Used car startups seek new routes as revenue tanks

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Cars24, Spinny, CarDekho and CarTrade Tech have increased efforts on generating revenue from ancillary sources such as auto financing, insurance and classifieds, after witnessing a palpable slowdown in growth last fiscal year.

According to people tracking the sector, these firms faced the slowdown as the “growth-at-all-costs” push by venture-backed companies took a backseat and they started focusing on improving unit economics by controlling expenses. Tweaking of business models continued into the current fiscal 2024 as well.

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While SoftBank-backed Cars24 has decided to focus on its existing retail markets by slowing down on B2C expansion, it has increased the attention to value-added services like financing and insurance. The people said the company is also chalking up plans to introduce other services such as car servicing with an aim to build an ecosystem for owners and potential buyers of used vehicles. On Wednesday, the company announced its entry into car scrapping, which it launched initially in the National Capital Region and plans to expand to other cities.

Tiger Global-financed Spinny shut down its standalone portals for premium car sales and budget vehicles, laying off around 300 people in the process.

CarDekho also closed its retail used-car sales and customer-to-business (C2B) segments, and said it would put more focus on classifieds and insurance verticals. The company said it was able to record 46% growth in revenue during FY23 on the