While Tesla is growing its manufacturing capabilities, one aspect of its operation that often flies under the radar is its used car business. However, two company officials have boasted that Tesla’s used car business is one of the company’s fastest growing verticals, and larger than some publicly traded used car sellers.
Jimmy Douglas, Tesla’s director of sales and delivery operations, made the claim while talking about a job listing shared by Alex Liebl, Manager, Used Cars at Tesla.
Liebel is currently looking for an Associate Manager for the Used Car Quality team. In sharing the job posting to his LinkedIn page, Liebel said the position “is a fast-paced, high-impact role in one of the company’s fastest-growing verticals.”
Tesla has complete control over its sales and service channels, as it sells directly to customers. This allows it to control used Tesla cars when the owners upgrade.
Douglas added, “Most people don’t realize that Tesla runs its own vertically-integrated, nationwide online used car retailer. It’s as big as some publicly traded used car retailers you’ve definitely heard of, despite no Super Bowl commercials or wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube men.” (via Electrek)
This was an apparent reference to used car sites like Carvana and AutoNation. Both businesses are worth between $4 to $6 billion. However, we don’t know what Tesla’s used car business is valued at since the company does not break it out in its quarterly reports, however estimates by Electrek put it at a run rate of $1 billion per annum.
This could mean Douglas is exaggerating a bit, but it could not be confirmed.
Tesla will have more used cars to sell thanks to its policy of not allowing customers to buy their vehicle at the end of their lease. Many of those leases are maturing at a time when prices of used Tesla vehicles are at all-time highs.
