K Car, a company that operates a directly managed used-car platform, said on the 10th that last year's revenue and operating profit came to 2.4388 trillion won and 76.0 billion won, up 6.0% and 11.5% from a year earlier. Both were record highs. Fourth-quarter revenue was 559.8 billion won, up 5.9% on-year, while operating profit was 12.4 billion won, down 18.9%.
A K Car official said, "Even though expectations for interest rate cuts grew last year, volatility in financial markets and concerns about an economic slowdown led to a 2.2% on-year decline in registrations in the used-car market. But K Car's annual sales volume rose 1.4% from a year earlier, and its market share expanded to 12.7%."
K Car's annual used-car sales volume reached 156,290 units. Retail sales were 114,496 units, with online sales accounting for 55.9% of that total. A K Car official analyzed, "As OMO, which combines online and offline, enters a stabilization phase, the balance between customer touchpoints and sales channels is strengthening." Auction sales climbed 6.5% on-year to a record 41,794 units.
Its platform strategy is also cited as a driver of improved results. K Car said that registrations on "My Car," its one-stop vehicle management platform launched in April last year, surpassed 100,000 vehicles as of last month. A K Car official said, "We secured medium- to long-term growth engines by expanding beyond a transaction-centered structure to a relationship-based platform that covers the entire vehicle life cycle."
Starting this year, K Car plans to evolve into a platform that spans all transaction types by launching new businesses such as a C2C (consumer-to-consumer) safe direct-deal service that supports person-to-person transactions. Through this, it aims to expand the addressable market and diversify its revenue model going forward.
K Car CEO Jeong In-guk said, "We will respond swiftly to market changes and pursue sustainable growth."