For many millions of emerging consumers, mobility is the key that unlocks opportunity.

Mobility dramatically increases school enrolments, improves access to healthcare, broadens employment opportunities, and is a major source of direct employment for many emerging consumers¹. This is true across emerging markets; one in six women around the world do not look for work for fear of being harrased in transit².

In a recent study, 50% of women in Chennai, India reported being sexually harassed whilst travelling on public transport³. In Bangladesh the number is as high as 84%⁴. A poll conducted by Thomson Reuters Foundation has ranked India as the fourth most unsafe country for women to use public transport⁵.

Mobility is deeply linked to poverty, and emerging consumers are quick to improve their personal mobility once they can afford it⁶. Traditionally, however, access to mobility for emerging consumers has been a difficult and fraught experience.

Personal finance is hard to obtain, insurance can be costly, vehicles fail to meet safety and emissions standards, and market pricing is opaque. In India, for instance, 80% of all used car sales happen outside of the showroom, through private sales or informal dealers selling out of garages and online.

There are estimated to be ~30,000 vehicle dealers, and these dealers frequently tamper with odometers or perform rudimentary repairs, fail to facilitate clean title transfers, carry small inventories that offer less choice, and require high margins on vendor-organised finance to compensate for lack of scale and volume. Overall, this leads to low consumer trust⁷. In this context, supporting increased access to mobility encompasses both delivering financial inclusion through vehicle finance and insurance options, and also delivering quality and consistency to lower-income consumers via more transparent vehicle marketplaces.

CarDekho is a leading auto-tech and mobility financing company in India, operating auto sales, classifieds, finance, and insurance businesses. It reaches 9.4 million emerging consumers, and a staggering 86% of Indian auto purchasers will visit the platform before buying a vehicle.

CarDekho’s market position gives it enormous power over the story of mobility in India, and in other emerging economies across Southeast Asia where it is expanding its presence. CarDekho’s insurance subsidiary, InsuranceDekho, is one of the largest digital insurance brokers in India. It enables millions of emerging customers to access insurance products and at the same time provides employment to over 41,000 active sales agents with a majority in Tier II cities and beyond.

Three quarters of those who accessed used car finance through CarDekho earn less than $10,000 per year and many other run small businesses and may not have fully documented recurring sources of income.

CarDekho not only improves access to vehicle insurance and finance but has made a concerted effort to improve the quality of vehicles sold on its platform. It provides documentation on each vehicle that validates ownership and accident history.

CarDekho is also enabling India’s transition to EVs, with, more than 4 million searches for EVs conducted across CarDekho’s platforms. Tax incentives and subsidies across Indian states now mean it is realistic that low-income consumers can upgrade traditional petrol and diesel vehicles for EVs, with running costs that are as much as 70% less over the life of the vehicle. The company’s fintech subsidiary Rupyy also provides loans to customers for electric two-wheelers, helping to increase the uptake of these vehicles, while its platforms provide information for those considering EVs, including maps of more than 1606 charging stations across 214 cities.