BusinessJun 16, 2026
Carvana Expands to New Cars Via Dealership Acquisitions
Rhea Lobo
Carvana has purchased seven Stellantis franchised dealerships since early 2025, and quietly entered the new-car market for the first time.
Franchised dealer status opens access to automaker-only wholesale auctions, a channel previously closed to Carvana.
John Murphy, a Wall Street analyst and automotive consultant, called it "a significant game changer in the secondary market," adding that expansion to other brands would compound the advantage.
Carvana has also been approved as a certified website provider directly by Stellantis, bypassing the third-party vendors most dealers rely on.
The move completes more of the vehicle lifecycle Carvana previously lacked. Used sales and auto financing were already core businesses.
New-car franchises add vehicle allocation rights and access to trade-ins at the point of first sale, feeding inventory back into Carvana's online marketplace.
Brian Gordon, president of Dave Cantin Group, a dealer advisory firm, said that after stabilizing their core business, Carvana realized there was significant revenue and gross profit opportunity its model hadn't contemplated.
US consumers spent $655B on new cars in 2025, compared with $524B on used, making the new-car market the larger prize.
Only 18% of new-car buyers say they want to complete a purchase entirely online, according to a January 2026 Cox Automotive study. Carvana's no-haggle, couch-based buying experience is already winning converts.
Established dealers are rattled. At a closed-door meeting in February, tension over Carvana's expansion ended talks abruptly. Stellantis responded by capping dealer acquisitions at one per rolling 12-month period, though two Carvana deals already in process were allowed to close.
Carvana's $74B market cap now exceeds that of General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis individually, giving it financial scale that traditional dealer groups cannot match.
The company has the capacity to recondition roughly 1.5M vehicles per year. That compares with actual sales of under 600K in 2025, leaving substantial room to absorb a parts and service build-out if it chooses that path.
