New Delhi, April 26: Autotech platform CARS24 has laid off nearly 200 employees across various functions, as part of a restructuring exercise to meet long-term goals. The e-commerce platform for pre-owned vehicles said this is a “tough moment”.
“Over the past few weeks, we have had to make the difficult decision to part ways with around 200 of our teammates across various functions. Every person impacted gave this company their time, energy, and belief. That matters deeply, and we are genuinely grateful,” said Vikram Chopra, co-founder and CEO of Cars24, in a blog post.
He denied this decision as an exercise to reduce costs but “about aligning the team and structure with our long-term goals, and correcting where we’ve lost focus.” Cars24 offers a wide range of services, including buying and selling of pre-owned cars, financing, insurance, driver-on-demand and more.
Chopra further stated that over the last few months, “we realised that some projects did not deliver what we expected. Some roles were added too early. A few hypotheses simply didn’t hold when tested. And in some cases, we couldn’t offer the kind of growth or learning that people truly deserve”.
According to him, no more layoffs expected at this time as “this was a specific, intentional reset, not the beginning of a rolling plan”. To those impacted, the company is offering severance support, resume and LinkedIn assistance, mentorship, emotional wellness resources, and access to open roles within its network.
The online pre-owned car retailer platform reported a loss of Rs 498 crore in FY24, compared to Rs 468 crore in FY23, which is a 6.4 per cent increase. The company’s expenses saw 23.3 per cent increase (year-on-year) to Rs 7,461 crore, from Rs 6,053 crore in FY23, as per its financials.
The company’s income increased by 25.1 per cent to Rs 6,917 crore, which was Rs 5,530 crore in FY 23. Income from car sales grew by 24 per cent to Rs 6,400 crore last fiscal, which was Rs 5,164 crore in FY23. In December 2021, the company raised $450 million at a valuation of $3.3 billion. Its major investors include Alpha Wave, SoftBank, Tencent and DST Global, among others.
IANS
