Pre-owned car selling and buying technology platform, Cars24 has released its quarterly DriveTime report, determining its business performance in the April-June 2023 quarter.
The company claims having registered an 87 percent year-on-year (YoY) growth in the Q1 of FY24, with procurement of vehicles from customers in terms of gross value surpassing Rs 1,800 crore.
For used car retail, Cars24 reports that almost 200,000 test drives were booked online by potential customers. The company says that while almost 80 percent of potential buyers went to its physical vehicle stocking yards to conduct a test drive of a shortlisted vehicle, 20 percent buyers preferred home test drives.
The company says that 62 percent of used car sales were dominated by hatchbacks, while sedans accounted for 19 percent of total sales, despite the market shifting towards SUVs. Maruti Suzuki models such as the Swift, Wagon R and Baleno dominated the used car searches and sales in the last quarter, comprising 38 percent of Cars24’s sales. The Maruti Suzuki Swift and Hyundai Grand i10 emerged the top-two used car choices among potential buyers.
According to Gajendra Jangid, Co-founder, Cars24, “Several key factors have contributed to this rapid growth, including evolving consumer preferences, the implementation of favorable government initiatives, the increasing necessity for personal mobility, the availability of expanded inventory levels, the desire to upgrade to new-generation vehicles, the inclusion of comprehensive warranty options, and the focus on customer-centric digitalization. It is the culmination of these combined factors that has propelled the second-hand car market to new heights throughout India.”
“It is truly exciting to witness such a remarkable surge in transactions within the used car market. In fact, during this quarter alone, people sold 30 cars every 60 minutes on our platform. This remarkable upward trend is far from being a mere coincidence; rather, it is an integral part of a larger market movement that is reshaping the automotive landscape,” he added.
While it is now present in over 150 cities, Cars24 reports that non-metro cities such as Kochi, Chandigarh, Patna, Lucknow, Jaipur registered notable growth in used car sales, while Pune and Ahmedabad witnessed the fastest surge in used car sales. New Delhi was the top used car buying city, followed by Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kolkata, as per the Cars24 report.
The company also claims its financial services arm – Cars24 Financial Services doubling its business and disbursing used car loans worth Rs 2,000 crore in Q1 FY24.
“The current trend of replacing cars within a few years has significantly contributed to this exponential growth. This could be due to various factors such as changing preferences, the desire to own newer models with advanced features, or the availability of attractive financing options. As a result, more people are choosing to sell their used cars, creating a vibrant market for platforms like CARS24 that offer convenience, trust, and a streamlined selling process,” Cars24 states in its report.