GM uses CarBravo used car program to lure buyers to new vehicles

General Motors has revamped its certified used vehicle program into a marketplace called CarBravo that certifies vehicles from any automaker and uses them to lure shoppers into new vehicle purchases, CNBC reported.

About 1,615 of GM’s 3,700 dealers are enrolled in the program, which operates as an online portal where Chevrolet, Buick, and GMC dealers list certified used vehicles for sale nationwide. Cadillac maintains its own separate program. GM is targeting 250,000 CarBravo sales in 2026, and the company says about 38% of shoppers who start looking for used cars through the platform end up buying new vehicles instead.

The conversion happens at the dealership. A customer browsing CarBravo can compare a used Chevrolet Silverado against a used Ford F-150 and a used Ram 1500 on the same website. When they call the dealer to ask about the used truck, the salesperson can show them that a new Silverado costs only $10 or $15 more per month than the used Ford, once longer loan terms and manufacturer incentives are factored in. “You’ve shown the customer, you’re going to pay $500 for this used F-150, but you may pay $510 or $515 for this new Chevy,” John Fitzpatrick, senior manager of the CarBravo program, told CNBC. “And now all of a sudden the customer says, yeah, maybe I can do that.”

The monthly payment is the lever. The average transaction price of a new vehicle is about $50,000, while the average 3-year-old used car costs about $30,000 as of September, according to Cox Automotive. But customers base purchasing decisions on the monthly payment, not the sticker price. New cars come with longer loan terms than used ones, which lowers the monthly payment even on a more expensive vehicle. The share of new car loans lasting 84 months hit a record in the third quarter, with more than one in four loans stretching to seven years, according to Edmunds data cited by CNBC.

Ivan Feinseth, chief investment officer at Tigress Financial Partners, told CNBC that the longer loan terms are the mechanism. “On a 1- or 2-year-old car, you may be only stuck with a 3- or 4-year loan,” he said. “On a new car, you can get a 5-year, 6-year loan.” The result is that a $50,000 new car on a 72-month loan can have a lower monthly payment than a $30,000 used car on a 48-month loan. The customer pays more over the life of the loan, but the monthly burden is lighter, and the monthly burden is what determines the purchase.

The program is also a customer acquisition play. About 50% of the buyers GM has gained through CarBravo are new to the brand, with no record in any of the automaker’s customer databases. About 70% had never visited the dealership they ended up purchasing from. The used car listing is the first touchpoint, and the dealership relationship is the asset. Customers who buy warranty-backed certified vehicles return to the dealership for service, which accounts for about half of a typical dealership’s profits. GM can also sell subscriptions to connected vehicle services like OnStar, its safety and navigation platform.

GM is not alone in this strategy. Ford’s Blue Advantage program also certifies vehicles from other manufacturers and is on track for 450,000 sales in 2026, nearly double GM’s target. Toyota told CNBC that about 40% of its used car shoppers end up buying new. Honda’s vice president of automobile sales, Lance Woelfer, said certified buyers return for service at a rate 18% higher than non-certified used car buyers and purchase a new car at a rate 7% to 8% higher in the future. “It’s about that first relationship that allows us to then have that customer loyalty for life,” Woelfer said.

The competitive backdrop is Carvana and CarMax, the online used car retailers that have captured market share by making the buying process digital and frictionless. Feinseth told CNBC that the auto industry has been one of the slowest sectors of retail to adopt online and digital shopping. CarBravo is GM’s answer: a digital portal that drives customers to physical dealerships, combining the online browsing experience with the in-person closing and service relationship that online-only retailers cannot replicate.

What I think

The 38% conversion rate is the number that makes this program work. If GM can get a used car shopper onto a dealer lot and 38% of them drive off in a new vehicle, the used car listing is not a used car sale. It is a lead generation tool with a 38% close rate, and the cost of the lead is the margin on the used car that the customer did not buy. That is a customer acquisition cost of zero, and it is the best deal in automotive marketing.

The monthly payment trick is the part that should make regulators uncomfortable. A $50,000 car on an 84-month loan has a lower monthly payment than a $30,000 car on a 48-month loan, but the buyer pays $20,000 more in principal and thousands more in interest over the life of the loan. The dealer and the automaker make more money. The buyer takes on more debt for longer, with negative equity for most of the loan term. If the car is totaled in year three, the insurance payout does not cover the loan balance. The 84-month loan is a financial product that transfers risk from the lender to the borrower, and the transfer is hidden behind a monthly payment that looks affordable.

The strategy of certifying other automakers’ vehicles is smart and aggressive. A customer who comes to CarBravo looking for a used Ford F-150 is a Ford customer. If GM’s dealer can convert them to a new Chevy Silverado, GM has stolen a sale from Ford without Ford knowing it was in play. The used car listing is a competitive weapon aimed at rival brands’ customer bases. Ford is doing the same thing with Blue Advantage, and Toyota and Honda are doing their own versions. The used car market has become a battlefield for new car customer acquisition, and the certified program is the terrain.

The threat from Carvana and CarMax is real but limited. Online retailers can match on price and convenience, but they cannot match on the service relationship. A certified vehicle bought from a GM dealer comes with a warranty that is honored at every GM dealer in the country. A certified vehicle bought from Carvana comes with a Carvana warranty that is honored at Carvana. When the car needs a repair, the GM customer goes to the dealer and the dealer makes money on the service. The Carvana customer goes to Carvana or an independent shop, and the dealer does not make the money. The service revenue is the moat, and CarBravo is designed to fill it.

The 250,000 sales target is modest. Ford is doing 450,000. Toyota and Honda have been running certified programs for years and have larger dealer networks. GM is late to the strategy, but the execution is sound. The program will grow if the conversion rate holds and the dealers participate. The 1,615 enrolled dealers out of 3,700 is a 44% participation rate, and the laggards will join when they see the revenue from the ones who did. The used car market is where the next generation of buyers is, and GM has decided to meet them there.