Carspring
{{Short description|UK used car sales platform}}
{{update|date=October 2017}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Carspring
| logo = Carspring logo.svg
| type = Privately held company
| founded =
| founder = Dr Peter Baumgart, Maximilian Vollenbroich
| defunct =
| hq_location_city = London
| hq_location_country =
| area_served = United Kingdom
| industry = E-commerce/ used car
| website = {{url|https://carspring.co.uk}}
}}
Carspring was an online platform for buying used cars in the United Kingdom. Launched in March 2015,{{Cite web|url=https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/09471632/officers|title=CARSPRING LIMITED - Officers (free information from Companies House)|website=beta.companieshouse.gov.uk|access-date=2016-12-15}} the company allows users to buy or finance used cars online.{{Cite web|url=https://www.carspring.co.uk/about-us|title={{!}} Carspring|last=Carspring|website=Carspring UK|access-date=2016-12-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202022043/https://www.carspring.co.uk/about-us|archive-date=2017-02-02|url-status=dead}}
The U.K site is currently not listing cars after a loss of investment.{{citation needed|date=January 2018}}
History
The company was founded in March 2015 by two former consultants, Dr Peter Baumgart and Maximilian Vollenbroich.{{Cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2015/05/12/carspring/|title=Rocket Internet's Carspring Is A Marketplace For Pre-Owned Cars|last=O'Hear|first=Steve|website=TechCrunch|access-date=2016-12-15}}
It is backed by Berlin-based startup ‘incubator’ Rocket Internet.{{Cite web|url=https://www.rocket-internet.com/companies/new-businesses|title=Companies {{!}} Rocket Internet|website=www.rocket-internet.com|access-date=2016-12-15}}
How it works
Users choose which car they would like to buy from an online catalogue, pay online, and have their car delivered to their home. Unlike other online UK car dealers, Carspring holds its own inventory as stock.{{Cite web |last=Sharman |first=Andy |date=2016-03-27 |title=Digital challengers shake up UK used car market |url=https://www.ft.com/content/8aaca92e-c5ad-11e5-b3b1-7b2481276e45 |access-date=2016-12-15 |website=FT.com}} Carspring adopts a similar model to US companies such as Beepi, Vroom, and Carvana.{{Cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/edmundingham/2015/09/10/can-tech-start-up-carspring-disrupt-the-42bn-used-car-market-in-the-uk/2/#7f5cc71c616d|title=Can Tech Startup Carspring Disrupt The £45B Used-Car Market In The UK?|last=Ingham|first=Edmund|newspaper=Forbes|access-date=2016-12-15}}
Reception
Startups.co.uk designed the company as the seventeenth most promising new online startup in UK.{{Cite news|url=http://startups.co.uk/startups-100/2016/17-carspring/|title=17. Carspring - Startups 100 by Startups.co.uk: Start up a successful business|date=2016-05-16|newspaper=Startups 100 by Startups.co.uk: Start up a successful business|language=en-US|access-date=2016-12-15}}