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We're going to be joined now by Carbon CEO Ernie Garcia, And you know, it's interesting, you're starting to see people really come back. They are trying to buy used cars in particular. What does the pipeline really look like and a consumer appetite look like going into the end of the year.
Yeah, well, thanks for having us. We're happy to be here.
I think I think Carbon has been doing a lot of work over the last couple of years to try to get ourselves to a great spot. I think the last you know, two years, seven quarters or so, we've had incredible results. The team's been doing a great job.
We're extremely proud of those results. I think a lot of what you're seeing right now has more to do with us making sure that we're delivering to customers simple experiences they love that are a great deal for them, and that enable us to do a great job financially as well. And so I think this is a lot more about Carbon in particular than the industry in general. But the industry in general is chugging along and looks
pretty stable as well, and that's a great industry for us. Hey, Ernie I'm here too, Matt Miller, Hey, how you doing.
I happen to be on set with Shanali. Listen.
A couple of years ago, you bought a wholesaler, Adessa, and I think at the time it was a couple of billion dollars for the acquisition. People were worried that the associated borrowing was going to be a drag. It turns out to have been, I think a brilliant move because it's helped you really grow your network to prep cars for sale.
How much of a piece of that of your success is that a Deessa acquisition?
Well, first of all, thanks for the characterization is brilliant. We'll take that all day long. I think undoubtedly it's a big part of our machine. We're extremely excited about it. I think, you know, building something different for customers where you have a chance for a real win win, where it's different for them and it's different for us economically.
As well, is hard.
It takes a ton of work, it takes a ton of ambition, it takes a long time, and oftentimes the road there is a little bit bumpy, and I think that was certainly the case for us, But it was something we had conviction in a the time. I think it's something that's showing up now to really be playing out well. It's great for the Adessa business and for their customers, it's great for our business, and so we're excited.
We still have a ton of work left to do to get the full benefits out of that acquisition, but.
I think we're well on our way and it's an exciting time.
How do you differentiate yourself in this business? Not a lot of people buy, you know, multiple cars per year, so they don't have the experience you would have with shopping for a lower price ticket item. How do you differentiate yourself from other used car businesses when you know it's often a decision people only make once every four or five years or ten.
Yeah.
Sure, well, I think the most important thing is make the experience, you know, very simple and meaningfully different. I think, you know, we've built our machine where we're totally vertically integrated, so all the decisions around financing, around the price of the car, around trade.
In value, it's all made by us.
All the systems are our own, and so customers can buy a car in minutes instead of hours.
The experience is very simple.
They have a huge selection, they go through the whole process with complete transparency, and so they walk out of it confident, and I think that that leaves, you know, an indelible mark in their mind that they remember for longer. I think there's no question that there are advantages to businesses where transactions happen with higher frequency, But there's also an advantage to being able to create a truly differentiated
experience that customers remember. And so our job is to give them great experiences and they tell their friends, and then that leads to the kind of results we've seen over the last couple of years.
You know, Ernie. The other question I have too, is around not your stock price, which is, you know, up more than three hundred and eighty percent this year, but about the other side of the equation here and the debt picture for Carvana you're looking at according to Bloomberg's DDIS page five point three billion dollars worth of total debt outstanding really turned out to twenty thirty one.
How do you.
Expect to pay some of that down next year? How that operation seemed to be improving so much? Where does that go?
Yeah, well, I think we're going to keep turning the wheel.
I think the most important thing we can do is keep performing well as a business, which is driven by all the simple fundamental things give customers a great transaction, keep you know, making the business more efficient, so it makes it better for them and more efficient for us economically. You know, we were lucky enough to have very significant net income. This quarter was one hundred and forty eight million dollars, so we're generating a lot of cash.
You know that that allows us to pay down the debt over time.
We do plan to de lever, but we're in a great spot and I think that's not a central part of our consideration right now. What we're really focused on is just continuing to turn the wheel and get a little better every day, and I think that's been paying big dividends over the last couple of years.
Ernie, we thank you so very much for joining us today on the heels of rarnnings. Of course, that is carbon A CEO, Ernie Garcia