Carvana Acquires A Stellantis Dealership

In a move that’s shocked many, Carvana has shifted from just selling used cars online to acquiring a new car dealership in Arizona. Granted, it’s a Stellantis dealership in a struggling town south of the Phoenix metro area, so the acquisition is anything but glamorous. Still, it marks a shift in Carvana’s approach to the automotive market, hinting at what might be coming.

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While Carvana confirmed with Automotive News that it finalized the purchase of Jerry Seiner Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram in Casa Grande on February 28, the company didn’t disclose how much it paid for the dealership. As it opens today, however, it will be called Casa Grande Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram.

That’s interesting because one might have suspected Carvana would use its name. Did it not because of some unfavorable association? Did Stellantis not approve its use? We don’t know.

What we do know is Stellantis isn’t exactly tearing it up in the market these days, with quite a few dealerships struggling. While Jerry Seiner has locations spread around the Intermountain West, Casa Grande is a town not know for being a huge economic center. We can’t imagine the dealership there was doing well.

This is likely a test for Carvana to see how it does at playing the new car sales game. Undoubtedly, other dealership chains will be watching the situation with a weary eye, because Carvana might be invading their space before long.

Automotive News does note Carvana’s shift is reminiscent of the move CarMax made, although in the opposite direction. CarMax started with new car dealerships, acting as a disruptor in the market, then moved increasingly into used vehicles until it got out of the new market entirely in 2021.

Will Carvana become a model Stellantis franchise owner? Will it start gobbling up new car dealerships throughout Arizona, then spread to other states? Or is this just a tryst that doesn’t really go anywhere?

Image via Carvana