Carvana

Carvana
Privately held company
Industry E-commerce / Car dealer
Founded January 2013 (2013-01)
Founder Ernie Garcia, Jr., Ryan Keeton, and Ben Huston
Headquarters Phoenix, Arizona, United States
Area served
 U.S.
Products Used cars
Slogan A Better Way to Buy a Car
Website www.carvana.com

Carvana is a technology start-up based in Phoenix, whose mission is to make car buying better by bringing technology, transparency, and exceptional customer service to the car buying process. Carvana ranked 5th on Forbes List of America's Most Promising Companies for 2015.[1]

Backed by DriveTime, Carvana is touted as a 100% online car buying company[2] with operations in Atlanta, Dallas, Austin, Houston, San Antonio, Nashville, Charlotte, Raleigh and Birmingham.

The company offers potential car buyers the opportunity to browse, finance and purchase a car online with available delivery or pick-up at its car vending machine in as little as 48 hours.[3] Carvana serves customers nationwide.[4]

Technology

The site features a patented 360-degree photo process to capture the interior and exterior of each car in its inventory.[5] The system utilizes the company’s annotation technology to allow users to take a vehicle for a virtual spin.[6]

In November 2013, Carvana opened the nation’s first car vending machine in Atlanta.[7] The structure provides a fully digital interactive experience complete with floor-to-ceiling windows, custom LED lighting, flat screen TVs and interactive keypads that identify customers based on unique buyer credentials provided by Carvana after the purchase has been completed.[8]

Carvana Atlanta Vending Machine

In November 2015, Carvana unveiled the world's first fully automated, coin-operated car vending machine in Nashville.[9] After completing vehicle purchases online, Carvana customers can opt for home delivery or pick-up from the company's vending machine locations in Atlanta or Nashville. If customers elect to pick up their newly purchased car in Nashville, they are given a customized coin that they drop into a customized coin slot. Once dropped into the slot, the coin initiates the car retrieval process, triggering a robotic arm that goes and grabs the customer's online purchase. When the car comes down, it is transferred to another robot that drives the car down a hallway and parks it in a delivery bay, where the customer receives their purchase and is free to take it home.[10] The five-story glass tower can hold up to 20 cars at a time.[11]

Sponsorships

On March 25, 2013, Carvana sponsored the tolls for Atlanta commuters traveling on the northbound and southbound lanes of the Georgia 400 Toll Road during the hours of 7 – 9 a.m. and 4- 6 p.m.[12]

Competitors

As of August 2015, Carvana's competitors included Beepi, Shift, and Vroom.[13]

References

  1. ↑ Strauss, Karsten. "America's Most Promising Companies: The Top 20 Of 2015". Forbes. Forbes. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
  2. ↑ "Carvana Launches 100 Percent Online Used-Car Retailer in Atlanta". Auto Remarketing. 31 January 2013. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  3. ↑ "New Online Auto Buying Service Launches". Atlanta Auto Beat. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  4. ↑ Barry, Erin. "Point, click and have a car delivered to your door". CNBC. Yahoo! Finance. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  5. ↑ "Carvana". CrunchBase. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  6. ↑ "Tech Check: Selling used cars online only". MyFoxAtlanta.com. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  7. ↑ Gastelu, Gary. "Carvana opens used car vending machine in Atlanta". Fox News. Fox News. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  8. ↑ Reed, Richard. "Would you buy a car from a vending machine". The Car Connection. FOX Philly. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  9. ↑ Jaynes, Nick. "There's a five-story vending machine dispensing used cars in Nashville". Mashable. Mashable. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  10. ↑ O'Kane, Sean. "A five-story vending machine for cars just opened in Nashville". The Verge. The Verge. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  11. ↑ Guff, Samantha. "Giant Car Vending Machine Serves Up Hot New Wheels". Huffington Post. Huffington Post. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  12. ↑ "Free Tolls on Ga. 400 During Monday's Rush Hours". Buckhead Patch. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  13. ↑ Jerry Hirsch for the Los Angeles Times. August 2, 2015. Cutting Edge Virtual used-car dealers gain traction
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