Carsome waiting for ‘right timing’ for IPO; will launch sales of new EVs: CEO

[KUALA LUMPUR] E-commerce platform Carsome is waiting for the “right timing” to revive its dual-listing plans on the Nasdaq in the US and the Singapore Exchange, said chief executive officer Eric Cheng on Friday (Jul 14).

Carsome, Malaysia’s first tech unicorn startup, last year postponed the planned initial public offering (IPO) due to concerns that deteriorating macroeconomic conditions may affect its valuation.

The company provides end-to-end solutions to consumers and used-car dealers. These include media content creation, vehicle inspection, ownership transfer and financing services.

Speaking to reporters in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, Cheng said that Carsome is still interested in going public, but things are a “no go” for the time being as current economic conditions remain challenging.

Several reports last year noted that the company sought to raise between US$300 million and US$400 million at its IPO, which would give it a valuation of about US$2 billion.

Even as the listing plans have been shelved indefinitely, Cheng said Carsome is busy exploring new growth areas. These include scaling up its service centre business by expanding to Indonesia and Thailand, as well as venturing into sales of new electric vehicles (EVs).

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“We are in talks with a few car companies, and looking at launching the sales of new electric cars in a couple of months. These will be rolled out regionally in the markets where Carsome has a presence,” he added.

Cheng stressed that the move into the new-car sales space does not mean that the used-car market is saturated. The decision is mainly to look at different ways to create more growth opportunities for the company in the coming years, he said.

Citing data from Frost & Sullivan, he said the used-car market in South-east Asia is still growing fast, with an estimated compound annual growth rate of 10.4 per cent to US$159 billion from 2023 to 2025.

Headquartered in Malaysia, Carsome currently has a presence in Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand.

Beyond its core business, the company has levelled up its value chain by building used-car refurbishment facilities – called Carsome Certified Labs (CCLs) – to recondition well-maintained used cars to boost their value on the resale market.

The company has invested US$2 million in a 185,000-square-foot CCL in Malaysia that has 16 spray booths, 90 working bays and warehouse space. Carsome has another two CCLs in Indonesia and Thailand.

In 2022, the company’s revenue grew 250 per cent to reach US$1.5 billion, with its new regional retail line Carsome Certified – comprising reconditioned used cars – contributing 35 per cent of total revenue.

“We are confident in achieving our goal of breaking even next year,” said Cheng.

To date, Carsome employs over 4,000 employees across its offices in Asia. The company sold more than 150,000 cars in 2022, and has a monthly average of 15 million visitors to its platform.