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Selling a car used to be a tedious task before the online portals made our lives easier. One such portal, which the former skipper of the Indian cricket team, Mahendra Singh Dhoni endorses is CARS24.
Founded by Vikram Chopra, Mehul Agrawal, Gajendra Jangid, and Ruchit Agarwal, CARS24 is an e-commerce platform focused on online car buying and selling, which aims to make the whole buying and selling process of cars easier and more efficient.
CARS24 is now a unicorn used car company. The funding on November 24, 2020, has led the company to enter the Unicorn Club by raising $200 million in financing in the Series A round. It was led by DST Global with a post-money valuation of CARS24 being $1 billion. The current valuation of CARS24 is $3.3 billion.
Read on to learn more about CARS24 and its founders, history, business model, revenue model, shareholding, competitors, funding, growth, and more.
CARS24 Company Details
| Startup Name | CARS24 |
|---|---|
| Headquarter | Gurgaon, India |
| Sector | Automotive |
| Founders | Gajendra Jangid, Mehul Agrawal, Ruchit Agarwal, Vikram Chopra |
| Founded | August 2015 |
| Parent Organization | Global Car Group |
| Valuation | $3.23B billion (as of November 2024) |
| Website | www.cars24.com |
About CARS24
CARS24 – Industry
CARS24 – Founders/Owners and Team
CARS24 – Startup Story
CARS24 – Mission and Vision
CARS24 – Name, Tagline and Logo
CARS24 – Business Model and Revenue Model
CARS24 – Growth and Revenue
CARS24 – Financials
CARS24 – Products and Services
CARS24 – Challenges
CARS24 – Competitors
CARS24 – Funding and Investors
CARS24 – Shareholding
CARS24 – ESOPs
CARS24 – Campaign
CARS24 – Partnerships
CARS24 – Future Plans
About CARS24
CARS24 is a cutting-edge e-commerce platform for pre-owned autos, including cars and bikes, which strives to make buying and selling autos a breeze. The platform offers a wide range of certified cars along with smooth and convenient home delivery facilities with the click of a button.
On the other hand, the company also takes care of its sellers, whom it promises to credit the best price of their cars within an hour. With the AI-enabled pricing system that empowers the startup, CARS24 can display the accurate market price and the appraisal value of the vehicle.
CARS24 startup is an ISO 9001:2015 certified company and one of the fastest-growing used car marketplaces in India. CARS24 is the first company in the used-car industry that brought a ‘transaction-led’ approach to selling a car. With this portal, a potential car owner can easily sell their car privately with the utmost security in less than 2 hours and get paid instantly. On the other end, CARS24 has thousands of used car businesses that buy these cars online via mobile auctions from potential car owners across India.
The company, though just 6 years old, has become highly sought-after due to the demand of the supply side conducting over 100,000 transactions a year. CARS24 buys all these cars from more than 15 cities across the country and sells them to over 100 cities in India. The company’s unique C2B model has helped it to leapfrog the existing C2C and B2C models obstructively.
Building this empire on its unique advantages, CARS24 dominates the used car ecosystem that includes sectors such as financial services, and information services. Apart from dealing in used cars online, CARS24 also has an offline presence in terms of brick-and-mortar stores, with more than 155 branches in over 35 cities in India.
CARS24 is disrupting the pre-owned car industry in India and addressing the challenges faced by car owners, by providing them with a world-class customer experience that is quick, easy, and hassle-free.
CARS24 also received an NBFC license from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for its new entity — CARS24 Financial Services. With CARS24 Financial Services, the company will facilitate vehicle loans to customers as well as finance channel partners to help them expand their businesses. The customers will be eligible for a credit based on the car value they are buying. For consumers, the average ticket size of a loan would be INR 2.5 Lakh – INR 3 Lakh.
CARS24 – Industry
The used car market in India was valued at $31.62 billion in 2024 and will probably reach around $63.87 billion by 2029. This is an industry that hardly had to face any after-effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The CAGR of the industry has been registered at 15.10% during the period between 2024 and 2029.
CARS24 – Founders/Owners and Team
Vikram Chopra, Mehul Agrawal, Gajendra Jangid, and Ruchit Agarwal are the founders of CARS24.
Vikram Chopra
Vikram Chopra is the CEO and Co-Founder of CARS24. He has a BTech and MTech in Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, and earned an MBA in Finance from the University of Pennsylvania. Vikram is a former Co-Founder of FabFurnish an Investment Analyst of Sequoia Capital and also a Business Analyst at McKinsey & Company.
Mehul Agrawal
Mehul Agrawal is the Co-Founder and COO of CARS24- He holds an MBA from IIM Calcutta and has worked with BCG in the past. Earlier, Mehul started an online furniture company called FabFurnish.
Gajendra Jangid
Gajendra Jangid is the Co-Founder and CMO of CARS24 – Like Vikram, Gajendra too has a BTech and MTech in Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. Before co-founding CARS24, Gajendra was working with Schlumberger.
Ruchit Agarwal
Ruchit Agarwal is the Co-Founder and Chief Financial Officer of CARS24– Graduated from Cornell University, Ruchit was a Vice President at Bank of America Merrill Lynch before co-founding CARS24.
Nitin Konde
CARS24 – Startup Story
On scanning the used cars industry, the founders quickly discovered that the industry was in utter chaos. Besides, the industry is full of loopholes that went unmended from the very beginning. A standard procedure is thus, totally absent when it comes to selling or purchasing a used car. Furthermore, the industry was also devoid of any technological advancements that would help in the pricing of the used cars and ultimately prove to be a boon.
Another obstacle related to the used cars market is in finding access to the potential users without bumping into jumbled market players who aren’t aware of a detailed appraisal of the car. Therefore, after a keen observation of the discrepancies in the market, the founders of CARS24 decided to come up with a technology that would help resolve these issues and simplify the process of purchasing and selling used cars online.
CARS24 – Mission and Vision
“Our mission is to revolutionise the way used cars are bought and sold across the world”, says the mission statement of the company.
The vision of the company is to revolutionize the way used cars are sold by coming up with an efficient and reliable way for car owners to sell used cars at a reasonable price.
CARS24 – Name, Tagline and Logo
Though CARS24 hasn’t disclosed a naming story, the name CARS24 has probably come from their idea of emerging as a 24/7 car buying and selling platform.
CARS24 – Business Model and Revenue Model
The business model of CARS24 is based on a used-car resale business model. The CARS24 business model revolves around the parameters of buying any car from its owner at the best price compared with other car resale services in the area. Basically, what CARSs24 aims to offer Indian consumers is an alternative to other tedious means of selling a used car, thus making this process simple and convenient.
CARS24 offers a guaranteed price on any car, regardless of the model, age, or condition. So, what happens is that used car owners can sell their car in just a single visit to any CARS24 branch. Also, the user can obtain a rough valuation that is based on the details of their car online on this portal. The potential sellers who sell their cars on this platform receive an instant payment.
CARS24 also manages the handover of legal documentation relating to vehicle registration, if any, at no additional cost to the seller. This company mainly operates in areas like automotive, e-commerce, retail, and used car trade, and has grown tremendously since its inception based on this stellar model.
CARS24 follows a customer-to-business (C2B) model. It buys cars from individuals and sells them to dealers. Unlike a classified platform, CARS24 enables end-to-end transactions and charges a commission for each transaction, which equals 4-5% of each transaction amount. The sale of the pre-owned is the largest revenue driver for the company. Next, comes the financing services that CARS24 offers its customers, followed by the commission and service income. The unicorn user-car retailers also earn non-operating revenues from the return on financial assets.
Nitin KondeCARS24 – Growth and Revenue
CARS24 is currently hailed as the market leader in the online used car space with over 90% of the market share. The company has clocked over 4 lakh transactions to date.
Mega Refurbishment Labs
CARS24 announced its plans to launch refurbishment facilities called ‘Mega Refurbishment Labs’ (MRLs) on October 20, 2021.
CARS24 – Financials
CARS24’s financial performance shows growth in revenue but continued losses over the years. Expenses have risen consistently, impacting profitability.
| Particulars | FY24 | FY23 | FY22 | FY21 | FY20 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | INR 6,981.8 crore | INR 5,584.6 crore | INR 6,008.3 crore | INR 2,775.6 crore | INR 3,065.2 crore |
| Expenses | INR 7,487.9 crore | INR 6,052.4 crore | INR 6,256.3 crore | INR 2,967.1 crore | INR 3,356.2 crore |
| Profit/Loss | INR -498.4 crore | INR -467.8 crore | INR -248.1 crore | INR -191.5 crore | INR -291.8 crore |
CARS24 Revenue:
| Particulars | FY24 | FY23 |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue from operations | INR 6,917.1 crore | INR 5,529.6 crore |
| Other income | INR 64.8 crore | INR 55 crore |
| Total revenue | INR 6,981.8 crore | INR 5,584.6 crore |
- Revenue from operations grew from INR 5,529.6 crore in FY23 to INR 6,917.1 crore in FY24.
- Other income slightly increased from INR 55 crore in FY23 to INR 64.8 crore in FY24.
CARS24 Profit/Loss:
| Particulars | FY24 | FY23 |
|---|---|---|
| Gross profit/loss | INR -506.1 crore | INR -467.8 crore |
| Operating profit/loss | INR -506.1 crore | INR -467.8 crore |
| Net profit/loss | INR -498.4 crore | INR -467.8 crore |
- Gross loss increased from INR 467.8 crore in FY23 to INR 506.1 crore in FY24.
- Operating loss also grew from INR 467.8 crore in FY23 to INR 506.1 crore in FY24.
- Net loss widened from INR 467.8 crore in FY23 to INR 498.4 crore in FY24.
CARS24 Expenses:
| Particulars | FY24 | FY23 |
|---|---|---|
| Purchases of stock-in-trade | INR 6,019.3 crore | INR 5,038.4 crore |
| Changes in inventories | INR 87.3 crore | INR (107.9) crore |
| Employee benefit expense | INR 524.5 crore | INR 478.3 crore |
| Finance costs | INR 112.5 crore | INR 92.9 crore |
| Amortization & Depreciation | INR 212.7 crore | INR 89.8 crore |
| Other expenses | INR 531.7 crore | INR 460.9 crore |
| Total expenses | INR 7,487.9 crore | INR 6,052.4 crore |
- Stock-in-trade purchases increased from INR 5,038.4 crore in FY23 to INR 6,019.3 crore in FY24.
- Employee expenses rose from INR 478.3 crore in FY23 to INR 524.5 crore in FY24.
- Depreciation and amortization costs jumped from INR 89.8 crore in FY23 to INR 212.7 crore in FY24.
Quick Summary:
- Revenue: Increased by INR 1,397.2 crore (25%), indicating business growth.
- Expenses: Increased by INR 1,435.5 crore (24%), driven by higher stock-in-trade purchases and employee costs.
- Profit/(Loss): Net loss increased by INR 30.6 crore (7%), reflecting rising expenses impacting profitability.
Rishita Jain
CARS24 – Products and Services
R&D Center
CARS24 opened its second research and development (R&D) facility in Bengaluru, Karnataka, on October 6, 2023, with the goal of promoting growth, innovation, and ecosystem development.
eChallan Service
CARS24 announces the launch of its eChallan service, on September 6, 2023. Through the CARS24 website and mobile application, private vehicle owners can monitor and clear their outstanding challans thanks to this feature.
Pilot Program
CARS24 launched a pilot program in Gurgaon that allows users to hire drivers, according to a March 12, 2024, news story. This service was introduced earlier in March with the intention of measuring consumer reaction in Gurgaon before going national. Car owners can hire drivers for round-trip, one-way, and out-of-town journeys through the pilot program.
CARS24 – Challenges
The market of used cars sure has a huge potential for growth and this is why most of the startups of today are eying this market. Therefore, CARS24 needs to fight the newcomers in the industry and tackle the existing challenges in the market from the older players. Furthermore, ensuring an adequate supply of used cars might also emerge as a challenge going forward.
CARS24 Shutdown of Supply-Focused Vertical
The company decided to shut down its businesses that strictly focus on supply in around 82 cities of India on December 10, 2021. The company would only be running its supply-side business verticals in the top 100 cities of India, as per an internal note exchanged between the co-founders of the country and its employees.
CARS24 layoffs
CARS24 has announced layoffs of around 600 employees. The used car unicorn marketplace follows many other Indian companies like Vedantu, Unacademy, Meesho, and more, which have already laid off a considerable chunk of their employees between April and May 2022. The main reasons for the layoffs in these companies are cutting costs, fear of the dearth of fundraisers, and the apprehension of a supposed market recession that will take place soon. The CARS24 layoffs have taken place because the startup was looking forward to automatize operations and eventually cutting costs. This layoff of nearly 600 of its staff as announced by CARS24 on May 19, 2022, has made the company with 6.6% of its total workforce.
CARS24 High-Level Exits
After layoffs, CARS24 sees numerous top-level exits that the startup will see in July 2022. This will include Kingshuk Sanyal, Vice President and Business Head of CARS24; Mrinal Sinha, Chief Human Resources Officer of CARS24 and Global CTO of CARS24, Jitendra Agrawal, leaving the firm.
CARS24 – Competitors
CARS24 directly faces cut-throat competition in the market. It competes with companies that operate in the same segment and cater to the same target audience such as:
- CarDekho
- Droom
- Quikr Auto
- Olx
- CarTrade
- NDTV Auto
CARS24 – Funding and Investors
CARS24 has raised a total of around $1.3 billion over 17 rounds of funding to date. The company entered the unicorn club on November 24, 2020, by raising $200 million in a Series A round. It was led by DST Global with a post-money valuation of CARS24 being $1 billion. CARS24 was the second company to achieve unicorn status in the used car space.
CARS24 has seen its Series G round of fundraising led by Alpha Wave Global on December 20, 2021, where the used-car unicorn has raised $400 million, which includes a cumulative debt funding of $100 million.
CARS24 had previously seen a massive $450 million round of equity and debt led by Softbank, Tencent, DST Global, and others on September 20, 2021. With the funding round, the valuation of the company turns $3.3 billion, as of December 20, 2021.
Here is a list of all the finding rounds of CARS24-
| Date | Stage | Amount | Investor |
|---|---|---|---|
| July 27, 2024 | Corporate Round | $30 Million | Global Car Group |
| December 20, 2021 | Debt Financing | $91.2 Million | – |
| December 20, 2021 | Series G | $400 Million | Alpha Wave Global |
| November 30, 2021 | Debt Financing | $20 Million | Commercial Bank of Dubai |
| September 20, 2021 | Equity and debt round | $450 Million | Softbank, Tencent, DST Global |
| September 10, 2021 | Series F | $258.6 Million | DST Asia, Alpha Wave Incubation, Moore Strategic Partners and Tencent Holdings |
| June 30, 2021 | Debt Round | $1.36 Million | Trifecta Capital |
| November 24, 2020 | Series E | $200 Million | DST Global |
| November 6, 2019 | Venture Round | $42.2 Million | Global Car Group |
| October 17, 2019 | Series D | $100 Million | KCK Global, Unbound |
| June 7, 2018 | Series C | $50 Million | KCK, Kingsway Capital, MPGI, Sequoia Capital India |
| January 2018 | Seed Round | – | – |
In August, Mahendra Singh Dhoni had also invested an undisclosed amount in CARS24 as a part of a Series D round. Following the deal, Dhoni became the brand ambassador and owned equity in the company.
CARS24 initially used to buy cars on behalf of the dealers, which it continued till 2019. However, it has now emerged as one of the leading used car marketplaces across the country, and the company has also started to operate in Australia, the UK, and the Middle East.
As per June 18, 2021 reports, the company began its operations in Sharjah, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Brisbane in Australia. Furthermore, it will be resuming its functions soon in Sydney and Melbourne.
Additionally, it also mentioned starting its operations in Southeast Asian countries and the countries of the Middle East. The total budget of the company for its international expansion is announced to be more than $100 million.
CARS24 IPO
CARS24’s Singapore entity has converted itself into a public entity on October 20, 2021. Since then, in 2024, Co-Founder Gajendra Jangid announced plans for an IPO coming out sometime in the near future. Henceforth, the company will be known as Global Car Group Limited, which was earlier recognized as Global Car Group Pte. Ltd. Furthermore, M.S Dhoni had taken a partial exit from the company.
Meghashree Das
CARS24 – Shareholding
CARS24 Shareholding pattern as of August 2023 (source: Tracxn):
| CARS24 Shareholders | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Vikram Chopra | 5.4% |
| Mehul Agrawal | 4.9% |
| Ruchit Agrawal | 1.6% |
| Gajendra Jangid | 0.4% |
| Kingsway Capital | 9.8% |
| DST Global | 17.9% |
| Tencent | 7.4% |
| Alpha Wave Global | 9.0% |
| Peak XV Partners | 4.8% |
| SVF Investment Corp | 4.0% |
| KCK Global Limited | 7.6% |
| Indian Continent Investment | 3.0% |
| Angel | 1.7% |
| ESOP Pool | 4.2% |
| Others | 18.3% |
CARS24 – ESOPs
The leading used-car selling platform stated that it would be buying INR 75 crore worth of shares from its employees as part of its ESOP plan. This single buyback is estimated to be valued to be more than half of the amount that the company has sold to its employee shareholders as of now.
CARS24 – Campaign
CARS24 Campaign
Buying A Car? CARS24 MRL Check Wali Hi Lena Yaar
Accordingly, the ad highlights CARS24’s solutions, which guarantee premium-quality cars and streamline the purchasing procedure. Designed by Ogilvy (North), MS Dhoni and the enormous MRLs become the movie’s protagonists.
CARS24 “Hidden Car Surprises” Campaign
Say Goodbye to “Hidden Car Surprises” with CarTruth by CARS24
CARS24, a leading autotech platform in India, has introduced CarTruth, a Pre-Delivery Inspection (PDI) service. Designed to address buyer concerns about hidden mechanical issues or flaws, this service ensures confidence in vehicle purchases. The launch is supported by a new campaign highlighting its benefits.
CARS24 – Partnerships
Here are some of the prominent CARS24 partnerships:
Just this year, in 2024. CARS24 partnered with BlackSuit, a top legal services provider on Nov 26, 2024. To improve compliance, enhance customer confidence, and streamline ownership transfers. They also partnered with Truecaller on August 21, 2024, to elevate customer experience with safe, efficient, and trusted business communication. Prior to both of these partnerships, CARS24 had partnered with Lawyered to offer a Traffic Challan solution aimed at simplifying the challan resolution process.
Driva
Australian online car financing company Driva partnered with CARS24 on September 13, 2021, with an aim to extend a loan-matching system that will help customers check out with finance within five minutes
Poonawalla Fincorp
CARS24 and Poonawalla Fincorp Ltd. have come together to fulfill the consumer loans originating through CARS24. They have announced their strategic partnership on November 22, 2021
Bajaj Finance
CARS24 partnered with Bajaj Finance Ltd. on December 30, 2021, to make used car financing easy and transparent, thereby facilitating a quick, frictionless, and streamlined shopping experience
Kotak General Insurance
Kotak Mahindra General Insurance Company Ltd has partnered with CARS24 Financial Services Private Ltd to offer motor insurance services to buyers of used cars on February 2, 2022.
CARS24 – Future Plans
CARS24 has made a commitment to improving internal diversity by aiming for a 50% rise in the proportion of women on its staff. This calculated approach positions the corporation as a socially conscious and innovative organization in the eyes of its stakeholders, reflecting the company’s commitment to promoting diversity and innovation within its own ranks.
CARS24 also plans to expand its reach and strengthen its presence in the used car market, focusing on technology to simplify car buying and selling.
FAQs
What does Cars24 do?
Cars24 is an online platform for buying, selling, and financing used cars, bikes, and commercial vehicles.
What is the valuation of CARS24?
CARS24 has already turned a unicorn in November 2020. The valuation of the company is estimated at $3.23B billion as of 2022.
What is Cars24?
CARS24 is an online used car marketplace where you can buy and sell used cars.
Who is the owner of Cars24?
Cars24 operates under Global Car Group, which is the parent of the company.
Who are Cars24 founders?
CARS24 was founded in 2015 by Vikram Chopra, Mehul Agrawal, Gajendra Jangid and Ruchit Agarwal.
Which is the parent company of CARS24?
Global Car Group is the parent company of CARS24.
What is Cars24 business model?
Cars24 operates a digital platform for buying and selling used cars, bikes, and commercial vehicles. It earns revenue through service fees from sellers, commissions from buyers, and car loans and insurance services.
What is Cars24 revenue model?
Cars24’s revenue model includes service fees from vehicle sellers, commissions from buyers, and income from car loans, insurance, and other value-added services.
What is the operating revenue of CARS24?
CARS24 reported operating revenue of INR 6,917 crore in FY24, and it reported its operating revenues to be around INR 5,530 crore in FY23.
How to sell cars online in India with CARS24?
CARS24 is the newest destination to sell cars. If you want to sell cars online in India with CARS24, then you simply need to:
- Book an appointment by filling in all the information on the website, complete with the date and place of appointment
- Visit the nearest branch and let the company officials inspect your car
- Cars24 will provide you with the best price for your car and will handle the documentation and the RC transfer.
Can you sell used cars in Bangalore via Cars24?
Selling used cars in Bangalore with Cars24 is easy and effective for all now.
Is CARS24 an MNC or not?
If you are wondering whether CARS24 is an MNC or not, then you should know that CARS24 is a startup and still not an MNC.