AUSTRALIAN car subscription company Loopit Group has appointed David McClatchey as national sales director and Richard Sands as head of engineering.

They will be based in Sydney and lead national teams and support the business’s plans for further growth this year.

Mr McClatchey has more than six years of experience leading sales within a diverse range of software as a service (SaaS) businesses, from start-ups to pre-IPO and unicorn status.

He has extensive industry knowledge and exposure to varying go-to-market strategies across industries, market segments and stakeholders.

In the new position at Loopit, Mr McClatchey will lead a Loopit’s national sales strategy to further expand and manage the company’s growing client base.

Mr McClatchey said: “I am thrilled to join the Loopit team and proud to be part of such an innovative, trailblazing brand.

“There is an evident need for subscription in the automotive market, which provides huge scope for expansion and makes me incredibly excited for the future of this business.

“I look forward to working with the strong team we have in place to continue growing the local and global car subscription market.”

Industry veteran Richard Sands has been appointed as head of engineering to lead Loopit’s technology development across the company.

He has more than 15 years of experience in building and scaling technology-driven companies, plus extensive automotive industry knowledge.

Among his resume of senior positions held at major brands is leading the technology team at CarsGuide.

Mr Sands also worked on launching the AutoTrader brand in Australia with a ground-up platform build while hiring, onboarding and mentoring the team.

Mr Sands said: “It’s truly an exciting time to be part of Australia’s thriving technology industry and I’m thrilled to be joining a company that has been a pioneer in subscription software for the automotive space.

“Loopit’s upcoming capital raising provides a huge scope to expand its growing footprint in local and international markets. I look forward to working with the strong team we have in place to build on the company’s recent success.”

Loopit co-founder and managing director Michael Higgins said: “We are pleased to welcome both David and Richard to the Loopit team and excited about the wealth of knowledge and experience they bring.

“They have joined the company at a significant period, as we embark on a new chapter of growth for the company.

“David and Richard’s experience in driving the expansion of highly reputable brands and technology, will contribute to the continued growth not only of our business, but the car subscription model more broadly.”

Loopit, which has recently launched in the UK, is a cloud-based end-to-end software solution that allows car dealerships, OEMs and emerging car subscription providers to offer car subscription-as-a-service to its customers.

By Neil Dowling