Cazoo was founded in 2018 by British internet entrepreneur Alex Chesterman. It launched an online marketplace for used cars in December 2019, which became its primary business.[1]
It is based in the UK but listed on the New York Stock Exchange following a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company, led by hedge fund manager Dan Och in August 2021. As of its listing the company had a valuation of US$8 billion. It subsequently lost over 97% of its market value, causing Alex Chesterman to step down as CEO in January 2023.[2]
In 2021 Cazoo had expanded internationally, launching used car marketplaces in Germany and France, and in early 2022 expanded briefly into Italy and Spain.[3] After announcing redundancies in the UK in June 2022, in September 2022, Cazoo announced it would abandon its business in the European Union, closing its operations in France, Germany, Italy and Spain and making all 750 of its EU employees redundant, leaving only its UK operation in business.[4]
UK redundancies were announced in March 2023 when 15 out of 22 showrooms were closed.[5] A year later, in March 2024, the company stopped buying and selling cars and closed its remaining showrooms, aiming to become purely an online market place; the move meant 728 redundancies. On 21 May 2024, Cazoo went into administration putting 208 remaining jobs at risk of redundancy.[6] Cazoo's wholesale business was bought by G3; Constellation Automotive Group also acquired some Cazoo assets; and used-car platform Motors.co.uk was reported in June 2024 to be buying Cazoo's brand and marketplace business.[7]
Motors has purchased the Cazoo brand[8], aiming to transform it into a mobile-first digital marketplace for used cars. The undisclosed acquisition confirms earlier reports that Motors was closing in on a deal for the collapsed used car operator. Over the coming weeks, Motors will launch a new Cazoo app and a fresh website featuring more than a quarter of a million used car listings. The goal is to provide consumers with a fresh approach to searching for cars, leveraging Motors’ 15-plus years of experience. Dealers with live Motors MultiSite packages will automatically benefit from exposure on Cazoo, free of charge.
