Mr. Yake: CarMax is unique as a company because they're focused solely on the used vehicle market, with a unique offering. CarMax has a little bit over 2% market share in the used vehicle market in the U.S., which is about a $250 billion to $275 billion market per year. Approximately 85% of their sales are focused on the 1- to 6-year-old used vehicle market, which is a large chunk of the overall market. They're focused on the high-end used car market, and they're focusing on that market with a unique offering that no one else out there is doing and no one else can touch.
TWST: What is so unique about their offering?
Mr. Yake: To sum up what separates CarMax, it's completely focused on the customer. It's a revolutionary concept because almost everyone else in the car industry is focused on gouging. That's simply the fact. If you're going to buy a new car, if you're going to get service, if you're going to buy a used car, everyone wants to extract the maximum dollar from you. CarMax is different because when they started out, they were part of Circuit City back in the early 1990s. The whole concept was, "Let's give the customer what they want and we'll make money from that, so the customer will also be satisfied. It'll be like a virtuous circle." The amazing thing is how they've been able to accomplish that, and that's why I'm so optimistic about the future of the company. It's because they've achieved what they set out to do to an amazing extent, and what they hope to do is no less than revolutionize how people buy cars in the U.S.
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