CONCORD – The used car company Carvana will cut about 8% of its workforce or about 1,500 workers, CNBC reported on Friday. WRAL TechWire has not yet confirmed whether any of the company’s North Carolina workers, including those that would work out of a Cabarrus County facility announced in 2019, will be affected by the layoffs.
Ernie Garcia, the company’s CEO, sent an internal email to employees on Friday, according to CNBC, in which he cited economic headwinds, higher cost of borrowing, and consumers delaying purchasing vehicles. The full memo can be read on CNBC’s website.
“Today is a hard day,” CNBC reports the email read. Garcia also noted in the email that the company “failed to accurately predict how this would all play out and the impact it would have on our business,” CNBC reported.
The company’s stock price has taken a beating this year as the used vehicle market weakened following a period of high demand during 2020 and 2021. Since August 10, 2021, when one share of Carvana stock was priced at $376.83, the price has fallen about 97%, including a daily decrease on Friday of about 7% with shares trading around $7.70 per share.
Online car selling platform Carvana to create 413 jobs in Cabarrus County
Woes continue; will NC workers be impacted?
The company laid off some 2,500 workers in May, as reported by the Wall Street Journal and noted in a prior WRAL TechWire Jobs Report.
Carvana popularized the concept of the car “vending machine” and offers buyers and sellers of used vehicles an online experience with either delivery or pickup. There are Carvana “vending machine” facilities in Raleigh and Charlotte.
The Tempe, Arizona-headquartered company committed to create 413 jobs in Cabarrus County in 2019 in exchange for a performance-based economic incentives package, investing about $33 million over five years. This facility was intended to be used for the inspection and reconditioning of vehicles sold through the firm’s online platform.
Carvana did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
