Online dealer Carvana is getting further into brick-and-mortal retail, acquiring a second physical dealership this month after buying its first earlier this year in the Phoenix metro area.
Carvana bought Park Cities Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram in Dallas last week for an undisclosed price, according to the Car Dealership Guy.
That follows Carvana purchase in February of Jerry Seiner Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram in Casa Grande, Arizona.
The two dealerships, both selling Stellantis-manufactured brands popular in the U.S., amount to an immaterial part of Carvana’s nationwide operations, and Carvana has said little about them.
“I think that begs a series of intriguing questions, but it’s also very early,” Carvana CEO Ernie Garcia III said during a Q1 2025 earnings call, shortly after the first acquisition. “I think we’re just in the process now of experimenting and learning. And so I think it’s a bit early to share much more than that, but stay tuned.”
With the high overhead that goes with physical showrooms, the purchases seem counter to Carvana’s asset-light, online sales model. But they can be strategic in a couple ways.
The acquisitions, which get Carvana into new-car retail for the first time in the company’s 13-year history, make for a logical defensive move against Amazon, whose online sales program with U.S. Hyundai dealerships covers both new and used cars.
The dealerships also give Carvana access to trade-ins and off-lease vehicles from customers of those dealerships, Car Dealerhip Guy pointed out. Access to lightly-used pre-owned vehicles has been a big challenge for Carvana and other used-car dealers.
