EBay U.K. says it sells one car every 57 seconds via a smartphone and that some mobile shoppers are spending more than 40,000 pounds (US$62,700) on exclusive car models such as Porsches and Land Rovers. To better serve this growing segment, eBay has launched a new Motors app for iPhone that sells car parts, accessories and vehicles.  

“The new eBay Motors app will make shopping for cars, parts and accessories through smartphones even faster and more convenient, and the new Vehicle Finder helps car buyers snap and search for their dream car the moment it catches their eye,” says Petra Jung, head of mobile shopping at eBay U.K. The Vehicle Finder tool lets shoppers take a picture of the back of a car and use the app to search eBay Motors listings to find similar vehicles selling on eBay.

Shoppers can also save profiles of their favorite cars and share listings on Facebook, Twitter and via e-mail.

Shoppers purchased nearly 45,000 vehicles on eBay U.K. via smartphones in the first three months of 2012, which is about 20% of all U.K. vehicle sales through the online marketplace. Overall, vehicle purchases made via smartphones on eBay increased more than 120% between 2010 and 2011, and will continue to increase this year, eBay says.

The sales of a Porsche 911 Carrera and a Land Rover Evoque rank among the most expensive purchases made via mobile devices on the British version of the online auction site.  

The eBay Motors category is one of the most popular categories on eBay, and Jung says that vehicle sales have been especially strong. “We’ve seen a huge acceleration in vehicle sales on eBay U.K. with almost 70 million pounds (US$110 million) worth of vehicle purchases made via smartphones in the first three months of 2012,” he says.

Other mobile highlights from eBay U.K. for the first three months of 2012 include:

• Mobile shoppers bought a car part on eBay U.K. every two seconds
• Visitors bought wheels, tires and trims every 48 seconds via a smartphone
• EBay U.K. sold 7.9 million car parts to mobile shoppers
• Over 6,300 Mercedes-Benz, 5,500 Audi and 2,300 Jaguar cars were sold to mobile consumers

Ford, Vauxhall, Volkswagen, BMW and Peugeot were the most the most popular brands of cars purchased through mobile devices on eBay.co.uk in the first three months of 2012.

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