CARS24 Unveils Platform To Expand Its Loan Offerings

SUMMARY

CARS24 team told Inc42 that the website was live because the LOANS24 pilot had been going on for the last few weeks

The company said that LOANS24 initially offered used car financing but now it will provide new car financing, purchasing financing, loans against cars and top-up loans on cars

CARS24 Financial Services Private Limited (CFSPL) was established as a wholly-owned subsidiary of CARS24 in 2019

In line with its strategy to diversify offerings and bolster its financial services, CARS24’s financial arm, Cars24

Financial Services Private Limited (CFSPL), has officially launched a credit platform, LOANS24, to cater to a wide audience, including car buyers and car owners among others.

However, the LOANS24 site had already been made live before its official launch today (February 20). CARS24 team told Inc42 that the website was live because the LOANS24 pilot had been going on for the last few weeks.

The company said that LOANS24 initially offered used car financing but now it will provide new car financing, purchasing financing, loans against cars and top-up loans on cars.

The LOANS24 website even shows that it offers other financing options like personal loans, inventory finance and around 100 credit card options from various banks.

Ruchit Agarwal, cofounder and CFO of CARS24, said, “Getting a car should feel exciting, not exhausting. But for too long, car loans have been a slow, complicated process, designed to test patience. If personal loans can be instant, why should car loans still feel like a maze of paperwork and waiting? That’s what we’re fixing with LOANS24.”

CARS24 Financial Services Private Limited (CFSPL) was established as a wholly-owned subsidiary of CARS24 in 2019. The company secured its Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) license from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in July 2019, allowing it to provide consumer loans to car dealers and end customers in the used car segment across multiple cities in India.

To date, the company claims to have assisted over 80,000 customers in purchasing their dream cars and has facilitated more than INR 15,000 crore in working capital loans for dealers, driving industry-wide growth. It has also enabled over INR 4,000 crore in car loans for customers purchasing through CARS24.

Beyond financing car purchases, CFSPL now offers loans against cars and top-up loans, making vehicle financing accessible to a broader audience beyond just CARS24’s customer base.

In a recent statement, the company revealed that 72% of its total loan volumes come from Tier-1 cities, while Tier-2 cities have increased their share to 26%.

The launch of LOANS24 is the latest in a series of expansions by CARS24. Recently, the company introduced CARS24 Driving School, a discovery platform that helps users find nearby driving schools.

In the past year, CARS24 has rolled out multiple car-related services, including driver hiring, car scrapping, a car management system, and a dashboard to track PUC, challans, insurance, and service history. It has also introduced a digital vault for storing vehicle-related documents, among other features.

Looking ahead, CARS24 plans to update its app with over 40 new services and is preparing to enter the new car sales market in the near future.

The company is also reportedly gearing up for an IPO, as indicated by cofounder Gajendra Jangid last year.

Founded in 2015 by Gajendra Jangid, Vikram Chopra, Ruchit Agarwal, and Mehul Agrawal, CARS24 operates a marketplace for buying and selling used cars across India, Australia, and the UAE, along with offering value-added services such as financing.

In the vehicle reselling segment, it competes with unicorns like CarTrade, Cars24, CarDekho, Spinny, and Droom. While CarTrade is already a listed company, three of these unicorns are eyeing IPOs in the near future.

Droom is slated to hit the public market by June 2025, Cars24 and CarDekho are also gearing up for IPO shortly.

However, except CarTrade all the other players mentioned above are far from profitability.

CARS24 saw an increase in its net loss in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) to INR 498.4 Cr, up 7% from INR 467.7 Cr reported in the previous year. The company then attributed this loss to investments in technology, data science, and customer experience enhancements for future growth.

However, its operating revenue jumped 25% to INR 6,917.1 Cr in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) from INR 5,529.6 Cr in the previous year on the back of an increase in unit sales and average selling price per car.