SANTA MONICA, Calif. — TrueCar, a vehicle pricing and information site, recorded its one-millionth vehicle sale through its national Certified Dealer Network, which currently accounts for nearly three percent of U.S. monthly retail vehicle sales and more than 40,000 monthly transactions.

The milestone sale took place at Parkway Hyundai in Valencia, Calif. The vehicle was purchased by retired Army Staff Sgt. Catherine Davis and was financed through USAA and its TrueCar-powered buying service. 

Following a challenging 2012 for the California tech company, the thought of reaching one million sales just 11 months later seemed to be an impossible dream.

“This achievement is especially gratifying given the industry headwinds we faced last year,” says TrueCar founder and CEO Scott Painter.  “We’ve emerged as a stronger, more viable company as a result.”

The path to 1 million vehicles included logging 400,000-plus sales so far in 2013, which means more than $31 billion has now been spent at TrueCar dealers through the years.  However, Painter is quick to point out that insights from U.S. dealers, the TrueCar Dealer Advisory Board and “extremely supportive investors” led to a 2013 turnaround plan that stressed fair — not necessarily lowest — prices for consumers.

“We built a new car-buying process that is smoother and faster for all parties involved and reduces the sales process by an average of 53 minutes,” says Painter.  “The kind of transparency TrueCar provides is a healthy next step for the industry, and will result in an improved relationship between dealers and consumers, leading to improved profitability.”

To mark the milestone sale, TrueCar paid off Davis’ new Sonata.

“I don’t believe it! This stuff doesn’t happen to me,” said Davis. “This was my second time using USAA to buy a car. I was happy because I saved $5,499 off MSRP and got a brand new car, but this is amazing!”

USAA is a diversified financial services group of companies and subsidiaries serving people and families that serve or served in the U.S. military. Along with insurance, banking, investments and financial planning, USAA also offers its 9.4 million members access to its Car Buying Service (powered by TrueCar) and auto financing, both of which Davis utilized to purchase her 2014 Hyundai Sonata.