As technology is revolutionizing most industries around the globe, Cars24 is one of those disruptors to the Indian pre-owned car sector (India). Launched in 2015, the platform has quickly become popular as a "unicorn" company and transformed the way Indians buy and sell used cars. Following (co-)integration between the world of online commerce and a trust-building model, Cars24 has entered the Indian used-car market, building trust in the used-car sector by repositioning a shorter, safer, and more transparent used car marketplace. In this article, we’ll explore the inspiring success story of Cars24, how it evolved from an idea into a unicorn, the story behind its innovative prototype, and the impact it’s had on the Indian economy and society.
The Birth of Cars24: Founders’ Vision and Challenges
Cars24, created by Vikas Chawla, Rohit Chandra, and Mehul Agrawal, was designed with the possibility of changing the way the business of buying and selling the used cars in India is practiced today. The team consisted of different engineering, business and technology backgrounds and had identified a marketplace hole that nobody had fully reacted to. Simultaneously, they discovered that the used car market in India was characterized as being extremely fragmented and with no centralized operation and inconvenient possibilities for individuals to trade vehicles.4. Buyers and sellers had to deal with a lack of trust, hidden car issues, and an overall inefficient process. The reality of the situation was light years away from the reality of the present, not just simple-minded, globalised markets.
For this white gap, they aimed to develop a platform providing an open, easy to use, low stress platform for vehicle purchase/sale in India. They imagined a worldwide network of Internet, in which buyers and sellers would be directly linked, on case by case basis, and certified values of the body and of the cars would be simultaneously provided. An aim was to automate the entire process in a robust, high speed and automatic way.
However, the initial days weren’t easy. The used vehicle market in India was not only nascent but also averse to online transactions. Members preferred to follow the traditional approach (that is, negotiation in person, and trust was established on interpersonal basis). Cars24 had to convince both car owners and car buyers that a superior and safer experience could be reliably achieved through the platform.
Cars24’s Evolution: From Idea to Unicorn
The entire system faced a significant amount of problems during the first few weeks, but hard work prevailed in spite of the difficulties, aiming to achieve the vision of the members. Initially, they made a physical footprint in the mega cities (ie, they delivered the users' cars in the store for examination and evaluation) and and simply. Obviously, from day one, Cars24 made it absolutely clear that trust, and in fact, transparency, would be its foundation.
The founders quickly realized that a platform of technology-type was the only vehicle that the company could satisfy its growth requirements. In this era of technology, these could be made to produce a more efficient valuation process with more consistent valuation and equally, a more desirable experience for buyers and sellers. Car24, in particular, distinguished itself from the crowd by establishing an internet-based vehicle marketplace in which vehicle sellers could have their vehicles independently assessed and could be offered one-time, market-supported price bids directly. In addition to free documentation, easy payment and "no questions asked" returns policy, the online platform at last produced an impression of deeper built-in confidence to the users.
The idea of a "one-click" car appraisal - by the means of data analysis and machine learning that could estimate the value of the car based on, e.g., age, model, condition, etc - took the game to another level. This change opened up a completely new ecosystem where the vehicle owners no longer have to worry about the calculation and the sale of the vehicle at the wrong price or the deal with unscrupulous third parties.
The turning point happened in 2017, when Cars24 got its maiden round of funding and it led to its expansion all over India. The company rapidly grew its business in a number of cities, and its technology-driven methodology caught on. By 2019, Cars24 was active in more than 50 cities, and by 2020, the company reached unicorn status, becoming one of the leading startups in the Indian automotive market.
Uncovering the Hidden Stories: Insights from the Founders
Just as successful startups are frequently revealing, the founders have also disclosed insights in interviews that expose the underlying challenges and tactics for Cars24's success.
Interestingly, the founders of Cars24 originally encountered considerable hostility from the industry, which was entrenched in and dominated by conventional practices. There was market skepticism regarding a digital platform that was supposed to be able to reverse the paradigm. Arguably the most challenging task was to get car retailers and customers to believe that Cars24’s approach was not only correct, but fair. Firstly, a small number of dealers saw the platform as a replacement for the work they have for a living, and some objected to it.
Nevertheless, the Cars24 group never lost sight of the need to create a user-centered experience, and in the long run, Cars24 grew to represent a sense of trust in the used car ecosystem. Ed.1 (Vikas Chawla) has commented in an interview that it took long before car dealers realised that they did not need to engage in haggling with direct to consumer car buyers or with be tweeners for a fair price. The most significant magic was process transparency—no more black box pricing, or big promises around pricing.
Another less frequent story is how Cars24 (which is also one of the top pricing companies in the early stages) used the initial series of investments as an opportunity to go more deeply into data and technology, thus allowing Cars24 to refine its valuation framework. By leveraging big data, the organization can gain the capacity to see market phenomena and the dynamics of prices, and thus provide the customers with the lowest cost [12]. One of the main players in the success of Cars24, this data-driven approach turned out to be one of the contributing factors in Cars24 model.
Impact on the Indian Masses: Empowering Buyers and Sellers
The success of Cars24 is not only a commercial success, it has significantly changed the perception of car buying and selling in India by people. The platform has made old artifacts of past practices a target as well as provided market participants the new ways they need to reappraise or reengage with the past.
For the first time in the history of buying and selling cars, Thanks toCars24, car buyers and especially car sellers have now access to convenient and accurate price tagging as well as a seamless sales experience. The short selling cycle (money transferred to the bank account in hours) has been a strong temptation. It has made the used car car sales process far more commonplace, easy, and as a result provided "old" newess to the used car marketplace with a confidence to enter the marketplace.
Car buyers have the possibility to go to Cars24 to find a safe, good marketplace where it is actually possible to have information on the state of a used car, the genuineness, and so on. The 7-day return policy fosters buyer trust by providing the assurance that a purchase may be returned if the buyer wishes to do so, in return fostering trust in the platform. Being a car company with an extensive portfolio of affordable cars, Cars24 has played its key role to make aspirational cars available to a variety of people who could not have afforded them to purchase their own new car.
The platform has also been demonstrated as one of the factors to influence the perceptions of publics for a secondhand car. Previously, used cars were considered pretty much useless and bad investments. Cars24 has made every effort to overturn this picture by supplying vetted, rigorously tested vehicles, and in doing so has, inadvertently, built up its own reputation as the "go to" one-stop shop for used cars.
The Future of Cars24: Continuing to Redefine the Market
Going forward, Cars24 intends to capture an even greater share of the pie in the used car buying/selling market in India. As a digitalized and customer-focused model-based company, Cars24 is well poised to support its emergent development. The technology is also expanding beyond the United States to attempt to replicate the level of success in other countries, for example, in Australia.
While the digitalization of India is still in progress, the technology and ease of use that Cars24 has incorporated to provide its services will certainly alter the life path of car ownership in India. The corporate lenses defines the success of innovation, the intensity, and the ability to reason and overcome practical problems of society.
Conclusion
The transformation from Cars 24 (a pluripotent embryonic stage) to a unicorn startup is a story of disruption, invention, and a striking ability to fulfill the wants and needs of car buyers and car sellers. Integrity, technology, and user focus with the goal of creating a new market for used cars in India has been used by Cars24 to transform the used car market in India and reach millions of viewers who can become end users of car technology, not needing to make decisions in an empowered and informed way. With the continued growth and development, it is plausible to speculate on the process through which Cars24 will manage to dominate the digitization of the Indian automotive landscape.
Cars24, whose effect on society, consumer behaviour and how used cars are viewed is undeniable, is certainly changing the way cars are bought and sold in India.