CarDekho, an online service which helps users buy used and new cars, has launched a digital loan platform and has tied up with lenders such as HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Tata Capital and Mahindra Finance. Through this platform, a potential buyer can can enquire about loan financing for a pre-inspected car with a dealer and they can check for eligibility with different buyers.
Note that this is only available for used car dealers and is not visible on the consumer site and all dealers are given access to the platform. As such, it looks like if a customer is looking to buy a car from an individual owner, he will not get financing through CarDekho’s portal. We’ve contacted the company to confirm this and we will update once we hear from them.
CarDekho.com says it has already facilitated annualized loan GMV of over $20 million since the launch of the pilot in Delhi NCR.
Buyers can start the loan application process by uploading their KYC and basic documents on the platform. The company has deep tech integrations with banks and lenders to generate instant and customized EMI quotes and enable instant applications. Through its tech systems the company plans to cut down loan processing time to less than 72 hours.
HDFC Bank investment: Interestingly, last year, HDFC Bank invested in CarDekho and the bank had said that their partnership will allow CarDekho’s users to buy a new or used car with possible financing from the lender. At the time, the car portal expected digital to have a 25% share in auto loan financing in the next 4 years and planned to facilitate auto loans worth a $1 billion through its portal. It also claims that around 75% of its users buying cars on the portal opt for a financing option.
Funding: In March, Girnar Software, the parent company of CarDekho, Gaadi and Zigwheels, raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Google Capital and participation from existing investor Hillhouse Capital. Prior to this it raised funding from HDFC Bank shortly after after raising Series B funding worth $50 million from Hillhouse Capital, Tybourne Capital, Sequoia and Ratan Tata. It also raised a Series A funding worth $15 million from Sequoia Capital in November 2013.
