Mumbai: Cars24 has brought Sudhir Shukla on board as chief marketing officer (CMO). In this new role, Shukla will be responsible for marketing and growth of the company’s India business, according to his Linkedin profile.
In his most recent role, Shukla worked with Star Sports as head of marketing. In this role, his key responsibility was to drive consumption for the entire sports portfolio.
Prior to his elevation, he was senior vice president – cricket. He joined Star as VP and head – marketing and brand strategy where he led projects across Hotstar, entertainment, and sports.
Before joining Star, Shukla worked with Mondelez International as head-modern trade, CSD and away from (NCD) channel. He was associated with Mondelez for over a decade.
Shukla is an alumnus of XLRI, Jamshedpur and Vivekanand Education Society’s Institute of Technology.
Mumbai: Adding to the joy of Onam, a homegrown e-commerce platform for pre-owned vehicles CARS24, has rolled out a new digital film, to celebrate the festival. The vibrant campaign film revolves around the iconic trend of lottery that has been ongoing in Kerala for decades.
Denoting the spirit of fortune, success, and happiness among family members and loved ones, the Malayalam film, with English subtitles, showcases the local elements of Kerala during festive celebrations.
Capturing the joy this lottery festival brings, in the brand film, an old ambassador car travels across the city distributing pamphlets of the Onam Bumper offer as the announcer encourages people to upgrade their lifestyle and choose and purchase their dream car with just a click on CARS24.
The film features TV star Riyas Narmakala, Kozhikode Radio Mirchi – RJ Kensha Zohra and CARS24 employee Shahid Salman, and is being promoted on CARS24’s social media platforms including Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.
Reflecting upon the rich culture and heritage of Kerala and celebrating the visit of King Mahabali, the film takes the viewer on a visual treat that showcases Puliyattam folk dance where a human-tiger dances to the tune of drums and children collect flower petals for the festival ceremonies and the car travelling by ferry along the backwaters of Kerala.
MUMBAI: CARS24, an e-commerce platform for pre-owned vehicles has rolled out its latest digital film ‘Dates or Best Rates’ that aims to create awareness for benefits of organised car buying and selling.
The film, conceptualised by Mind Your Language! humorously showcases how the platform makes the tedious and tiresome process of buying and selling cars convenient and hassle free by taking it online.
Set at a traffic signal, the ad film in Tamil language with English captions features a cyclist with a megaphone driving across cars with a mischievous agenda in mind. As a prank, he persuades the car owners stationed at the signal to sell their cars in exchange for dates. The dramatic breaks and sound effects in the music further elevate the scene capturing honest reactions to the hoax. And the final voice over- ‘With CARS24, you will never have a chance of being pranked’ brings the scene together, delivering the essence of the film.
The ad attempts to drive across the point that at CARS24, consumers not only get the best price but also the best quality capturing the true condition of the car for an enhanced consumer experience. With doorstep delivery of cars, friendly return policies and warranties, the brand aims to provide its customers with an efficient and reliable platform for their used vehicle requirements.
Commenting on the film, CARS24 head of brand Nida Naushad, said, “At CARS24, we aim to showcase relatable scenarios and experiences of the everyday consumer and this set up of a traffic signal is extremely powerful and resonating. Also, Tamil Nadu is an important market for us and through this light-hearted fun film, we wanted to bring light to how CARS24 is transforming the Indian pre-owned car industry and it is time for everyone to reap the benefits of this transformation.”
Mind Your Language! founder Deepan Ramachandran said, “Mind Your Language! helps national brands connect to South India. We identify relevant insights and cultural connections to create brand stories that strike an emotional chord with the South Indian consumer. In Tamil Nadu, there is a popular practice of exchanging scrap metal for dates. Thanks to a few comedy scenes in Tamil cinema, this fading custom has been preserved in the hearts of Tamilians. For CARS24, we gave this age-old custom a modern makeover and made it into a light-hearted and engaging film.”
The film has been released on CARS24’s social media platforms including Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and LinkedIn.
New Delhi: E-commerce platform for pre-owned vehicles, CARS24 is set to disrupt the used automobile ecosystem around the globe. The company has launched its business in Australia and UAE and is gearing up to launch business in Southeast Asian and Middle East countries this year.
As part of its expansion strategy, CARS24 will use its India playbook to expand globally and continue to invest in technology to transform the consumer experience in buying-selling cars, it said on Thursday. “In the last six years, we have worked very hard to revolutionise the way our consumers buy or sell their cars in India. Interestingly, the pain points of used car consumers across the globe remain pervasive. We are sure with our expertise and experience of operating in a diverse market like India, we will be able to cater to the needs of our new customers as well,” said CARS24’s co-founder and CEO Vikram Chopra.
Elaborating on the company’s international expansion plans, Chopra said, CARS24’s launch in markets of UAE, Australia and Southeast Asia marks a milestone moment in its growth story. “CARS24 is well-poised for explosive growth internationally and we will continue to offer our burgeoning roster of offerings to newer markets that have been at the forefront of embracing new technology and innovation,” he added.
CARS24 has earmarked an investment of over $100Million for international markets in 2021. These investments will be used to build the brand in these new territories coupled with a strong supply of cars for the platform, and a state-of-the-art workshop to recondition cars to ensure top quality, the company said in a statement.
Currently, CARS24 is shipping cars to customers across Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah and to Brisbane in Australia, shortly followed by Sydney and Melbourne as well. “We are delighted to be spearheading the global expansion of CARS24 in the Australian market. Australia is a car-loving nation of consumers who have had no alternative to the traditional used car buying model – until now. Australians are truly ready to embrace 100% online car buying; and with the support of our founders, we have incredibly high expectations for our growth in this market.”, said CARS24 Australia, GM Australia, Olga Rudenko.
Founded in 2015, CARS24 has grown rapidly over the years, using product, tech and data science, to fuel the growth in the Indian used cars sector and enabling a quality experience for sellers and buyers, completely online & from the comfort of their homes.
Mumbai: E-commerce platform for pre-owned vehicles CARS24 wants to disrupt the business, to simplify and transform used car purchases, and has made the entire sale and delivery process online. In a first for the Indian pre-owned automobiles industry, CARS24 will offer home delivery; a six-months warranty and a no-questions-asked seven-day return policy, just like you would experience while buying say a fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) product online.
The brand aims to lead the fully online drive and usher in a ‘clicks over bricks’ culture in India that encourages consumers to bear hug the simple convenience of buying their next car, prescheduled to arrive at their doorstep, sans a single paper transaction.
The used-cars app says it has an assortment of over 10,000 cars sale ready so buyers are faced with a wide selection of cars while seeking to find the exact model in the right condition and colour they want, rather than settle for a sub-optimal choice. Transparent pricing and a technology enabled catalogue allows buyers to quickly browse through thousands of cars and make the choice that suits them most.
CARS24 owns and fully reconditions thousands of quality used cars at its state-of-the-art workshop to ensure the cars are as good as new before offering them for sale. It is also investing heavily in technology based refurbishment centres in order to provide customers with good quality cars. In 2021, the brand will set up seven refurbishment facilities across 50 acres land in top Indian metro cities. Around 20,000 cars per month will be refurbished at these facilities allowing the brand to fulfil its promise of delivering the highest quality customer experience and satisfaction.
Commenting on the new proposition CARS24 co-founder & CEO Vikram Chopra said, “The widely accepted process of buying a car is outdated, tedious and tiresome, and definitely not fit for today’s consumers. The future of car buying is entirely online as it allows the buyers to buy what they like; and what they like is what they get on CARS24. To close the trust gap, we now equip our consumers with a no questions asked 7-day return on the car. Our customers love the proposition and hence, our online sales are growing rapidly. We look forward to continuing our mission of delivering the best car buying experience for consumers by providing better selection, quality, transparency, convenience and peace of mind making it no different to buying any other product online today.”
Over the past few months, CARS24 extensively used technology to revolutionise the way customers shop for cars. It has made huge investments for cataloguing cars to allowing the customer to make an informed decision to buy. Buyers may now inspect high quality, 360-degree images from the comfort of their home while simultaneously enjoying an immersive experience, just like a test drive. As part of this investment, 20 car studios across 10+ locations in the country are operationally cataloguing 400 cars a day, the brand said.
A customer centric policy at its core, CARS24 will ensure each car listed on the platform for sale has already passed 140 points of inspection; and no car unable to clear these stringent quality tests is listed. For prospective buyers of pre-owned cars, the company has also simplified the financing process by providing customised financing options; which again is fully contactless with video KYC and near real time processing of loans.
CARS24 is pioneering the shift to online car buying in India. Since the launch of the new business model, the brand claims to have sold more than 5000 cars to date.
NEW DELHI- Covid2019 battered the automotive industry in India with the demand for new cars and two-wheelers plummeted between March-May 2020. The month of April 2020 has gone down in the history of the country when not even a single car was except a few that were exported out of the country. The industry started to pick up since May 2020 and has been showing signs of recovery. Even then at a cumulative level, the first half of the year 2020 has battered the auto industry, even worst then the last year. In passenger vehicles, in particular, the April-June period saw sales drop of 78.43 percent, making it possibly the worst-ever quarter since the time such data were being compiled.
Covid2019 actually forced people to think twice before making investment into a big ticket purchase like cars. As a result, it created a window for the already existing new car market to grow further. Several brands have reported that there is an increased number of inquiries from customers around used cars. These include brands like Maruti Suzuki True Value and Hyundai’s H Promise.
Maruti Suzuki India Limited executive director marketing and sales, Shashank Srivastava said, “During lockdown scenario, most media got impacted due to restrictions and hence their consumption. In New normal, ensuring customer safety and communicating safe practices is of utmost priority.”
As per experts, the car buyers who had plans to buy new cars will opt for used cars seeing the economic uncertainty and the tougher times ahead. As economic activities resume, people prefer personal cars over public transport for the fear of being affected by the virus and to follow the physical distancing norms. This will give an impetus to the used car business.
People will either go for two-wheeler or pre-owned cars. Historically, it has been that whenever there’s an economic downturn people gravitate towards pre-owned goods as they are cost-effective.
Covid2019 has created a great opportunity for brands like Droom, CARS24, Olx, Mahindra First choice, and others in the space. They are aggressively promoting their products and released campaigns to connect with their consumers.
CARS24 rolled out a 360-degree campaign with MS Dhoni that talks about how CARS24 can help connect sellers with buyers directly making the process more transparent and easier for its new-age customers.
OLX CashMyCar is also doubling down digital presence across platforms. Maruti Suzuki also launched a 360-degree campaign on ‘Buy & Sell’ for True Value before the lockdown happened.
CARS24 co-founder and CMO Gajendra Jangid explains, “the size of the used car industry is 1.3 times the size of the new car market, in other words, used cars accounted for 55 percent of total 7.5 million car transactions in India. We are expecting a steady growth in demand post lockdown period due to the shift in budgets.”
He further said, “According to our recent research study, we saw that Intention to use private cars by consumers increased by 41 per cent and 22.5 per cent people who were preferring to buy new cars earlier are now shifting to pre-owned cars which looks promising for the pre-owned auto segment.”
However, since the time economic activity resumed, several automobile brands have also launched new products that were on hold. They are realigning new strategies to connect with the target audience.
OLX CashMyCar business head Amit Kumar shares that the launch of new models will definitely help the pre-owned car market as consumers will have a wider range of brands and models to choose from across price ranges.
Kumar explains, “Pre-owned car market actually benefits from the increased activity in the new car market. “An important source of pre-owned market supply is the new car sold on the exchange. So, more new cars entering the market augurs well for the pre-owned car market as this would result in the availability of fresh new models with the latest features.”
However, the used car market in India is highly unorganized, only a few organized players are operating in the market. The organized market contributes only 18 percent of total pre-owned cars sold in the country. The used car market size is around 1.5-1.7x (times) of the new car market. As per estimates, over 4 million pre-owned cars were traded and sold in FY19.
Increase demand, the rise in personal mobility.
Covid2019 has impacted the consumer’s behavior and preferences towards their commute choices. He prefers personal mobility over public transport.
According to Jangid, as social distancing is the primary norm of the ‘new normal’, people are inclined towards commuting through their personal vehicles. But at the same time, they are looking for more affordable and budget-friendly deals as well. “This is the reason behind people moving more towards owning a pre-owned vehicle that fulfills both requirements. Further to the resumption of the services as soon as Unlock was announced, we have witnessed a surge in used car sales, he said.”
However, during economic stress, customers are expected to downgrade their demand due to declining affordability and enhanced focus on functionality.
Srivastava explains, “Nearly 85 percent pre-owned car customers are two-wheeler upgrades. We are confident that the current situation and sentiments will have a positive rub off on the used car market as the price of the new vehicle would be higher.”
He further adds that telescoping of demand is expected to happen due to economic stress and customers will give more importance to functionality buying, Customers who were earlier planning to buy a Swift top variant may now consider the base variant. “First-time buyers are also expected to increase,” adds Srivastava.
The used car market has registered healthy growth in India in the last few months. According to statistics released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers’ (SIAM), pre-owned vehicle segment that accounts for 18 percent of the market share, registered estimated sales of 4.4 million units, whereas the new passenger vehicle sales in FY 20 stood at 2,775,679 units, dipping below the 3 million sales unit mark for the first time since FY17.
Kumar concluded by saying, “Pre-owned cars could see an increased supply of new car models. Buyers of pre-owned cars now would also prefer transacting with their local sellers instead of traveling to far off places which would further boost their local economy.” He also believes that the pre-owned industry will adopt digitization as a key pillar to ensure business continuity.
NEW DELHI: Former Indian cricket team captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, bid adieu to international cricket on 15 August. He made the declaration through his Instagram post where he wrote, “Thanks. Thanks a lot for ur love and support throughout. From 19.29 hrs consider me as Retired.”
Popularly known as captain cool and also one of the most successful cricket captains of India, he has led the team in many astonishing victories. Under his regime, India won three ICC trophies including the 2011 cricket world cup.
The unexpected announcement left many people shocked and netizens poured in their tributes for Dhoni and saluted the legendary cricketer. In just a few hours, social media was abuzz with his name and #DhoniRetires was trending on top.
The style of retirement was also very unique from the cricketer. Dhoni posted a video which highlighted some of the best moment he has experienced in his lifetime during the course of the game. It also featured other Indian cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul David and Virat Kohli.
Dhoni was not only the world’s highest-paid cricketer but a popular choice in the advertising world as well. Over the years, he has worked with an array of brands. In his astonishing career, he worked with multiple brands like Cars24, Mastercard, Netmeds, Dreams11, redBus, Snickers, Indigo Paints and many more. With Pepsi, MS Dhoni had the longest association of 11 years; it started in 2005 and campaigns like ‘Oh yes Abhi’ and ‘Change the game’ garnered a lot of attention.
Recently, he was featured in CARS24 360 degree marketing campaign, “Car bechni ho, toh CARS24” where Dhoni played dual characters of a seller and buyer.
ITC Ltd also released a film for Sunfeast Yipee when the brand expanded into the new category of pasta products. The TVC showcases him tasting six delicious pasta variants, offering the convenience of instant preparation.
The former captain had done many back to back TVC campaigns with Dream 11 and Snickers, with a new avatar each time.
According to the Duff & Phelps Celebrity Brand Valuation study 2019, while Virat Kohli retained his position as the biggest celebrity brand in India for the third successive year, Dhoni was ranked at number nine.
As per Forbes, in 2016, Dhoni’s net worth was around $31 million and brand endorsements comprised a large part of this value.
According to the Adex survey of TAM Media Research, during the January to June period of 2010, while Dhoni, at his peak, endorsed brands for 24 companies on TV, Shah Rukh Khan and Tendulkar were seen promoting the products of 16 and 15 companies, respectively.
During the period, ‘captain cool’ appeared for a host of brands, including Reebok, Aircel, Godrej, and TVS. In July 2010, he had signed a Rs 210 crore deal with Rhiti Sports Management and Mindscapes which till date is considered as one of the highest-paid deals.
Brands from across verticals joined the bandwagon and poured good wishes for the cricketer, and launched creatives on social media. Amul rolled out a heartwarming video, a montage of his achievement in his 16 years long international career.
NEW DELHI: Ogilvy has won the creative duties for CARS24. The business will be handled out of the agency’s Gurugram office.
CARS24 brand head Nida Naushad said,“We are delighted to welcome Ogilvy, as our new creative partners. CARS24 is on a mission to completely change the way India sells cars by making the process extremely easy and hassle-free. Now, with Ogilvy’s strong creative and strategic capabilities, we aim to move forward in a journey to make Cars24 India’s most preferred auto brand.”
The agency will be tasked with the mandate of building and scaling-up the brand and its marketing ecosystem through its integrated communications efforts. This will include communication development across TV, print, radio, social media, and other relevant touchpoints. Over the years CARS24 through its continued efforts has achieved a substantial share-of-mind, going forward Ogilvy will dedicate its services to garner share-of-heart for the brand.
Ogilvy Gurugram president and head of office Shouvik Roy said,“We are very excited to partner with a young dynamic brand like CARS24 that operates in a very challenging category. Our ambition is to partner CARS24 and makes it the brand of choice for all pre-owned car buyers in India. Our interactions with the CARS24 team has been very engaging and stimulating. And we are confident of some shining work coming out of this partnership.”
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NEW DELHI: Auto-tech company, CARS24, today, launched it’s latest campaign – ‘A car for everyone’s budget’ to offer affordable or budget-friendly pre-owned cars to its customers. Through this campaign, the company intends to address the growing demand of daily public transport commuters to own four-wheelers to continue social distancing norm and adjust in the ‘new normal’ world. The outdoor campaign is currently launched across Delhi – NCR and will soon be extended to other cities by August first week.
According to a recent survey by the company, there has been a potential impact of COVID2019 on the car purchase behaviour of daily commuters in India where people have shown a greater preference towards the other mode of transport than public transport. The survey also highlights that as a post lockdown effect, there has been an increase by 41 per cent in the intention of consumers to use private cars to commute and settle for pre-owned cars instead of brand-new cars to reduce pressure on their wallets. It further indicates that 48 per cent of CARS24’s customers prefer to own private cars.
CARS24 brand head Nida Naushad said, “Covid2019 has resulted in a more permanent shift in consumers’ attitude and shopping behaviour as well as how they commute. More people using public transport are finding it safer to own a private car but are still concerned about finding the right car in the budget. Hence, we decided to reach the customers where they are and target bus stops and metro stations. As a result, we witnessed an increase of 30 per cent on our website during the campaign period which is promising."
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New Delhi: India’s leading home-grown global talent management company Rhiti Sports Management has announced the strategic partnership between legendary cricketer MS Dhoni and CARS24, one of the country’s fastest growing tech-enabled used car companies. As part of this partnership facilitated by Rhiti Sports Management, Dhoni will own equity in CARS24 and will also act as its brand ambassador.
As Dhoni and several other leading sports personalities’ image and brand management consultant, Rhiti Sports has worked tirelessly to bring in new additions to their brand portfolio. As a fully integrated sports marketing and management company, Rhiti Sports offers a wide range of services such as sports consultancy, conceptualisation, athlete representation, sports asset management and marketing, event management, media rights distribution, sponsorship, live entertainment and original content production services.
According to Arun Pandey, Chairman and Managing Director of Rhiti Sports Management, “MS. Dhoni is a catalyst for ‘change’. He has changed the way cricket was seen earlier and how its is seen today. And, I can relate the same change in the space CARS24 caters to. Extremely delighted on facilitating this partnership.”
On his association with the brand, Dhoni said, “I am thrilled to be part of the CARS24 journey. Besides being a fan of all things to do with cars, I am also a fan of new age companies that are disruptive, innovative and shaping the future. CARS24 is definitely one of these companies. They have big ambitions and I am excited to work with them and help them achieve their goals.”
Dhoni is already the face of prestigious brands such as GoDaddy, Bharat Matrimony, Mastercard India, Dream11 and SEVEN among others and Rhiti Sports aims to increase his outreach in the months ahead. Some of the other leading sports personalities managed by the company are Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Faf Du Plessis, Mohit Sharma, Gurkeerat Singh, Karn Sharma, Pragyan Ojha and Kaustubh Radkar.
