- CVNA
- META
- KMX
Buying a used car online can mean moving between vehicle listings, loan offers, and trade-in quotes before the shopper even starts negotiating.
Meta’s Muse is designed to do more of that work itself. The AI agent can browse websites, fill out forms, and negotiate on a user’s behalf. Meta even lists selling a car for more as one task Muse can handle. It asks for user approval before completing a purchase.
Morgan Stanley thinks that kind of technology could have an unusually large impact on auto retail because cars are expensive, bought infrequently, and difficult to compare.
In a Sept. 28 report shared with TheStreet, analysts led by Daniela Haigian said Carvana (CVNA) screens as the best-positioned auto retailer in their framework, with franchise dealers facing more pressure if AI agents take a larger role in vehicle shopping.
An AI agent can find and compare vehicles. It cannot inspect a used car, recondition it, transport it, or deliver it to the buyer.
Morgan Stanley says those physical parts of the transaction could make Carvana’s inventory, logistics, and reconditioning network more valuable.
Morgan Stanley’s current Carvana price target is $90. The Sept. 28 report did not announce a new target.
AI agents could compare more than a car’s sticker price
Online marketplaces such as CarGurus, Autotrader, and Kelley Blue Book already let shoppers search thousands of vehicles and compare listed prices.
But a listed price is only one part of a car deal.
A shopper may still need to compare dealer fees, financing terms, and trade-in offers across several sellers. Used vehicles also differ in mileage, condition, and features, making direct comparisons harder than shopping for identical consumer products.
Morgan Stanley says an AI agent could search across marketplaces and retailer websites, standardize those offers, and eventually help negotiate the transaction on the buyer’s behalf.
That could make it harder for a retailer to win a sale simply because the shopper recognizes its name, sees its advertisement first, or begins the search on its website.
The bank expects price, available inventory, and the ability to complete the transaction efficiently to become more important if agents take over more of the initial search and comparison work.
Morgan Stanley says Carvana already owns the physical pieces
Carvana combines a national inventory with inspection and reconditioning centers, vehicle logistics, and a digital system that handles financing, trade-ins, and purchases. Morgan Stanley says that those operations give an AI agent a more complete transaction to work with after it identifies a vehicle.
