UCDP Ep #28 - Justin Davis of BacklotCars (Acq. KAR Global) on Online Wholesale & Used Cars

In this episode of the Used Car Dealer podcast, Zach Klempf interviews Justin Davis Co-Founder of BacklotCars which was recently acquired by KAR Global a publicly traded company. Since joining KAR, Davis has led the successful integration of BacklotCars and TradeRev, combining all U.S. users onto one streamlined platform and digital dealer-to-dealer marketplace. Davis and his team lean in to their entrepreneurial roots, aiming to deliver a simple and intuitive solution that helps dealers conveniently sell and buy used vehicles on their own schedule, with most deals closing in under one day. 

Some of the questions asked include: 

Q) So let’s get started and for those of us listening talk about how you got into the car business and the experiences that led you to found BacklotCars?
Q) How impactful was coming out to the Bay area and participating in the 500 startups program for your companies growth?
Q) 2020 was a roller coaster of a year for dealers, talk to me about what you observed from your lens at BacklotCars and the way dealers shifted to wholesale 100% online?
Q) How does Backlot’s platform differentiate from online wholesale competitors?
Q) Post 2021, do you see in-person versus online wholesale coming back for dealers? 
Q) What advice do you have for independent dealers when it comes to getting started working with an online wholesale company like Backlot?
Q) Two auto trends have taken mindshare last year and wanted to get your thoughts on them: online dealers like Carvana and Vroom who have gone public and subscription services for automotive. What are your thoughts on these two trends?
Q) What are KAR Global’s predictions for 2021 and what’s coming down the pipeline?
Q) What has BacklotCars’ integration into KAR Global been like from a process standpoint?
Q)What is BacklotCars doing that uniquely helps independent dealers?

Listen to our other podcast episodes: https://www.sellyautomotive.com/podcast
Read the transcribe of this episode - https://blog.sellyautomotive.com/blog/justin-davis-of-backlot-cars-on-online-wholesale-and-used-cars