The mobility sector has evolved according to the new demands of consumers and the challenges of today’s markets. In this way, we are now in a sector where car rental or subscription is beginning to be seen as a real alternative to ownership, that is, to buying your own car.
Within this landscape, Julio Ribes, Pablo Pascual and Blas Gil founded in 2018 Swipcara company based in Barcelona specializing in car rental, which has recently been bought byan English mobility company that also operates in the world of car rental, as well as buying and selling them digitally.
The purchase made by the English company was around 30 million euros, in a combination of cash and company shares. In the same way, according to statements by the participants, Ribes, Pascual and Gil will keep their positions at Swipcar to continue their growth, now under the mantle of Alex Chestermann, Founder of Cazoo
Cazoo seeks to strengthen its business model
The British company has a business model in which users can buy, sell, finance or even subscribe to a car, with an estimated delivery time of 72 hours. Everything from your platform and in a completely digital environment. Which has served to raise around 1,240 million euros. The company’s main market is , where in two years it has managed to sell approximately 40,000 vehicles, to which it adds a strong presence in the markets of Germany and .
In this way, the purchase of Swipcar represents a strategic action, since it allows the company to enter the markets of Spain, Italy and Portugal. In these the Barcelona company has a solid presence. In Spain alone, Swipcar has an estimated 300,000 users of its car rental service. how do you expose it “This agreement will allow us to accelerate our launch plans in Spain and Italy, offering consumers the option to buy, sell, finance or subscribe to a vehicle.”
As they explain on their website, the process of renting a car is quite simple. The client chooses the plan that best suits him according to his needs, the main use that he is going to give to his vehicle and the monthly fee that he wants to pay. Finally, you have to choose the desired vehicle, the estimated mileage throughout the year and the time for which you want to use the car (generally between 3 and 4 years).
Through Swipcar software, it verifies that the user is economically viable to opt for a renting vehicle. This process is very fast, it is carried out with the help of a specialized operator who guides the user at all times and explains all the steps that he must do. The vehicle is always delivered to the official dealer arranged with the closest possible rental company to the customer’s residence. In the case of pre-owned cars, delivery is made in Barcelona and Madrid, although Swipcar facilitates transport to the corresponding delivery points.
A similar growth story
Both Cazoo and Swipcar are relatively new players in the mobility market. However, the English company has managed to carve out a name for itself within the sector, becoming one of the most important agents in the European mobility scene. For its part, Swipcar, although with a more modest impact, has also managed to position itself within the European panorama in the field of vehicle renting. This similarity is considered as a good basis for the integration of both companies and the mutual promotion of their businesses, as Ribes explains.
“Cazoo has a vision and strategy that is fully aligned with ours and we are delighted to join forces and accelerate the launch of Cazoo and the digital transformation of vehicle sales and underwriting in Spain and Europe.”
In 2020, being in a pandemic, it presented a turnover of three million euros. Similarly, the growth of Swipcar has been progressively maintained, with an estimate of 500 monthly subscribers to the service, with a forecast of reaching 6,000 by the end of this year.
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