This Mumbai-based entrepreneur’s startup ensures transparency for users while purchasing pre-owned cars

According to Statista, India sells 4.4 million pre-owned cars per year. The Indian used car market was valued at $24.24 billion in 2019, and it is expected to register a CAGR of 15.12 percent during the forecast period (2020-2025).

However, buying a car in the pre-owned market can be a task as 90 percent of the industry is not organised.

"Presently, the online Indian used car industry is dominated by aggregators and is full of tall unrealistic claims and marketing funds. On the grounds, the situation is completely different. Buyers are extremely disappointed by the price displayed online and the real sales price," says Pranav Sheth tells YourStory.

To solve the problem of price and information transparency, Pranav Sheth founded LeleCarr.com in 2020 in Mumbai. LeleCarr is an online platform for pre-owned car dealers to list their vehicle inventory.

"I realised that the pre-owned car industry has largely been unorganised. Apart from that, a digital revolution in the automobile industry is really necessary. Looking at these gaps, I wanted to use technology to solve this problem and restructure the pre-owned car buying and the selling process for the customers," says Pranav.

LeleCarr.com aims to be the go-to destination for pre-owned purchases at affordable costs. The startup also aims at transforming the used car market by empowering local pre-owned car dealerships.

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The business

LeleCarr was set up as a one-shop-stop for certified, safe, and secured pre-owned cars. The startup uses a strong pan India dealer network to help customers buy used cars.

"We aim to be a one-stop-shop for paperwork, finance, insurance, and legal formalities. What makes LeleCarr unique is that we focus on providing better and easy services to the customers by selling cars directly from the seller/dealer to the buyer, unlike other portals which majorly focus on the B2B business model with the focus being on buying the cars rather than selling them," says Pranav.

Pranav pursued BCom from Mumbai University and graduated in 2011. He has been associated with his family business of selling cars since the age of 16.

"The biggest challenge I had to overcome was the competition in the industry. I was very young when I came into this business, unlike other brokers who had experience as well as almost all the knowledge and industry insights. Another problem I faced was in getting my finances in order, which I overcame by working overtime and by continuing to save for the investment," he explains.

“While new car sales have taken a hit, people are buying pre-owned cars. One thing the pandemic has done is made people realise the importance of owning their own vehicle,” says Pranav while talking about the impact of COVID-19.

The company has served more than 1,000 customers.

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Business model

LeleCarr.com's business model is to focus on selling pre-owned cars to customers through a strong dealer network with a hassle-free experience. The dealer is onboarded on the LeleCarr platform through an annual subscription (around $100-$500 a year), allowing them to receive end-to-end training and participation in virtual car exhibition events, other than receiving multiple inquiries for their listed car inventory.

For buyers, the platform does not charge any extra fee when they buy the car from the dealer directly. The founder says the startup will soon roll out an exclusive app for individual dealers, which will help them drive more business to their dealership with the business expertise of LeleCarr.com. They help dealers in marketing their website, their inventory management and enable engagement with customers.

With over 100 leading dealers onboarded in Mumbai in less than a month, the platform hopes to onboard 1,000 such dealers across India on the platform soon. The startup aims to give the buyers a wide range of used car options, competitive prices, quality assurance, and a hassle-free buying experience.

"Buying a car online is different from buying regular goods over ecommerce. Dealers play a pivotal role in quality checks, paperwork, finance, insurance, and legal registrations, which is a cumbersome process. Our USP is that we assure customers with certified pre-owned cars sourced through the local dealership network. We enable our car buyers and dealers to have a smooth handshake when the car is sold," says Pranav.

Pranav has invested an undisclosed amount in the platform, and since the business is only five months old, he does not want to disclose the expected revenues for the current financial year.

The platform competes with Droom, Spinny, CarDekho, and Cars24.