Zooming ahead of times

Self-drive rental start-up Zoomcar's journey in India has been marked by a series of pivots and strategic moves that dwarfed its desired results. The company is now in a reinvention mode

- Mayank Dhingra

There’s no guarantee that a new concept will work for the business in India even though it has been successful in other markets, especially overseas. This is the learning for Bengaluru-headquartered selfdrive rental start-up Zoomcar that promoted renting a car as opposed to buying it. The company has now reinvented its business model to stay afloat.

The company has transitioned to an asset-light, marketplace model, where individuals are free to list their personal cars on its digital platform. This strategy has achieved unit profitability and is helping the business to rapidly expand its range on offer to customers.

The company says it is witnessing two or three times more demand for its services in the country as there is a perceptible boom in domestic travel, particularly after Covid-19. “I think the rate of expansion is two-to-three times faster than it was before Covid-19, and what we are seeing is an explosion in growth, primarily on the back of a massive domestic travel push. We are seeing this not just in India, but in other markets as well,” said Greg Moran, founder, Zoomcar, in an interaction with Autocar Professional. While it presently has over 25,000 cars listed by individual hosts on its platform, Zoomcar says it is aiming to triple the range and reach at least 60,000 cars by end-CY23. “We estimate the rate of growth to remain steady not just in CY23, but over the next several years. Therefore, we are looking to widen our portfolio to supply the growing demand. And I think we are well positioned to do so,” Moran added.

The Airbnb of self-drive rentals