Costco helped sell more than half a million cars last year. Now General Motors, home of the Chevrolet and Cadillac brands, is tapping into Costco’s 50 million U.S. members to bring its electric vehicles to a wider audience.
GM told CNBC on Friday that it is using the Costco Auto Program, which charges automakers and car dealers a subscription fee in exchange for marketing and advertising. Costco members can access cars through the program at pre-arranged prices.
“We have a great partnership with Costco, and I’m really bullish on Costco because I like their brand,” GM North America President Marissa West, also a Costco member, told CNBC.
West called EVs a “huge opportunity” in the Costco-GM collaboration.
Related: Costco May Stop Selling Books Year-Round. Here’s Why.
As part of the partnership, Costco members get an exclusive $1,000 discount on new 2023 or 2024 Chevrolet Equinox, Chevrolet Blazer, and Cadillac Lyriq EVs until the end of July, in addition to other EV discounts offered by the company or a dealer.
Cadillac Lyriq electric vehicle. (Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for The Moth)
“There’s some pretty strong incentives going on in the market for EVs right now,” Jay Maxwell, general manager of the Costco Auto Program, told CNBC.
Costco has previously partnered with other automakers and currently has a $2,000 member-only discount with Volvo and its Polestar EV brand that also ends July 31.
Related: General Motors Stops Sharing Driving Data Amid Lawsuit
Maxwell disclosed that Costco Auto has helped sell more than 500,000 cars per year, on average, over the past five years.
This means that Costco helped sell at least 3% of all cars sold in the U.S. from 2019 to 2023.
7% of requests through Costco Auto last year were for EVs, per Maxwell.
Related: ‘Next Tesla’ Electric Car Startups Hit Demand Speed Bumps
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