Affordability challenges are pushing some buyers out of the new vehicle market. Many are choosing used cars instead.
In turn, automakers are looking for ways to compete with many of the online retailers grabbing market share in the used car market and trying to bring some of those customers back into a new vehicle.
New vehicle sales tend to be more profitable for automakers, but reselling trade-ins as used vehicles is highly profitable for dealers. Used car prices are relatively strong, but newer online retailers such as Carvana and CarMax have made the market more competitive for dealers and other incumbent used car sellers.
“The internet and technology and apps on our phone have changed every aspect of retail, and probably one of the slowest areas of retail to have adopted to online and digital shopping has been the auto industry,” said Ivan Feinseth, partner, chief investment officer and director of research at Tigress Financial…
