Alejandro Guerra has taken an unexpected turn in his career. A Mechanical Engineering graduate from the University of Austin, Texas, he had spent the last decade in the construction world. First holding various positions at Cemix —a Mexican company founded 40 years ago with the mission of lowering construction costs through the development of innovative materials and systems—, then as CEO of Almicon, a spin-off of Cemix focused on pipes. , valves and pumps.
Guerra decided to leave the comfort of an industry already known to him, to try his luck in a completely different one: automotive retail. Kavak recruited him in January as regional manager for the Northern Zone and this month appointed him CEO for Mexico, at a time when the company faces accelerated expansion and challenges accumulate as it moves through Latin America.
After raising 385 million dollars in October and another 485 million in April, the first Mexican unicorn has begun a process of expansion in the region, starting with Argentina and Brazil, while seeking to consolidate in the Mexican market.
The appointment of Alejandro Guerra joins that of Jaime Macaya, as general director in Argentina. Carlos García Ottati continues as Kavak’s global CEO.
The company founded in 2016 by entrepreneurs Carlos García Ottati, Loreanne García Ottati and Roger Laughlin, today has a presence in six cities in the country, with 22 inspection points. The new director of Kavak in Mexico has a clear goal for this year: “We want to recondition 40,000 cars in the second half of the year, twice as much as in the first half.”
To achieve this, the company will inject 8,000 million pesos into the country to increase reconditioning capacity, with the construction of a new center in Querétaro, the opening of more inspection points and the generation of 500 jobs.
To expand its geographic coverage, Guerra, 39, also plans to open new points of contact with clients in key regions such as Bajío, the north of the country and the southeast. “To reach 95% of Mexicans we have to continue expanding and we are looking for opportunities,” he says.
Kavak, which started operations four years ago with the sale of a Jetta model to a customer who at 3:00 am clicked the ‘buy’ button from his phone, will also bet on improving the omnichannel experience.
“All the digital part is receiving a lot of investment,” says Guerra, who explains that the company is working on improving communication with customers during the digital marketing process, even on algorithms that allow improving the experience at inspection points. “Today is very variable, perhaps if you arrive at 3 in the afternoon, when the point of sale is going crazy, you do not have the same experience as if you arrive on Tuesday at 7 in the evening,” he adds.
The company has already standardized the experience in two points of sale and will look to do so in the rest of its network in the next six months.
500 new jobs
Kavak started with six people who worked in the living room of one of its founders’ home. Most were former colleagues of Carlos García Ottati in Linio. They worked day and night developing a used car trading platform. “Many did not receive a salary, they were there because they had conviction in the project,” says García Otatti.
The company has built an attractive business model for the market based on three pillars: offering a novel solution, technology and equipment. Now, in the midst of accelerated expansion, the company’s investment plan seeks to strengthen these three axes.
In addition to investing in technology and infrastructure, Kavak plans to grow the kavakos team – as the company’s workers call themselves – with 500 hires, mostly mechanics and developers.
“We want to create a culture of diversity and inclusion where everyone succeeds,” says Guerra. “We are promoting a lot the issue of diversity and equal roles between the different sexes,” he adds.
The company launched a project a few months ago to recruit women mechanics. “We already have the first ones, but it has not been easy to find talent because for decades it has been a predominantly male environment,” said Loreanne García Ottati, co-founder and director of talent attraction and retention.
Today Kavak has 3,400 employees, of which 35% are women. “We are looking to expand the participation of women in different areas of the business … We aspire for it to reach half,” says Guerra.
The mission
In Mexico, little more than 30 million cars circulate and every year six or seven million change owners. The pre-owned business, according to Kavak’s calculations, generates transactions worth up to $ 60 billion. But 90% still occur in the informal market, on the street, in the parking lot of a commercial plaza or in the owner’s house. Payment is made in cash – with the risk of receiving counterfeit bills – or with a transfer or check – with the risk that you have no funds.
Although Kavak has gained ground in this market, it still has ample room for growth. “We have less than 1% of the market. My mission is to continue promoting the formalization of this market, with safe processes for users when buying and selling a car, with more financing options, so that everyone has access to a car without fear of compromising their pockets or their security, “says the manager.
