Cazoo and Carvana crumple as market for online car sales goes into reverse

Drivers on Interstate 25 in Denver, Colorado, have to look twice to check the contents of the eight-storey glass tower by the road. But they are not mistaken. Inside, stacked high, are used cars that can be bought online and collected as if from a vending machine.

Customers of Carvana, the online used-car dealer behind the space-age structures, turn up and insert a token. Then, machinery in the building cranks into gear, shuffling the cars around and dropping the chosen vehicle in a lift, before the buyer buckles up and drives it off.

The slick technology is a far cry from the days when the industry had a reputation for Arthur Daley types flogging rusty old bangers at rip-off prices. During the pandemic, a wave