Clyde by AMAG is the subscription arm of the AMAG Group AG, which began in 1945 as an automobile importer for the Swiss market. Since then, AMAG has expanded to include a full suite of services related to automobiles and mobility, including imports, sales, leasing, renting, fleet management, and parking.

In 2016, AMAG recognized the growing opportunity for mobility subscriptions in Switzerland. Many consumers, especially millennials, no longer had the need nor the desire to own a car. But the only other options available were pricey short-term renting and leasing, which has an average contract of three to four years. The right subscription model would need to serve the sweet spot between prohibitively expensive rentals and onerous, inflexible leasing commitments.

Big corporate companies are often slow to launch new business models because of the complexity of doing so. This is why, in 2018 AMAG founded the AMAG Innovation and Venture LAB to develop and test new business models in startup mode. Through this lab, they launched Clyde, an innovation project to explore creating a subscription car business. The vision for Clyde was to be a comprehensive mobility—not just car—subscription provider.

In order to launch, Clyde needed a solution built to handle subscriptions, so it reached out to Zuora.

“We had the cars. We had the service processes. We had the experience in financing. And we knew the rental business quite well,” says Remo Girard, Head of Technology—Product at Clyde. “We just needed Zuora to bring all our strengths together in one platform.”

Zuora delivered automated invoice processing out of the box, and that was just the beginning. Clyde by AMAG was able to launch multiple, flexible product offerings and get them up and running on Zuora in just eight weeks. By the end of the six-month pilot program, subscription membership had expanded rapidly with results exceeding targets by 1.5x.

Zuora filled the gap between CRM and back-end ERP systems, by integrating seamlessly with the other applications in Clyde’s subscription ecosystem: Salesforce and SAP. 

Clyde by AMAG partnered with Namics—a Merkle Company for their local footprint, consulting capabilities, proven agile methodology, and rapid implementation—a partnership that enabled bringing this new innovation to market efficiently.

“Zuora gave us the capability to add different products to one subscription,” says Girard. “And we also needed to be able to suspend a subscription with all the included products, if necessary. The only system that can handle that is Zuora.”

Clyde subscribers can choose from a suite of vehicles by VW, Audi, Škoda, SEAT, and more. Flat-rate subscription includes a variety of services including coverage for servicing, wear and tear, insurance, tires, local registration and taxes, home delivery or pickup, and of course, use by multiple drivers.

Now, Zuora is working closely with Clyde as it plans to add additional services. For example, parents who subscribe to a car can add child safety seats to their subscriptions. Mountain bikers can add a bike rack. And Clyde is considering collaborating with Spotify to include a free subscription for subscribers.

“Now that we have met our subscriber goals, we are ready to make a larger investment,” explains Girard. “The system is ready to scale.”