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Online car buying experience: Meet our client Clutch
By
Hamza Laarach
Nov 25, 2021
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In an exclusive interview with the Clutch Team, we discussed the emerging trends of online car buying and how they succeeded in creating a delightful customer experience for Canadians.
Dan Park, CEO and Steve Seibel, Founder & COO of Clutch
How did it all start?
When Stephen, our founder, had a frustrating experience trying to buy a car from a dealership he realized the car industry was broken for Canadians. Since its founding in 2016, Clutch has been a key player in modernizing the used car market. The company was tired of traditional dealerships that take advantage of customers. Clutch aims to offer its customers high-quality vehicles and a stress-free online car buying experience.
Clutch’s mission is to build customer trust by providing a delightful car buying and ownership experience while making a positive impact on the communities in which we operate. Clutch currently services Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island.
What is different about Clutch compared to other car dealers?
Clutch’s model is unique in the Canadian market and many of the other players offering online services approach the customer journey very differently. We hold customer experience and quality of the vehicle as fundamental tenets to our business model. We are fully vertically integrated so we can guarantee both the experience and the quality of the vehicle. Each car sold through Clutch undergoes a rigorous 210-point inspection and is reconditioned to the highest standard by its team of in-house mechanics.
Clutch saves customers hours of time by avoiding endless trips to the dealership or uncomfortable meetings with strangers in parking lots. The seamless end-to-end online process provides customers with detailed, high-resolution 360° photos of each vehicle, a free instant CarFax report, and access to a wide range of financing options without having to leave the comfort of their home. Finally, Clutch offers complete peace of mind with a 10-day money-back guarantee so customers can be sure the car fits in the routine of their everyday lives.
Purchase your next car from the comfort of your homePurchase your next car from the comfort of your home
What are you most proud of?
Our team’s dedication to growing the business and disrupting an industry is something we’re incredibly proud of and grateful for. They’re the backbone of Clutch – the first point-of-contact for Canadians turning to us out of frustration or desperation while looking for a quality used vehicle, and the last person customers speak to when receiving their car. Their commitment to providing exceptional customer experience has ultimately helped fuel our growth, earning Clutch a place on the The Globe and Mail’s Top Growing Companies list in 2021.
We’re currently hiring for several open positions, and looking forward to connecting with more of the brightest minds across Canada.
Clutch’s Team
We saw the recent success in raising $100 million in Series B funding, congratulations! can you tell us more about it? What are Clutch’s plans on using this capital to grow?
As Clutch begins to scale, we hope to see improved unit economics. The most expensive parts of the business involve acquiring the vehicles themselves, as well as the logistics of moving a vehicle through the production process. Expanding further across Canada will help the company gain efficiency on buying parts, delivery truck usage, lift utilization, and other costs that can one day be amortized over more units.
Additionally, with this funding, Clutch plans to make significant investments in growing its rapidly expanding team by over 200 people next year in order to continue delivering the easiest, most transparent, and most trusted way to buy a car in Canada.
Clutch was also featured as one of Linkedin’s 2021 Top Startups of the year, can you tell us more about it?
We are thrilled to have been included in LinkedIn’s Top Canadian Startups List this year alongside so many incredible companies. Our people are the foundation of our company and Linkedin’s data-driven approach in recognizing attraction of talent and engagement is humbling.
For more information, please check out our blog post on being recognized with this award.
Deliver a delightful car-buying experience to Canadians
What advice would you give to new entrepreneurs?
One of our core cultural values is to “have an underdog mentality” which means to approach every interaction with humility, always believe you can do better and never assume that you’ve won.
How would you see the company evolve in the coming months/years?
Clutch wants to service 90% of Canadians by the end of 2023, and that involves launching in a few more key cities across Canada. Cities like Montreal or Winnipeg are some of the larger cities in Canada which Clutch will eventually operate in.
