January 24, 2025 — Cars.com announced today that it has acquired DealerClub, a digital wholesale auction platform, in the industry’s transaction of 2025.
The purchase positions Cars.com, which rebranded as CarsCommerce in late 2023, for a significant play in the $10 billion automotive wholesale space over the next few years.
Launched in 2024, DealerClub is a relatively unknown entity in the automotive space, although its founder, Joe Nieman, has an impressive track record, having founded ACV Auctions in 2014, growing that company to more than $300 million in revenue in just a few years.
In its first year, DealerClub has grown to more than 650 dealership customers, mainly due to its reputation-based platform. Its platform focuses on creating efficient and transparent transactions between dealers, minimizing arbitration and title issues, problems that plague other online wholesale platforms.
DealerClub uses a unique model in that it does not charge buyer fees. It pays sellers only when a deal is transacted. The platform also encourages sellers to conduct business transparently and honestly by promoting seller ratings. Sellers with the best ratings will make more money on their sales.
For Cars.com‘s CEO Alex Vetter, the acquisition is another critical piece to his strategy of building out a platform integrating dealership retail and wholesale operations. Integrated with Cars Commerce’s AccuTrade platform, DealerClub will add a significant transactional revenue stream to Cars Commerce’s subscription business.
CarsCommerce paid approximately $25 million in cash at closing. Based on achieving certain financial thresholds, there is the potential for an additional performance-based consideration of up to $88 million.
