‘Only 14% female employees’: Cars24 CEO seeks ideas to fix leadership gender gap on Women's Day

Cars24 CEO Vikram Chopra admits ‘zero women directors’, asks internet for solutions.

A candid post by Vikram Chopra on X ahead of International Women's Day has sparked a conversation online about gender representation in corporate leadership.

The discussion began after Chopra publicly acknowledged the gender gap within his company, Cars24. In a detailed post, he shared internal numbers showing that women make up a relatively small portion of the company’s workforce, particularly at senior levels.

Vikram Chopra breaks down numbers 

According to Chopra, Cars24 currently has 6,803 employees in India, of which only 951 are women, accounting for roughly 14% of the workforce. More strikingly, he revealed that there are no women at the Director level (B6) within the organisation.

In his post, Chopra reflected on the issue and admitted that the lack of representation at senior levels raises difficult questions about the company’s internal systems and culture.

“Cars24 has 6,803 employees in India but only 951 are women. That's 14%. At Director level (B6), zero women. Not low. Zero,” Chopra wrote.

He added that while the company does hire women and sees better representation at entry-level positions, many women appear to drop off the leadership pipeline before reaching senior roles. According to him, this suggests the issue may go beyond hiring and point toward deeper structural or cultural challenges within the organisation.

Chopra also emphasised that workplace culture cannot be defined by messaging on recruitment pages but by who progresses and succeeds within the company.

“Culture is not what you say on your careers page. Culture is who grows here. Culture is who gets promoted. Culture is who stays,” he wrote.

The CEO said he had been reflecting on the numbers for several days and acknowledged that the lack of women in senior leadership requires serious introspection. Instead of offering quick explanations, he said he wants to listen directly to women leaders about what changes are necessary.

As part of that effort, Chopra invited senior women professionals from various industries including technology, operations, product and business to share their perspectives on what would make companies like Cars24 more inclusive and supportive for women leaders.

He also announced plans to organise a series of small roundtable discussions, both virtual and in-person, aimed at gathering insights from women leaders about workplace culture, leadership structures, and retention challenges.

“The goal isn't to check a box. It's to listen, learn, and redesign parts of our system that clearly aren't working,” Chopra wrote, encouraging women to comment or message him privately if they wished to participate.

The post quickly drew attention online, with several users sharing suggestions and observations about hiring practices and workplace bias.

One user suggested that the company should closely examine its internal recruitment process to identify possible gaps. The commenter asked whether the company’s HR teams were processing equal numbers of resumes from male and female candidates and whether unconscious bias during interviews might be influencing hiring decisions.

The user also noted that even if qualified women apply, systemic issues in the hiring or promotion process could prevent them from advancing into leadership roles.