Used cars marketplace Cars24, on Friday reported a jump of over 87% in its FY22 India business revenue year-on-year, at Rs 5,136 against Rs 2,741 in FY21.
The company, in a statement, said that its financial arm achieved profitability during the period under review, without disclosing any other financial details.
Queries sent to Cars24 Financial about profitability remained unanswered till press time.
Cars24 Services Ltd is a used car marketplace with a wholly-owned subsidiary for its financing operations with a non-banking financial company status. The financing arm has, according to a statement, disbursed loans amounting to Rs 1,000 crore since the start of its financing operations in July 2019.
The SoftBank-backed company said that the introduction of 0% down payment, longer tenures and availability of pre-approved loans aided in achieving the high growth rate. “The financing attach rate of CARS24 grew from mid-teens to 50+%, the highest for any pre-owned car financer in India,” it said in a statement.
“As the demand for pre-owned cars is growing, buyers are looking for a one stop solution for everything pre-owned cars. Hence, this has resulted in growth of pre-owned car loans as well. Our unique market product fit offerings and our proprietary algorithm designed to assess pre-owned car customer creditworthiness are the backbone of our lending product,” said Vikram Chopra, the co-founder and chief executive officer at Cars24.
The firm expects the domestic used cars market, valued at about $25 billion in 2021, to grow 2x to reach $50 million by 2025.
In May, VCCircle reported that the used car marketplace had asked 600 employees to leave, even as it pushed ahead with its international expansion plans. All of the employees asked to go were from India after the annual appraisals. The source had added that the staff cut would allow the Softbank and Alpha Wave Ventures-backed company would move closer towards profitability.
In 2021, the company entered international markets such as Australia, UAE and Thailand. At the time, the company also announced plans to expand its presence across 6-7 countries in 2022. It was also eyeing expansion in Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Malaysia.
The company raised $300 million in equity and an additional $100 million in December 2021, at a valuation of around $3.3 billion.
