GM Launches CarBravo, Online Used Car Sales Service

CarBravo, an online used car sales service. (photo" doc. pixabay)

JAKARTA - General Motors Co announced that it will launch an online used vehicle marketplace called CarBravo. It's a way for automakers and GM dealers to challenge Carvana Co, CarMax Inc and others, to profit from selling used vehicles.

The GM CarBravo website will combine vehicles owned by dealers Chevrolet, Buick and GMC, as well as cars and trucks controlled by GM Financial, GM's consumer finance subsidiary, after retrieving them from car rental agencies.

GM officials say the company's dealers have stock of about 400,000 used vehicles. GM said CarBravo will be launched to consumers in the spring of this year.

About 40 million used vehicles are sold annually in the United States, more than double the number of new cars and trucks. Automakers were largely removed from the profits from those sales, as well as information about customers and opportunities to sell recurring income services such as satellite radio subscriptions.

Used car prices have skyrocketed during the pandemic due to a lack of new car supplies amid chip supply chain constraints.

Carvana's online used car market, with a market value of $34 billion, fills the e-commerce space left open by automakers and most traditional dealers. They offer consumers a way to shop for a wide variety of used vehicles from various brands, and have car purchases delivered directly to their doorstep.

Now, GM is joining auto retail chains such as AutoNation in setting up an online used-vehicle market to counter Carvana, whose stock has fallen nearly 50% from a 52-week high.

Steve Carlisle, GM's head of North America operations, said Tuesday, January 11 that CarBravo could outsell Carvana because of the supply of vehicles controlled by GM and its dealers. "We thought we were pretty good against anyone out there," said Carlisle.

Carvana, in a statement Tuesday, did not discuss GM's move directly, but underlined that it is "pioneering online car buying" and has bought and sold more than 1 million vehicles.

CarMax's chief marketing officer, Jim Lyski, said in a statement, "While we're still learning about GM's recently announced service, what they've done is difficult," Lyski said.