New CTO for car subscription firm Blinker

AUSTRALIAN car subscription company Blinker has appointed Jeremy Gupta as chief technology officer.

A former CTO at Cox Automotive Australia, Mr Gupta is charged with taking Blinker’s software-as-a-service car subscription platform “to the next level, fuelling further growth”.

In a statement, the company said: “The appointment will help to maximise Blinker’s investment in new technologies to meet the changing needs of consumers and maximise revenues for dealers, manufacturers and other businesses looking to capitalise on car subscriptions.”

Blinker co-founder Michael Higgins added: “We are delighted to bring Jeremy to the Blinker team. His experience in automotive, design thinking and his customer-orientated approach to technology solutions will help further differentiate the Blinker car subscription platform.”

Mr Gupta spent almost three years with Cox Automotive, where he was responsible for implementing new technologies that delivered a cloud and mobile-first approach for CarsGuide and Autotrader.

Prior to that, he spent almost eight years at digital services firm Tigerspike, starting as a software engineer and working his way up to technical director, while earlier in his career he worked as a developer for a variety of companies including Airloom and NextGen.Net.

Blinker said Mr Gupta “brings significant experience in digitally transforming businesses through the development of bespoke services, mobility solutions and integrations, as well as creating and leading world-class engineering teams”.

As CTO, he “will be responsible for Blinker’s technology investments, to continue to evolve its cloud-based car subscription platform and better enable its customers to take advantage of what is expected to be a multibillion-dollar market”.

Mr Gupta described Blinker as “a really exciting business at the forefront of digital transformation within the automotive industry”.

“Traditionally, the automotive industry has invested in physical assets over technology. But changing consumer purchasing habits are turning attention to the online world and encouraging dealers to complement existing physical footprints with new technologies,” he said.

“Car subscription is the perfect solution and enables the automotive industry to complement rather than replace the in-store experience. Not only does car subscription offer a solution more in line with consumer demands, but it will also help to significantly improve revenues.

“I truly believe we’re on the cusp of significant change and Blinker is perfectly placed to offer its customers the opportunity to be at the forefront of this evolution.”