suited to Epikar’s digital solution. In particular, entry into the U.S. market is viewed as an excellent opportunity to validate the effectiveness and fit of its platform. Han, who is reportedly traveling overseas almost every week, said, “I hope to be able to announce some good news soon.”​​

​ While Epikar currently supports digital transformation in limited dealership operations, its long-term goal is to enable digital integration across the entire vehicle lifecycle—from search and purchase agreement to resale—while maximizing value for both client businesses and end consumers.​​

​ Han added, “More areas of the auto distribution market will undergo digital transformation in the future. If Epikar’s solutions can contribute to innovation and deliver increased benefits to stakeholders across the industry, then our business will succeed. I firmly believe there is no reason our solutions cannot work in global markets as well. We will keep working hard.”