Mexican used-car platform Kavak has opened a vehicle reconditioning plant in Colombia, with an investment of $2.1 million. The 16,900-square-meter plant has a capacity to process 2,500 cars per month and Kavak hopes to capture at least 5% of the country’s used car market.
Kavak currently has a catalog of some 500 vehicles in Colombia and is valued at about $8.7 billion. The platform is backed by Japan’s SoftBank and operates in 10 countries in Latin America and the Middle East.
Kavak made significant spending cuts and laid off staff in November 2020 due to a weak macroeconomic environment in Latin America. New investment rounds are not currently being considered, but may be depending on the speed of growth.
The company hopes to sell more than 5,000 cars per month in the future, as more than 90% of Colombia’s used vehicle sales are carried out directly and informally between buyer and seller, without post-sale support.