CarOrder.com Out of Business
CarOrder Inc., which tried to change auto retailing by selling cars directly to consumers over the Internet, has shut down.
The two California car dealerships that CarOrder acquired as it attempted to become a bricks-and-mortar car dealer are up for sale.
CarOrder was started in 1999 by entrepreneur Brian Stafford, 24. The company began as a broker, but went shopping for car dealerships with an initial $100 million in cash and technology from Trilogy Inc.
The intent was to sell cars through a Web site, using a network of bricks-and-mortar dealerships as distribution points. But the plan went awry when auto manufacturers balked at granting franchises to the company. By then, CarOrder was running out of operating capital, shut down its Internet operation and changed its business model to mirror that of a traditional dealer.
CarOrder, which had a staff of 150, last summer, reduced personnel and closed its brokering operation, CarOrder.com, in August 2000, then bought two California car dealerships. Trilogy had invested $125 million in the business.
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