Carvana has pioneered online car buying and is now powering the trend of upcycling cars. Now, as more consumers embrace used vehicle ownership as one way to minimize their reliance on new manufacturing and the environmental impacts that go with it, they are also finding they can shop online, buy or sell their car in minutes, and schedule delivery or pick up from the comfort of home. Indeed, for those looking to put time back on their side, the days of spending hours haggling for a new-to-you vehicle at a dealership are officially over!
Additionally, with the rise of thrifting, a shopping trend that has picked up considerable steam recently, people aren’t just looking for clothing, antiques, art, housewares, seasonal items, and even furniture from a fashion or cost-saving perspective. Believe it or not, there is actually a socially and environmentally responsible influence that is driving these purchase decisions. In its own way, Carvana contributes to this growing circular economy.
Where companies more consciously design products to be reusable, we put roughly $1,000 of parts and labor into all the vehicles we recondition. Meaning in 2020, we invested more than $240 million to ensure customers could go the “greener” route and buy used instead of relying on new, doing what we can to keep environmental impacts down. And we want to do more! Carvana has the capacity at its inspection centers to recondition 617,000 vehicles. That means 617,000 vehicles have the potential to be recirculated and back on the road, opposed to adding that many new vehicles to our nation’s highways and byways and the carbon emissions that go with them.
Carvana is also making electric vehicles (EVs) more accessible and doing its part to help educate average Americans on more emissions conscious choices. As auto makers are moving aggressively to expand their EV offerings and all-new players are entering the market, there’s a wide selection of EVs for the eco-conscious car buyer. But with electric vehicle prices starting at $35,000, many buyers are turning to the used channel to find an affordable entry into that EV life.
In fact, Carvana saw a 24% increase in purchases of EVs YoY as shown in our 2nd annual (2020) Online Car Buyer Report. Overall, EVs sold quicker — 37 days compared to the average 70 days for other vehicles on the Carvana site — indicating the growing demand and appetite for more used EV solutions. And as our rapidly growing program of buying vehicles from customers continues to become more popular, Carvana is well poised to help keep a steady pipeline of EV inventory. In 2020 alone, two of the top five selling EVs were Teslas and 70% of Tesla’s sold on Carvana were acquired from customers.
Nearly nine years ago, Carvana set out to be the first online seller of cars by building modern technology, a newly optimized supply chain, and integrating vertically to serve modern customer preferences and deliver the best customer experiences available. For many customers, “used is the new green,” whether buying your next car or selling what you have to upcycle your current ride.
