Online used-vehicle retailer Carvana Co., once seen as a rising star in the COVID-19 era, is facing a reckoning in the wake of numerous setbacks in recent weeks. Those setbacks include wider financial losses in the first quarter, state regulatory challenges over titling and registration fumbles and sweeping job cuts.
To help readers follow the developments at Carvana, we’re compiling our ongoing coverage of the company in one organized timeline.
We will continue to closely watch Carvana, its stock price and financial status and will plan to update this timeline with future news stories about the retailer. One event to watch for: Carvana’s second-quarter earnings report coming in late July or August.
Feb. 24: Carvana announces a plan to buy the ADESA U.S. physical auction business from wholesale auction company KAR Global. The transaction price is about $2.2 billion.
April 20: Carvana says it sold fewer vehicles than it had planned at lower profits per vehicle in a “challenging” first quarter that produced a $506 million net loss, more than six times its loss in the year-earlier period.
April 25: Carvana’s pending acquisition of ADESA U.S. prompts some automakers and dealers to rethink or sever their relationships with the No. 2 U.S. auction house.
April 27: Apollo Global Management Inc. offers to buy $1.6 billion, or roughly half, of a junk-bond sale that Carvana offered to help finance its acquisition of ADESA U.S.
May 10: Carvana wraps up its purchase of ADESA U.S. The company says the acquisition, which includes 56 sites across the nation, will give it the ability to process far more cars and trucks and get them ready for retail.
Illinois suspends Carvana’s license to sell vehicles in the state. A state official says Carvana needs to resolve problems with how it transfers vehicle titles and issues out-of-state temporary registration permits before its license can be reinstated.
May 10-13: Carvana discloses that it will cut 2,500 operations jobs in an effort to right-size the company. The news triggers a stock sell-off and employee backlash. The next few months will be crucial for Carvana and its online retailing brethren to contain expenses and curb losses, analysts say.
Click here for Carvana’s current stock price.
