Cazoo is targeting 100,000 annual used car sales and a £2 billion turnover in 2022 after raising a further $630 million (£414.2m) to fund its expansion in Europe and UK growth.

An investor group led by Viking Global Investors have invested the sum in in 2.00% Convertible Notes in the online car retailer, a statement issued at lunch time today (January 10) revealed.

The notes were issued at an initial conversion price of $5.00, which represents approximately a 20% premium to the trailing 5 trading day volume-weighted average price of the shares, it said.

The statement added: “The new proceeds, combined with Cazoo's existing cash and cash equivalent position of approximately $260m (£191.6m) as of December 31, 2021, will leave the company with a pro forma cash balance approaching $900m (£663.1m) following the transaction.”

News of the cash boost follows a report in The Sunday Times which highlighted a halving of Cazoo's volume amid a slump in the value of listed online car retail operations in the US.

Cazoo revealed in its trading statement today that it had sold 49,500 units last year (230% up on 2020), including 34,700 retail units.

Full year group revenues of at least £665 million were up by more than 300% year-on-year and ahead of guidance given at the time of the Q3 2021 results, it added.

Retail gross profit per unit in the UK was £450, Cazoo said, which it described as “a significant improvement” on the £229 loss of 2020.

Cazoo founder and Alex Chesterman said: “I am extremely proud of what Cazoo has achieved both since launch and particularly over the last 12 months.

“In 2021, our second full year of operation, we achieved record revenues of over £665m and have made significant progress on all aspects of our ambitious strategy.

“We have built a market leading proposition which consumers love, a world-class team of over 4,000, a household brand that is now recognised by over 75% of the UK population and significant infrastructure capabilities across the UK and EU.”

Cazoo is now targeting 100,000 annual used car sales and a £2 billion turnover in 2022 and said that it was “very well positioned” to capture a £475bn-plus opportunity across the UK and EU markets.

Today’s statement said: “Cazoo is pioneering the shift to online car buying and selling across the UK and EU, a £475+ billion market with low-single-digit digital penetration, lagging almost all other retail sectors and ripe for digital transformation.

“It is an incredibly fragmented space, with no incumbent having more than a small-single-digit percent market share.

“By leveraging data and technology to improve selection, quality, transparency and convenience, Cazoo is providing consumers with a far superior overall experience.”

The business said that it sees a clear path for significant retail GPU improvements.

A continued shift in buying mix, including further success in the sourcing of cars directly from consumers, efficiencies and operational leverage in reconditioning and logistics and improvements to stock turn is expected to see its GPU grow to £900 this year, it said.

Chesterman added: “Our strong growth in 2021 combined with the building blocks we have put in place, including this new funding, means that we are very well positioned to deliver on our plans and gives us strong confidence of meeting our medium and long term targets.

“We have navigated through some reconditioning constraints during the back half of last year and over the last few months we have seen our website inventory expand notably.

“As expected, this has helped lead to a record start to 2022 with unit sales up materially both sequentially and year-on-year.

“While we expect to continue to rapidly increase our market share, the market opportunity is so substantial that with just low-single-digit market shares and prudent GPU targets we would have an enormous business generating meaningful free-cash-flows.”