General Motors CarBravo aims to change how people shop for used cars
Traditionally, GM dealerships selling new Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and other GM umbrella brands sold used cars from all manufacturers, often taken in as trades for new vehicles. However, there is increasing competition in the used car market, with some dealerships only selling used cars, such as Carvana, CarMax, and others. When the pandemic hit, many people began looking for different ways to purchase new and used vehicles, including services that never required them to step foot in a dealership. General Motors has announced a new way for people to shop for used vehicles called CarBravo.
What is CarBravo?
GM says CarBravo was designed to give customers shopping for used vehicles more access to an expansive inventory. The service also aims to deliver an improved shopping experience and exclusive ownership benefits only available via CarBravo. Utilizing the new service, customers will have access to use vehicles at GM dealerships and a "national central stock" of used GM vehicles.
One critical aspect of CarBravo is that while it's a GM-owned system, it will offer access to all brands of used vehicles. Presumably, the caveat is access to those used vehicles depends on availability at GM's network of dealerships. A hallmark of the service is that CarBravo is designed to allow customers to choose how they shop for a vehicle. They can shop online, at the dealership, or utilize both shopping methods if they want. A critical aspect of the CarBravo shopping experience is the new GM digital retail platform (DRP).
Digital Retail Platform
GM says its DRP was designed to make the vehicle shopping experience as transparent as possible. Transparency means clear dealer pricing and vehicle history reports for vehicles sold on the platform. Those features will be offered on all vehicles available via CarBravo, even if they aren't GM family vehicles.
GM's platform also requires that all vehicles sold via CarBravo be reconditioned and inspected to meet standards set by GM rather than the dealership. Much like CarMax, Carvana, and other similar used-car dealerships, GM will offer guaranteed purchase offers on used vehicles even if the seller doesn't buy another vehicle from CarBravo. Pricing offers are made with pricing set by Black Book, which is an industry standard for pricing used automobiles.
Standard Warranty & More
GM is trying to set CarBravo apart from the competition by offering a standard warranty on all vehicles purchased through its service. The nice thing about a warranty via CarBravo is that warranty service is provided through the nationwide network of GM dealerships. One of the challenges for people who purchase vehicles from used-car dealerships such as CarMax is that to get the most benefits from their warranty, they need to have the vehicle serviced at a CarMax dealership, and not all areas have one. Virtually every modest-sized city in the country has a GM dealership of some sort or is within a short drive of one.
Other important features for the service include roadside service, loaner cars, and eligible vehicles can get OnStar and SiriusXM trials. To make financing more accessible, shoppers who purchase a vehicle through CarBravo will have the opportunity to finance using GM Financial. When trying to make a purchase decision, shoppers will also be able to have a vehicle delivered to their home for a test drive and delivered directly to their home where available. GM has confirmed that it is currently enrolling dealerships to participate, and the service will launch in the spring of 2022.
Many vehicle shoppers prefer never to step foot inside a dealership if possible. New and used vehicle dealerships have done themselves a disservice over the years by subjecting customers to all manner of shenanigans from salespeople and dealership management. Finding a used vehicle, test driving it at home, and having it delivered directly to their homes is a huge deal for the average car-seeking individual.
Used Car Challenges Today
Anyone who has been forced to search for a new or used vehicle in recent months knows what a challenge that can be. With the pandemic dragging on and production of many components slowed or completely stopped, new vehicles are hard-to-find. Many new vehicle dealerships have only a handful of cars when they usually have hundreds.
Unfortunately, high demand and short supply mean that many dealerships significantly mark up both new and used vehicles. Anyone who has shopped for a used vehicle will have noted that many used cars that are several years old and have tens of thousands of miles on them are currently selling for prices on par with a brand-new car. One of the parts for new vehicles in the shortest supply is microchips, and the shortage of those is expected to last all year and potentially into 2023. The upside is anyone trying to sell a used car in the very near future will likely get more money than they would have gotten only a couple of years ago.