Used car prices soar as affordable options disappear
Used car prices have soared 41% since 2019. See why $15,000 cars are disappearing fast.
- Online auto retailer Carvana recently acquired at least six brick-and-mortar dealerships from Stellantis.
- The company spent a total of $171 million on acquisitions between late 2025 and early 2026.
- Recent research shows that most car buyers still prefer brick-and-mortar stores to online-only retailers.
Carvana is known as one of the nation’s largest online used car retailers. But in recent months, the company quietly acquired several brick-and-mortar stores in the U.S. from Stellantis, which owns popular car brands such as Jeep, Chrysler, Dodge and Ram.
Carvana reported in a regulatory filing with the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission that it purchased six retail outlets from Stellantis in late 2025 or early 2026 for a total of $171 million. The company also purchased a seventh Stellantis dealership in April, according to multiple published reports.
Both Carvana and Stellantis declined to comment on the acquisition.
Ernesto Garcia, Carvana’s co-founder, president, CEO and chairman, countered this when asked about the Stellantis dealer acquisition on a conference call with Carvana investors in April.
“It’s still early,” he said. “Stay tuned. We’ll share more when it’s time to share more.”
The USA TODAY Cars team considered how the move by one of the country’s largest online retailers to acquire more physical dealerships could impact its future and the car buyer experience.
What is Carvana? How does it rank among online car dealers?
Carvana is one of the largest online auto detailers in the United States. It competes with companies like CarGurus, CarMax, Autotrader, and DriveTime.
According to sales figures reported by the company in January, Carvana sold 596,641 units in 2025. “Our mission is to change the way people buy and sell cars,” the company says on its website. Carvana was founded in 2012 by Garcia and two partners. The company celebrated the sale of its 4 millionth vehicle in October 2024.
What does Carvana’s move to acquire dealerships mean for car buyers?
Carvana’s move to acquire brick-and-mortar car dealerships from Stellantis could further increase competition from CarMax, one of its major competitors. CarMax has a large online presence and an extensive network of brick-and-mortar dealerships across the United States.
CarMax has 261 dealerships in 41 states, according to its website. In contrast, Carvana operates 39 car vending machines in various states, in addition to the seven recently acquired Stellantis dealerships, according to a post on its website.
Opening more physical stores could be critical to Carvana’s long-term success, as only 30% of car buyers said they were interested in purchasing a new car completely online, according to research published by Cox Automotive in January 2026.
This number is even lower for new car buyers, with 18% of them saying they would like to make such purchases entirely online.
Here’s how car buyers who spoke with Cox ranked their favorite shopping tools.
- Third-party website: 75%
- Physical stores: 59%
- Search engine: 41%
- Second hand online retailer: 30%
- Social media: 26%
- Car manufacturer website: 25%
- AI site: 12%
What do analysts think about Carvana’s expansion into physical stores?
In an interview with USA TODAY, Erin Keating, an executive analyst at Cox Automotive, said the statistics explain why she thinks it’s time for online retailers like Carvana to branch out into the brick-and-mortar side of the auto sales business.
“At the end of the day, statistics show that most people want to be able to shop online, and while they may be comfortable getting a quote online, they want to go to the dealership when it comes time to complete the sale,” she said. “Carvana has a specific used car business, but the new car business is a different kind of thing.”
Mr. Keating said there may be other benefits to Carvana owning the physical dealerships it purchased from Stellantis. That includes allowing used car shoppers to come in for trade-ins at those locations and resume sales on existing online marketplaces.
“Partnering with manufacturers can help with acquisitions because they can get used cars as soon as they become available,” she says.
But Keating predicted it will be a while before most car buyers buy a car without actually seeing it or taking it for a test drive.
“I think we’re still a long way from a place where people are comfortable buying a car online without actually seeing it or test-driving it,” she says.
