Carspring Co-founder Gives Lesson On Disrupting The Car Industry
Max Vollenbroich (pictured above) and Peter Baumgart co-founded online car dealership Carspring less than a year ago – Their mission is to completely revolutionise car buying.
With the rise of digital retail, and proof of concept state side, one thing is for sure, the traditional car dealership model is in the process of a major overhaul.
The big players have big resources but in a market that’s changing so quickly, that means costly brick and mortar dealerships, rigid contracts and an institutionalised way of ‘doing things’, we compete by doing things differently.
We sell AA inspected used cars, deliver them to our customer’s doors and provide comprehensive guarantees, building trust and doing everything we can to give everyone a great experience.
Being a young company, having a small team and being online are our biggest advantages as a company.
The old dealers may take weeks, months or years to implement real change, or real innovation, but we can deliver this in days.
Many times people have said that it’s not possible and so many times startups have bucked the perceived wisdom. When you see an idea working in one place, it could also work in similar markets.
Our addiction to our iPhones, iPads and laptops is changing the way we all shop. We’ve seen it in so many markets – Whether it’s Uber, Zoopla or Airbnb.
I remember buying my first car – A 2005 black Renault Clio. It was used and wasn’t a great experience as it kept breaking down a few times.
Although my experiences weren’t great, it was more about looking at a market that was not only increasingly dysfunctional but also unfair and not offering the best customer experience generally.
Convenience, like all e-commerce, is going to be the key for the future. But, most importantly, it’s about us owning the customer life-cycle. Our vision is to provide so much more than just a car.
The car industry is a competitive market. We respect it, we embrace it, but we’ve all got the attitude that we’re going to conquer it.