CARS24's used-car bet: FY25 revenue down 10%, ₹543 Cr loss, 6–12 month IPO plan

Full-stack pre-owned-car platform: buys cars from owners at inspection centres, reconditions them, sells through retail and dealer auctions, and adds financing (Loans24), insurance and ownership services.

India's used-car market would consolidate around one trusted full-stack player — buy, recondition, finance, resell — with scale and margins arriving only after dominance.

Raised over $1.3B (Inc42); last big round was ~$450M in Dec 2021 at a $3.2B valuation from SoftBank, Tencent and others, with no external funding round since.

Four founders — Vikram Chopra, Gajendra Jangid, Mehul Agrawal and Ruchit Agarwal — started CARS24 in Gurugram in 2015. The bet rested on a structural gap: India's used-car market processes roughly six million transactions a year, but only about one in five went through organized players, so a trusted full-stack brand could pull supply out of fragmented informal dealerships.

CARS24 became a unicorn in 2020 after a $200M Series E and raised about $450M in Dec 2021 at a $3.2B valuation. India gross revenue grew 25% to ₹6,910 Cr in FY24, then fell 10% to ₹6,233 Cr in FY25 with the net loss widening 9% to ₹543 Cr; vehicle procurement consumed 81% of total costs. With private capital closed since 2021, investors pushed profitability: CARS24 cut hundreds of jobs, wound down spare-parts venture Inspare and servicing business FourDoor, exited Thailand, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia, and lost senior leaders including its India CEO and COO co-founder Mehul Agrawal in early 2026.

Still private and running a self-described turnaround: CEO Vikram Chopra said in Jan 2026 CARS24 aims to list within six to twelve months, citing H1 FY26 adjusted net revenue up 18% to ₹651 Cr and adjusted EBITDA loss down 36% to ₹162 Cr, with December 2025 its strongest-ever month. As of June 2026 no DRHP had been filed.

India's used-car market was structurally informal — roughly six million annual transactions with only about a fifth going through organized platforms — leaving room for a trust-and-quality brand.

Buying inventory gave CARS24 control over supply, inspection and resale that pure marketplaces lacked, and financing (Loans24) added a higher-margin layer.

The capital-heavy model depended on continuous funding: when private markets closed after 2021, FY25 revenue fell 10% and the ₹543 Cr loss exposed the cost structure.

International expansion into Thailand, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia failed to pay and was pruned, while the UAE turned adjusted-EBITDA positive as a proof point.

The 2026 IPO push (6–12 month target, reverse-flip to India) is the company's chosen exit from the funding drought, with H1 FY26 adjusted losses down 36% as evidence.

A full-stack model buys dominance but pays for every car twice. When private capital closes, revenue and losses both turn against you until higher-margin services carry the model.

As of June 2026 CARS24 is still private and preparing to go public: CEO Vikram Chopra said in Jan 2026 the company aims to list within six to twelve months. It reported 1.1 crore monthly active users and 85,000 cars worth over ₹3,700 Cr traded in H1 FY26, with adjusted net revenue of ₹651 Cr (+18%) and an adjusted EBITDA loss of ₹162 Cr (−36%); December 2025 was its strongest month. It has bought Team BHP, CarInfo and VehicleInfo and consolidated around India, UAE and Australia, where UAE is adjusted-EBITDA positive. No DRHP had been filed as of mid-2026.