Cazoo has launched its online car retail offering in Italy in a move that completes its expansion into four countries in mainland Europe over the past six months.
The New York Stock Exchange-listed business, which currently aiming to cut £200 million in costs in a bid to make its UK operations self-funding, shows no sign of putting its international growth on hold.
Growth into Germany, France and Spain over last six months will be followed by its move to Italy, where it is set to follow a familiar high-profile marketing strategy by becoming the lead shirt sponsor for Serie A football team Bologna FC for the 2022/23 season
Commenting on the move into Italy, Cazoo founder and chief executive Alex Chesterman said: “We are very excited to now be live in Italy.
“We have reimagined car buying to make it simple and convenient whilst giving consumers total peace of mind when buying their next car.
“With Cazoo, you can purchase a used car entirely online, get it delivered to your door in a few days and have up to a week to make sure you love it.
“We have a great team in Italy, following the acquisition of brumbrum earlier this year, which has now been fully integrated into Cazoo and we look forward to delivering the best used car buying experience to consumers across the Italian market.”
Cazoo made its move into Italy with the help of the January acquisition of online car retailer brumbrum.
The long-term lease agreements previously offered by brumbrum will not be offered under Cazoo, but the business has informed existing customers that their current agreements remain valid.
A recent AM news insight feature explored whether fast-growing online used car retailers Cazoo, cinch and Carzam had had their plans disrupted by the ability of traditional car retailers to adapt to new digital trends in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The feature was prompted by reports of the demise of Carzam – it later entered voluntary receivership – and Cazoo’s falling share price, part of a downward trend affecting online-only car retail operations across the globe.
Cazoo subsequently announced its UK cost cutting measures, which will see it cease writing new business for its car subscription division and the close its former SMH Fleet Solutions vehicle preparation site with the loss of 100 jobs.
An early end was also brought to its high-profile shirt sponsorship deal with Premier League side Everton FC as it renegotiated a more lucrative deal with a betting company.
Cazoo remains one of the fastest growing businesses in Europe, however, and has helped to drive driven a shift to online car buying.
Founded by Chesterman in 2018, it has sold over 75,000 cars since its launch.
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