Autos

Car vending-machine IPO Carvana tanks 14% on its debut

Carvana CEO: Our growth rate far surpasses the macro environment
VIDEO4:3204:32
Carvana CEO: Our growth rate far surpasses the macro environment

Shares of U.S. used-auto retailer Carvana fell Friday on its first day of trading at the New York Stock Exchange.

The stock opened trading 10 percent lower at $13.50 a share, below its IPO price of $15. Carvana was last trading down about 14 percent.

Carvana, which was founded in 2012, sells cars through its website and operates automated towers that store cars in U.S. cities such as Austin and Dallas in Texas, and Nashville, Tennessee. Customers can get cars delivered or pick them up from the vending machine-like towers.

People try their luck at winning a car from the Carvana vending machine at SXSW festival in Austin, Texas on March 12, 2016.
Michelle Castillo | CNBC

Carvana CEO Ernie Garcia told CNBC on Friday the variable costs for the online auto retailer are very low, so it is able to sell cars at a lower price, though quickly delivering a car can be quite expensive.

"We just have to get to a certain scale, and then the economics turn around pretty quickly," he said on "Squawk on the Street."

Carvana hired Wells Fargo and Bank of America to lead its IPO, according to Reuters.

—Reuters contributed to this report.