Cazoo has appointed former eBay and mobile.de executive Abhishek Roy as its European managing director ahead of its planned expansion into France and Germany.

News of the appointment comes a day after the online car retailer revealed that that the £5 billion-valued online car retailer had delivered a £69m adjusted EBITDA loss in the first half of 2021.

Roy will report to Cazoo’s group chief operating officer Paul Whitehead and will be responsible for the launch of Cazoo across, including the expansion of its current team of over 300 employees as the business begins its European expansion.

Cazoo plans to launch in France and Germany before the end of this year.

Cazoo founder and chief executive, Alex Chesterman, said: “I am delighted to welcome Abhishek to the Cazoo team.

“His experience in European automotive marketplaces and his understanding of the importance in creating and delivering exceptional customer experiences is a great match for us as we look to grow our team and deliver the best car buying and selling experience for consumers across Europe.”

Roy has 15 years’ management experience in European consumer technology businesses, with a particular focus in the automotive industry, Cazoo said.

He recently led the sale of eBay’s leading Nordic ecommerce platforms, dba and bilbasen, where he was chief executive, to the Schibsted Media Group.

Roy has also spent time as chief product officer at Germany’s largest car marketplace, mobile.de, where he helped scale the company.

He holds a degree in Economics from Cambridge University and an MBA from INSEAD and started his career as an analyst for Oliver Wyman.

Commenting on his new role with Cazoo, Roy said: “Cazoo has seen phenomenal growth and consumers have embraced the selection, transparency and convenience of buying and selling quality used cars entirely online.

“I am incredibly excited to be joining the Cazoo team to help create a world-class organisation across Europe that delivers consumers with an exceptional digital car buying and selling experience.”