It wasn’t that long ago that an idea came together to change the way people buy and sell cars, simply by emphasizing a positive customer experience in an 100+ year old industry that desperately needed a shakeup in favor of the consumer. Nine short years and one million cars later, and Carvana has become the largest online auto retailer in the country.
But we didn’t become the fastest organic growth company of any automotive retailer in U.S. history, or bring as-soon-as-next-day delivery to more than 300 markets overnight. It took a village of dedicated individuals all sharing a pioneering spirit to create a category of their own and live by a culture of continuous improvement to make it happen. An unwavering pursuit of innovation, people-first values, and sturdy leadership have catapulted Carvana from a dreamy little startup into the fastest growing auto retailer in U.S. history, with 1 million happy buyers and counting to show for it.
Build the platform of choice for the best car buying and selling experience? Check.
Simplify the customer experience? Check.
Mission accomplished? Not even close.
Our 1 millionth car sold is merely a reflection of how far we’ve come, but Carvana has so much more ahead.
By putting the power in the hands of the consumer for the first time, it took less than a decade to disrupt a century-old trade with an e-commerce solution to answer the auto industry’s customer experience problem. And, in order to successfully build an entirely new automotive buying and selling experience, we needed to build an entirely new kind of team of like-minded individuals, all dedicated to redefining the customer experience from the ground up.
Carvana’s mission is to change the way people buy and sell used cars by creating a transparent, simple, and enjoyable customer experience. Powered by proprietary technology, a thriving nationwide logistics network, and a rapidly growing team of dedicated individuals across the country, we’re proud to say that we’re the only online automotive retailer to reach this tremendous milestone. Yet, with one million cars sold in our rearview mirror, we also acknowledge that we have work to do reach the millions more on the road ahead of us.
We also acknowledge that without our dedicated team members across the country to support more than a million customers, Carvana wouldn’t be able to grow into the second largest automotive retailer in such a short span of time, not to mention earn recognition as the third youngest Fortune 500 company in history. With a holistic, wellness-oriented approach to the broader employee experience, we take our mission of treating people better beyond dollars and driveways, and into the homes and hearts of our local communities through Passion Projects, funding employee ideas of social goodwill.
We’re not just the pioneer of online car buying, we’re pioneering what we believe is an increasingly necessary workplace culture. By ensuring Carvana functions like a well-oiled machine internally, we’ve been able to not only reinvest our team members’ collective energy, passion, and dedication towards our mission of creating a better car buying and selling experience, but better position ourselves to be a vanguard of positive change beyond just the automotive retail industry. The future depends on what we do in the present. Our employees decide what we prioritize and the positive impact we provide not just to our customers, but to our broader communities and the automotive industry at large.
There are more than 43,000 car dealerships and nearly 40 million used cars sold in the U.S. each year, with the largest used car dealer only commanding a 2% market share. Simply put, the auto industry is fragmented—and that means there’s ample room to grow. There’s almost infinite room to increase our customer reach, and as we do, our team will grow in tandem with the continued demand for our easy, transparent, customer-first offering. With one million cars sold, we firmly believe we can sell 2 million cars a year, but to do so, we need the continued efforts of dedicated, driven team members and the goodwill and earned loyalty of the customers we aim to serve to help get us there.
