CE Web webscrape data has extremely accurate correlations for online auto dealers such as CVNA, KMX, and VRM. In today’s Insight Flash, we show how our new CE Web CE-Q dashboards help users get to insights from the data more quickly, specifically comparing topline sales for CVNA, KMX, and VRM as well as digging into what inventory trends may indicate about future sales levels. Looking only at our recommended metric of used units sold for these auto names, VRM is the clear leader with 177% growth September-to-date versus the year ago period, a 56.4% acceleration from the August growth rate. However, while CVNA is in second place for highest growth at 78.8%, that represents an acceleration of only 8.3%. Meanwhile, KMX growth has accelerated at a stronger pace of 13.4%, though only to 20.9% y/y.
Discover Fastest Growth
CE Web has the unique ability to break out VRM sales into E-Commerce versus TDA sales. This granularity highlights that both segments of VRM’s business have been growing Used Units Sold faster than either CVNA or KMX since May. However, TDA growth has in that period begun to outpace E-Commerce growth, reversing the lead that E-Commerce had had since the beginning of 2020.
Growth Comparison
The CE-Q dashboards allow for deeper analysis not only by comparing different segments across business, but also by helping users understand which metrics beyond the top line may be driving company performance. Looking at all of the metrics captured for the auto companies, it quickly becomes clear that VRM’s growing Inventory Value is outpacing Inventory Unit growth at a much larger margin than for competitors. A time series comparison shows that both KMX and VRM have been steadily increasing the value of their inventory per unit since February (whether through higher pricing or more upscale vehicles), while CVNA’s ratio flattened in the spring. And though KMX has seen a dip in value per unit so far in September, VRM has held the ratio steady.
Discover Moving Metrics
