7:20 am, January 26, 2023
One of the many shockwaves to happen to the motor trade in 2020 was the rise of the online used car dealers.
Almost overnight, consumers were barraged with adverts from new companies with names seemingly created from the highest-value Scrabble tiles.
While the rise and fall of Cazoo, has been well documented, one of the other newcomers was Cinch, backed by one of the biggest names in the business – Constellation Automotive Group.
It originally launched in 2019 with glitzy adverts and, just like its rivals, the Covid-19 lockdowns supercharged its business.
Here, we take a closer look at the secretive company’s rise, and chart its development so far.
What is Cinch?
Cinch’s marketing strapline is ‘cars without the faff’ and its website goes further, saying: ‘We make it easy for you to find, buy and own your perfect car by removing the faff. You do the clicking, we do everything else.’
In essence, Cinch is a used car dealer that sells cars to customers on the internet.
It promises customers can buy online with ‘complete confidence’, backing this up with pledges that all cars come with at least a six-month MOT with no advisories, a 90-day free warranty and three days’ free driveaway insurance.
It also adds that if a customer changes their mind after purchasing a car, they have a 14-day money back guarantee, although this is standard practice and one that all businesses adhere to in the UK.
Who owns Cinch?
It’s part of the Constellation Automotive Group (CAG) powerhouse, and Cinch is just one of its brands. Others include auction firm BCA, WeBuyAnyCar and the much-respected car dealer group Marshall Motor Group.
CAG operates many businesses and subsidiaries, but the BCA, WeBuyAnyCar, Marshall and Cinch relationship is savvy as all businesses consequently have access to a large number of used cars.
Why was Cinch launched?
Cinch originally launched as a classified website in 2019 and partnered with dealers and used car supermarkets. It cost £2.5m to develop and was an Auto Trader rival in many respects.
It allowed buyers to find their perfect used car from a trusted car dealer, and only listed cars that were less than seven years old and had covered 70,000 miles or less from a car dealer or car supermarket that had signed up to the Cinch platform.
BCA Marketplace (which was later rebranded Constellation Automotive Group) said the website was launched in direct response to consumer research which, at the time, found that 26 per cent of car buyers didn’t feel confident buying a second-hand car.
At launch, we spoke to Jason Cranswick – who has since left the firm – about how it wanted to work with car dealers. You can watch that original interview below:
In 2020, the business changed direction from being a classified platform to a company that sold used cars itself, akin to Carvana in the US.
Using the BCA and WeBuyCar divisions of the business, Cinch was immediately able to offer thousands of used cars and took the fight to traditional car dealers with its online, ‘faff-free’ approach to selling cars.
How does Cinch work?
It’s perfectly simple – customers visit the Cinch website and choose their used car. At the time of writing, Cinch had more than 1,500 SUVs, 4,200 hatchbacks and 700 EVs in stock, plus hundreds of coupes, estates and MPVs available.
On one car we selected, there were 20 images and internal and external 360-degree images. The car’s options and service history were detailed, so too were the running costs.
Customers can pay in full or pay monthly, and there’s also a part-exchange quoting tool. People don’t have to buy either, as they can sell their car with WeBuyAnyCar via the Cinch website.
Cinch offers free home delivery in as little as 72 hours, but like its rival Cazoo it offers collection too.
However, these collection points aren’t company-branded ex-showrooms like Cazoo’s, rather cars can be collected from WeBuyAnyCar points in car parks. There are more than 100 collection points across the UK.
Does Cinch offer car finance?
It does. Monthly payments or a ‘pay in full’ option is offered with each car offered on Cinch’s platform. Each car listing also features a finance calculator so customers can create their own finance deal and check their finance eligibility.
Customers can also be upsold a ‘CinchCare’ plan that comprises a lifetime warranty, servicing and breakdown cover. Plans start from £34.99 a month.
Who are Cinch’s rivals?
Cinch was one of three online used car dealers that came to the fore in 2020.
An early rival was Carzam, which was launched in 2020 by Big Motoring World’s Peter Waddell and industry veteran John Bailey. The pair ploughed £50m into Carzam when establishing it, but the business went into voluntary receivership on June 1, 2022.
You can watch our review of Carzam and how it worked in the video below.
Cinch’s most obvious rival, though, is Cazoo. Both have had meteoric rises thanks to multi-million-pound advertising campaigns, but unlike Cinch, Cazoo blew millions on acquiring businesses right across the motor trade to shore up its business model.
At the time of writing, Cazoo had sold off many of the firms it has acquired since 2020, and is consulting with staff on site closures and job redundancies.
Is Cinch profitable?
Latest accounts (at the time of writing) filed with Companies House for the year ended April 3, 2022 show Cinch Cars Ltd recorded a £149.1m pre-tax loss, or £126.7m after tax.
The pre-tax loss was a significant 578 per cent change from the £22m loss the firm made the year before. Revenue stood at £815.6m while cost of sales were an £810.1m loss.
Cinch in the headlines
Cinch has had its fair share of media attention since it launched. Here, we list the major Cinch headlines from the Car Dealer Magazine website.
2023
2022
- Used car dealer Cinch comes under fire on BBC’s Rip Off Britain
- Park’s Motor Group boss’s call for probe into Cinch football league sponsorship feud is rejected
- Rangers claim victory over used car disruptor Cinch in long-running Scottish football league branding row
- Cinch ramps up Cazoo rivalry as online retailer announces deal to sponsor Crystal Palace
2021
- Cinch held talks over Ibrox naming rights before ugly sponsorship row, court told
- Cinch agrees historic six-year sponsorship deal with Northampton Saints
- Could Cinch be about to make £500m bid for listed used car supermarket Motorpoint?
- Cinch adds to growing sports portfolio after agreeing NFL deal
- Scottish Football Association to settle Cinch sponsorship debate
- Used car industry at heart of multi-million-pound football argument as Scottish champions Rangers refuse to advertise Cinch
- Cinch continues expansion with additions to leadership team
- BCA and Cinch owner buys up Rockingham Motor Speedway
- Cinch becomes headline partner of some of the UK’s biggest music festivals
- Cinch raises £1bn funding as owners plot European expansion plans
- Cinch starts search for 100 new employees to join its tech hub in Manchester
- Pandemic write-down leads to multi-million-pound loss at Cinch parent company
- Cinch ‘hoping for £5bn valuation’ amid £500m investment rumour
- Second sponsorship deal in a week for new online used car website Cinch
- Cinch becomes doubles partner as it signs up to sponsor major tennis tournament
2020
- Cinch signs up as headline partner of British Motor Show for five years
- Exclusive: Cinch director speaks out about used car sales website and why it wants to work with dealers
- BCA has launched its direct to consumer used car sales website Cinch with more stock on sale than Cazoo
- Cinch announces BTCC team sponsorship
2019
- Cinch off to a flying start with more than 1,000 retail sites on board
- It’s a cinch! New online site aims to raise quality of leads for dealers and supermarkets
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