More than 800 dealerships have signed on to GM’s new CarBravo used car sales service since it was first launched in January, GM North America vice president Steve Carlisle confirmed to Automotive News in a recent interview.
CarBravo is a new used car sales platform that will sell used GM vehicles, as well as used vehicles from competing brands. The automaker began accepting dealer enrollments for the service in January, with the consumer-facing side of the platform set to go live later this year.
Carlisle said more than 800 dealers have signed up to market their vehicles on CarBravo and expects this number to grow to 1,200 dealers by the summer. The automaker will also open the first regional CarBravo distribution centers in the near future, which will house used GM and non-GM vehicles to provide additional inventory to dealers and dealer groups that have signed up with the online platform.
GM is well-poised to compete in the used-vehicle space, as it has a steady stream of second-hand vehicles coming in from customer trade-ins and lease expirations. This gives it an advantage over rival used car retailers like CarMax or Carvana, Carlisle told Automotive News, as these companies can sometimes have trouble sourcing quality used vehicles. This is especially true amid the semiconductor chip shortage, which has led to low new vehicle inventory and reduced the number of used vehicles entering the market from trade-ins and lease expirations.
CarBravo will use GM’s own digital retail sales platform developed in partnership with Tekion, which allows the user to complete the majority of the transaction online, but connects them with a dealership to finish the process. This service was first rolled out last year as an extension of the automaker’s existing Shop. Click. Drive. program, an online search tool that allows users to find certain vehicles in GM dealer inventory.
The automaker has received praise fromThe Consumer Federation of America over its policy to not sell vehicles through CarBravo that haven’t been repaired under a previously issued safety recall. The U.S. government prohibits the sale of new cars that have unaddressed safety recall defects, but this law has not yet been extended to the used car market.
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Comments
Sure, is nice that after all the startup companies got it rolling. I mean even Jimmy Johnson is in their ads. Where was Chevy then??
As always, the back yard looking for Easter eggs.
Isn’t this the same as “OK Used Cars” ?
Yet another feeble attempt by the “too big to fail” company to remain relevant as car purchases, like everything else, have started the inevitable transition to online purchases with zero haggling. Every advantage they have and disadvantage they claim competitors have is a 2 way street. The down side is that they’re trying to force consumers to continue dealing with dealership personnel by making the finalization done at the dealer. News Flash! People shop at Carvana and the like so they can SKIP the pain of dealing with salesmen and finance officers and do what they want at their pace with no pushing or rushing.
Shift Technologies is the best online used car dealer