CarExpert will expand its vehicle testing, launch a video advertising format and add a new campaign attribution tool in 2027, it told industry partners at its RevUP 2026 presentations in Sydney and Melbourne.
The publisher and new-car buying platform also presented consumer research on how Australians shop for new cars. It says buyers spend months researching across search engines, reviews, video, manufacturer websites and AI tools, and that car review websites remain the most used and most trusted source.
According to the research, 54% of surveyed purchasers said CarExpert influenced which car they bought, and one in four bought a vehicle they had not initially considered. CarExpert says it reaches 1.28 million Australians a month.
“People might start with two or three cars in mind, spend weeks researching, change their shortlist and eventually buy something they hadn’t originally considered,” says co-founder and co-chief executive Alborz Fallah.
Fallah and fellow co-founder Paul Maric have run the business as co-chief executives since Damon Rielly left in September.
AI search
CarExpert cites September data from AI visibility platform Profound showing it was the most-cited automotive publisher in Australian AI-generated answers, with an 8.2% share of citations, ahead of YouTube, carsales and Drive.
“AI is changing how people search, and there’s no point pretending otherwise,” Fallah says. “People are asking ChatGPT, Gemini and Google questions they might previously have researched across several websites, and that’s having an impact on the publishing industry.
“But those answers still need to come from somewhere.”
The company says it is changing how its content is structured and distributed, including updates to its digital vehicle showrooms, which combine pricing, specifications, variants and reviews for each model.
Testing and new formats
CarExpert will continue testing vehicles at a dedicated proving ground in 2027 and plans to expand its Megatest comparisons, which put multiple vehicles from the same segment side by side.
“If we’re going to tell people how a car performs, we need to actually test it. That means doing the same tests, under the same conditions,” Maric says. “It’s a significant investment for us, but it’s one we think is worth making.”
For advertisers, it is launching Expert Stories, a video format using its reviewers, and developing CarExpert CAPI, an attribution tool designed to show partners how campaigns perform across platforms. It is also expanding contextual advertising.
Commercial director of media Maddie Harris says the aim is to reach buyers across a long research period.
“Someone might watch a review today, compare a few models next month and only be ready to buy well after that,” she says. “We’re also working to give our partners a better understanding of how that activity contributes to the decisions people ultimately make.”
CarExpert’s new-car buying service works with more than 1200 dealers to compare offers for customers. It won Best New Car Advisory and Buying Service at the FDI Insider Awards this year, and a People’s Choice Award at the Finder Innovation Awards.
