ACV Auctions
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ACV Auctions Inc
Why is this company interesting?
ACV Auctions is an online wholesale auto auction platform that helps dealers source and manage inventory, price vehicles, transfer titles, and finance and transport vehicles.
The company operates in the $230bn US wholesale vehicle market which facilitates the sale of over 22m dealer and commercial vehicles per year. Of the 22m wholesale vehicles sold annually, ~32% are dealer-to-dealer, 22% are off-auctions, and over 30% are from commercial consignors to dealers. ACV operates in the dealer-to-dealer channel and competes directly with KAR Auction’s Backlot Cars and Manheim.
ACV offers buyers more transparency and assurance when purchasing wholesale and sellers and saves sellers time and money relative to using physical auctions. ACV’s fees are ~$360 per vehicle which is about half of KAR or Manheim.
The company has over 18,000 marketplace users and is looking to onboard larger dealers to build on the base of independents. ACV is run by the company’s early angel investor who took over from the two founders in 2016.
Written in December 2021
ACV Auctions bridges two areas of research we’ve been studying for a decade: auctions / marketplaces and the auto retail and wholesale market. More specifically, the inefficiency in the physical auto wholesale process led us to focus our research on understanding how ACV’s auction compares to traditional wholesale auctions.
This learning journey curates our work across:
- The structure of US auto wholesale market
- How inventory quality defines the wholesale channel
- How a physical vs ACV digital auction works
- How the inspection process differs at ACV vs Manheim
- How ACV’s Assurance program works
- How Carvana is positioned with ADESA
US Wholesale Auto Market Structure
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ACV vs Manheim, ADESA & Physical Auto Auctions: Indie Used Car Dealers
Carvana, ADESA, & US Auto Wholesale Auction Market
Former General Manager at ADESA and Director at ACV Auctions
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