A New Year. A Clearer Purpose.

As we all step into 2026, it is only natural to reflect on the year gone by. I’ve found myself doing the same, specifically thinking about where CARS24 Arabia is today and how we got here.

2025 has been an important year for us. It wasn’t smooth, and at times it felt slower than we would have liked, but every bit of growth was hard-won. 

In August, we quietly crossed a milestone that means a lot to us: 365 days of profitability. One full year of building a business that stands on its own feet. Steady. Sustainable. Trusted.

Profitability is often reduced to numbers, optimised on spreadsheets. For me personally, it’s about discipline. It’s about making the right trade-offs by choosing long-term trust over short-term noise. And most importantly, it’s about a team that shows up every day with intent.

But what was special about 2025 wasn’t simply becoming profitable. It was about how we got there. Over the year, we found ourselves asking sharper, often uncomfortable questions, especially when we looked at things from the customer’s point of view. Where are we still creating friction? What are we overcomplicating? What do customers actually value, versus what we assume they do?

That mindset led us to experiment more deliberately. We launched new services like Chauferly and Car Care . Some bets will scale, some won’t. And that’s okay. What’s important is that we continue to listen closely, learn fast, and iterate with humility. It’s the only way we’ll grow sustainably and stay relevant to our customers’ evolving needs.

None of this happened overnight. It took over five years of building our UAE business from scratch. From first principles. Five years of learning from customers, regulators, partners, and the country itself.

A good idea gets you started here. Only execution earns you a place. And I am grateful that the UAE gave us the space to build, test, fail, improve, and earn the right to serve our customers.

Why 2026 Feels Different

2025 helped us strengthen our foundation. 2026 feels like the next chapter.

We are not changing who we are. We’re becoming clearer about why we exist. This will mould how we think about the future of our business and the role we want to play in the UAE. And this is also sharpening the standard we hold ourselves to.

The operating standard we’re setting for ourselves is fairly simple: listen better, earn deeper trust, and build with real empathy for the customers we serve.

Across CARS24, we’ve been anchoring ourselves to a simple idea: Better Drives, Better Lives.

It’s our core vision. What differs by market is how this is interpreted and lived. It reflects the responsibility we carry towards everyone we impact: our teams, our customers, our partners, and the wider ecosystem our work ultimately touches.

Buying and owning a car is more nuanced than simply purchasing and maintaining it. A car effectively transforms one’s quality of life. And we understand this acutely. 

This idea hasn’t appeared overnight. It’s something we’ve been conscious of for a while, and 2026 is when we expect it to truly blossom.

In India, this vision is already deeply defined and lived every day, shaping how teams think and operate. In the UAE, we are now beginning that same journey, deliberately and thoughtfully. 

What this vision means here is still taking shape. And that’s by design. This won’t be a finished definition handed down from the top, or be reduced to a statement that simply looks good on a slide. It will be shaped through collective ownership. Through conversations with our teams, customers, and partners. Through listening closely, debating openly, and basing it on the realities of this market.

The work has already started. And as we step into 2026, shaping this vision is one of our highest priorities. Because getting this right will influence not just what we build, but how we build it, and the kind of impact we create.

Building for the UAE, in the UAE.

As we look ahead to 2026, one thing is clear: we’re just getting started.

Deepening our commitment to the UAE means:

• Building systems and infrastructure that are designed for local realities, not imported assumptions
• Holding ourselves to higher bars on quality, safety, and trust, even when it’s harder to do so
• Staying committed to extending vehicle life and building a circular auto ecosystem that works at scale

We didn’t come here to copy-paste a model.

We came here to build something meaningful for this market.

And every year, the responsibility only grows.

A Quiet Thank You

To our team, for choosing the hard, right path every single day.

To our customers, for trusting us with decisions that matter.

To our partners, for building alongside us.

As the calendar flips, I don’t feel the need for big resolutions. Just a renewed commitment to do the basics exceptionally well.

Here’s to 2026.

To clearer purpose.

To better drives.

And to better lives for everyone we serve.

Happy New Year.