10-K
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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM10-K
☒ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025
or
☐ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the transition period from to
Commission file number:001-39315
VROOM, INC.
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)
4700 Mercantile Dr.
Fort Worth, TX76137
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip code)
(518)535-9125
(Registrant's telephone number, including area code)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of each class Trading Symbol(s) Name of each exchange on which registered
Common Stock, $0.001 par value VRM Nasdaq Global Market
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None.
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes☐No☒
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes☐No☒
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes☒No☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes☒No☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of "large accelerated filer," "accelerated filer," "smaller reporting company," and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
Large accelerated filer ☐ Accelerated filer ☐
Non-accelerated filer ☒ Smaller reporting company ☒
Emerging growth company ☐
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☐
If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes☐No☒
As of June 30, 2025, the aggregate market value of the common stock of the registrant held by non-affiliates was $11.0 million based on the closing price of the common stock on The Nasdaq Global Market of the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC on such date.
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As of March 24, 2026, 5,206,073 shares of the registrant's common stock were outstanding.
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed all documents and reports required to be filed by Section 12, 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 subsequent to the distribution of securities under a plan confirmed by a court. ☒ Yes ☐ No
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
Certain portions of the information required to be furnished pursuant to Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K will be set forth in, and incorporated by reference from, the registrant’s definitive proxy statement for the annual meeting of stockholders which will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission no later than 120 days after the end of the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Part I 6
Item 1. Business 6
Item 1A. Risk Factors 15
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments 45
Item 1C. Cybersecurity 45
Item 2. Properties 46
Item 3. Legal Proceedings 46
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures 47
Item 6. Reserved 52
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosure About Market Risk 74
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data 75
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures 135
Item 9B. Other Information 135
Item 9C. Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections 135
Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers, and Corporate Governance 136
Item 11. Executive Compensation 136
Item 14. Principal Accounting Fees and Services 136
Item 15. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules 137
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SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, (the "Securities Act"), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, (the "Exchange Act"), about us and our industry that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including statements regarding general economic, geopolitical, and market conditions, including the impact of tariffs and interest rates, the impact of the Prepackaged Chapter 11 Case (as defined herein), our ability to continue as a going concern, our future results of operations and financial condition, business strategy, and plans and objectives of management for future operations, including our Value Maximization Plan (as defined herein) and the ongoing activities of and potential growth of our UACC and CarStory businesses, our Long-Term Strategic Plan (as defined herein), our ability to complete additional securitization transactions on favorable terms, our future credit losses, our Near-Prime Program, our use and development of artificial intelligence, our liquidity and future capital requirements, our ability to maintain compliance with the listing standards of The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (“Nasdaq”) or any other national securities exchange, our ongoing compliance with, the amendment and renewal of the Warehouse Credit Facilities (as defined herein), the retention of key employees, and the timing of any of the foregoing are forward-looking statements. In some cases, forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as "anticipate," "believe," "contemplate," "continue," "could," "design," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "potentially," "predict," "project," "should," "target," "will," "would," or the negative of these terms or other similar terms or expressions, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words.
The forward-looking statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are only predictions. Forward-looking statements are based on our management’s beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions, and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including risks described in the section titled "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Other sections of this Annual Report on Form 10-K include additional factors that could harm our business and financial performance. Moreover, we operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risk factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for our management to predict all risk factors nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ from those contained in, or implied by, any forward-looking statements.
You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. We cannot assure you that the events and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements will be achieved or occur. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason after the date of this report or to conform these statements to actual results or to changes in our expectations. You should read this Annual Report on Form 10-K and the documents that we reference or incorporate by reference in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and have filed as exhibits to this report with the understanding that our actual future results, levels of activity, performance, and achievements may be materially different from what we expect. We qualify all of our forward-looking statements by these cautionary statements.
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SUMMARY RISK FACTORS
Our business is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including those described in Part I, Item 1A. “Risk Factors” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. You should carefully consider these risks and uncertainties when investing in our common stock. The principal risks and uncertainties affecting our business include, but are not limited to, the following:
•
we emerged from the Prepackaged Chapter 11 Case (as defined herein) in January 2025, which previously consumed a substantial portion of time and attention of our management and could continue to subject us to risks and uncertainties;
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while we have completed the Ecommerce Wind-Down (as defined herein), there remain risks associated with the discontinuance of our ecommerce operations and wind-down of our used vehicle dealership business;
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our Long-Term Strategic Plan (as defined herein) may not be successful, and may not lead to growth and enhanced profitability for our UACC or CarStory businesses;
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we may not generate sufficient liquidity to operate our business;
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general business and economic conditions and risks related to the larger automotive ecosystem, including consumer demand;
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we have a history of losses and we may not achieve or maintain profitability in the future;
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our indebtedness and liabilities could limit the cash flow available for our operations, expose us to risks that could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations and impair our ability to satisfy our debt obligations;
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the geographic concentration of UACC's borrowers or dealerships creates an exposure to local and regional downturns or severe weather or catastrophic occurrences that may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations;
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we may be unable to satisfy a Nasdaq listing rule or that of another national securities exchange;
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UACC may be unable to continue to access or renew funding sources and obtain capital needed to maintain and grow its business;
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UACC may be unable to sell automotive finance receivables and generate gains on sales of those finance receivables, which could harm our business, results of operations, and financial condition;
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UACC's securitizations may expose it to financing and other risks, and there can be no assurance that it will be able to access the securitization market in the future, which may require it to seek more costly financing;
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UACC is currently experiencing increasing credit losses in interests it holds in automotive finance receivables, and its credit scoring systems may not effectively forecast its automotive receivables loss rates. Higher than anticipated credit losses or prepayments or the inability to effectively forecast loss rates may negatively impact our operating results;
•
if UACC loses servicing rights on its automobile contracts, our results of operations would be negatively impacted;
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•
if we or our third-party providers sustain cyber-attacks or other privacy or data security incidents that result in security breaches, we could suffer a loss of sales and increased costs, exposure to significant liability, reputational harm and other negative consequences;
•
we operate in a highly regulated industry and are subject to a wide range of federal, state and local laws and regulations, and failure to comply with these laws and regulations could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations;
•
we are, and may in the future be, subject to legal proceedings in the ordinary course of our business. If the outcomes of these proceedings are adverse to us, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations; and
•
our actual operating results may differ significantly from our guidance.
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PART I
Item 1. Business
Overview
Vroom, Inc. is a holding company that conducts its operations through its subsidiaries. Unless the context otherwise requires, references herein to “Vroom”, the "Company”, “we”, “us” or “our” refer to Vroom and its consolidated subsidiaries.
The Company was incorporated in Delaware on January 31, 2012, under the name BCM Partners III, Corp. On June 25, 2013, the Company changed its name to Auto America, Inc., and on July 9, 2015, the Company changed its name to Vroom, Inc. The Company previously operated an end-to-end ecommerce platform to buy and sell used vehicles through its subsidiary Vroom Automotive, LLC.
Vroom, Inc. completed its initial public offering (“IPO”) in June 2020. In January 2021, the Company completed its acquisition of Vast Holdings, Inc. (d/b/a CarStory) (“CarStory”), an artificial intelligence ("AI") powered analytics and digital services platform for automotive retail. On February 1, 2022, the Company completed its acquisition of Unitas Holdings Corp. (now known as Vroom Finance Corporation), including its wholly owned subsidiaries United PanAm Financial Corp. (now known as Vroom Automotive Financial Corporation) and United Auto Credit Corporation (“UACC”). UACC is a leading automotive finance company that offers vehicle financing to consumers through motor vehicle dealers under the UACC brand.
Ecommerce Wind-Down and Restructuring
On January 22, 2024, the Company announced that its Board of Directors (“Board”) had approved a value maximization plan, pursuant to which the Company wound down its used vehicle dealership business in order to preserve liquidity and enable the Company to maximize stakeholder value through its remaining businesses, UACC and CarStory (the “Value Maximization Plan”). The Company ceased transacting through vroom.com, completed transactions for customers who had previously contracted with the Company to purchase or sell a vehicle, halted purchases of additional vehicles, sold its used vehicle inventory through wholesale channels, paid off its vehicle floorplan financing facility dated November 4, 2022 with Ally Bank and Ally Financial Inc., and conducted a reduction-in-force commensurate with the reduced operations. As of March 29, 2024, the Company substantially completed the wind-down of its used vehicle dealership business (the “Ecommerce Wind-Down”) and ended all sales and marketing activities for its used vehicle operations. The UACC and CarStory businesses continue to serve their third-party customers, with their operations substantially unaffected by the Ecommerce Wind-Down.
On November 13, 2024, Vroom, Inc. entered into a Restructuring Support Agreement (together with all exhibits and schedules thereto, the “RSA”) and commenced a voluntary proceeding (the “Prepackaged Chapter 11 Case”) under Chapter 11 of the United States Code, 11 U.S.C. §§ 101-1532, as amended from time to time (the “Bankruptcy Code”) in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas (the “Bankruptcy Court”) under the name In re Vroom, Inc., Case No. 24-90571 (CML), seeking to, among other things, restructure its then outstanding $290 million of unsecured convertible notes due in 2026 (“Notes”) through a comprehensive transaction outlined in the RSA. On December 2, 2024, the Company’s common stock was suspended from trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market as a result of our Prepackaged Chapter 11 Case. On January 8, 2025, the Bankruptcy Court entered an order confirming the Prepackaged Plan of Reorganization of Vroom, Inc. (the “Plan”) and granting related relief. The Company emerged from the Prepackaged Chapter 11 Case on January 14, 2025.
Under the Plan, approximately $290 million in debt was discharged and all previously issued and outstanding equity interests in the Company were cancelled and extinguished. The Company issued an aggregate of approximately (i) 5,163,109 shares of new common stock (“Common Stock”) and (ii) 364,516 shares of warrants (“Warrants”) in accordance with the terms of the Plan and certain other agreements. On February 20, 2025, our Common Stock began trading on the Nasdaq Global Market under the ticker symbol “VRM”. On July 7, 2025, the Company’s Warrants commenced trading on the OTCQX Best Market under the symbol “VRMWW”.
Neither UACC nor CarStory were party to the Company’s Prepackaged Chapter 11 Case. The Company is focused on executing its Long-Term Strategic Plan (described below) following the restructuring.
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UACC
UACC is an indirect lender that offers vehicle financing under the UACC brand to consumers through a network of motor vehicle dealers, focusing primarily on the non-prime market. Our non-prime credit programs aim to broaden access to vehicle ownership for individuals who would not otherwise qualify for financing. UACC’s financing is intended to help consumers build credit and ultimately be eligible for more traditional sources of financing. Prior to Vroom’s Ecommerce Wind-Down, UACC also offered vehicle financing to Vroom Automotive’s customers through its ecommerce platform. Tom Shortt, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer, serves as UACC’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Jon Sandison, the Company’s Chief Financial Officer, serves as UACC’s Chief Financial Officer, and Stefano Balistreri serves as UACC’s Chief Risk Officer.
UACC, which has been engaged in automotive finance since 1996, currently offers financing services to a nationwide network of thousands of independent and manufacturer-franchised used motor vehicle dealers in 49 states, and we seek to expand that network over time. As of December 31, 2025, UACC serviced a portfolio of approximately 76,000 retail installment sales contracts with an aggregate principal outstanding balance of approximately $950 million.
Sales and Marketing
As an indirect lender, UACC’s marketing efforts are focused on selling to auto dealerships, rather than consumers. UACC utilizes a combination of internal and field area sales managers to both solicit and enroll new dealerships, and to market its financing programs and products to existing dealership partners. Prior to establishing a business relationship with an automobile dealership, UACC completes a review of the dealership’s operations, inventory, facilities, performance, and owner’s credit history. UACC’s sales managers serve as the primary liaison with the dealerships. Sales managers focus their efforts on educating dealership personnel on UACC's lending programs and how to combine specific consumer characteristics, collateral and deal structures to increase the probability of approval under UACC’s underwriting guidelines. The UACC sales manager serves as a consultant for the dealership to encourage positive dealer loan performance while providing an enhanced dealer experience. While UACC primarily services independent used auto dealerships, we plan to ultimately expand our offering to be more competitive with manufacturer-franchised dealers.
UACC establishes relationships with dealers utilizing both external and internal sales representatives. External sales representatives live and operate in their local market, with the ability to personally visit dealerships. Internal sales representatives work either remotely or in one of the three hubs (located in Newport Beach, California; Fort Worth, Texas; and Buffalo, New York) and may interface with dealerships outside of their physical location. Both internal and external sales representatives enroll dealers, explain UACC’s programs, and offer support throughout the enrollment, application, and funding processes. As part of the enrollment process, a new dealer is required to enter into a dealer agreement with UACC that defines the parties’ respective rights and obligations. Under the applicable dealer agreement, the dealer assigns the consumer contracts to UACC, which assumes the responsibility of administering, servicing and collecting the amounts due from the customer to UACC. The dealer agrees that it will (i) only assign consumer contracts to UACC that meet the criteria established by UACC, and (ii) repurchase any consumer contracts that do not meet such criteria or for other reasons outlined in the dealer agreement. For example, UACC's dealer agreement typically requires the selling dealership to buy back a motor vehicle retail installment contract if the consumer fails to timely make the first scheduled payment.
Throughout the lifetime of a dealer partnership, UACC closely monitors dealer loan performance across several metrics, along with utilizing data from both internal and external sources. These can include, but are not limited to, dealer loan return on assets, deal quality and conversion rates, loss to liquidation, customer delinquencies, dealership volumes, and fraudulent deals or documentation. UACC uses these metrics to assess overall dealer performance, profitability, and risk, and to calculate a dealer grade, which impacts the pricing and availability of consumer loans for a dealer. Dealers have access to their scorecard, displaying their grade and performance trends so that they may take steps to improve, where applicable. At its discretion, UACC may suspend or terminate its relationship with any dealership.
Lending Programs
UACC enables dealers to finance their customers’ purchases of new and used automobiles, medium- and light-duty trucks, and vans with competitive financing terms. Historically, the credit programs offered by UACC were designed to serve consumers who have limited access to traditional motor vehicle financing. In mid-2024, we began indirectly
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offering competitive vehicle financing services to consumers with slightly higher, or “near-prime,” credit scores compared to our historical customer base. The Near-Prime Program (described further below) is still in its early stages and a small percentage of our portfolio.
UACC primarily offers four distinct programs, with varying credit, pricing and stipulation parameters, depending on eligibility:
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Preferred Program: This is the standard program for most non-prime applicants. Due to the expected high default risk of this consumer base, compensating risk factors are heavily leveraged, such as ability-to-pay requirements, asset quality, cash down payments, number of open vehicle loans, restricted term lengths, and limited amount financed;
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Bankruptcy Program: This program accommodates applicants with open bankruptcies and applicants with discharged bankruptcy within one year of application (subject to other qualifications);
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Commercial Program: This program accommodates applicants seeking to finance non-passenger vehicles with gross vehicle weight rating of 14,500 lbs. or less (subject to other qualifications); and
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Near-Prime Program: This program accommodates applicants with a minimum FICO of 600 and additional credit history requirements.
Due to the uniqueness of the programs, as well as credit and asset quality of the customer and collateral, respectively, limits for advance rate, loan term, stipulations, and pricing fluctuate to balance varying risk factors.
Originations
UACC’s underwriting process begins when UACC accepts a consumer credit application from one of its approved dealerships. Upon receipt, required information is entered into UACC's underwriting system for review and disposition by UACC’s automated underwriting decision engine in accordance with UACC’s established underwriting guidelines. Any exceptions to the guidelines are reviewed in accordance with our policies and procedures. Because UACC serves consumers who are typically unable to meet the credit standards imposed by most traditional motor vehicle financing sources, it may charge higher interest rates than most traditional motor vehicle financing sources.
UACC verifies the accuracy of information submitted through credit applications and retail installment sales contracts. Verifications are assigned based on risk modeling within each program and completed via a combination of first-party verifications and third-party data sources. Verifications may include customer identity, proof of residence, verification of employment, proof of income, collateral/vehicle valuation, verification of insurance, proof of trade, and other stipulated requirements resulting from risk factors inherent within each credit application. Credit analysts conduct customer interviews for some applications based on risk modeling or manual underwriting assessment. Customer interviews are used to verify customer identity and to resolve any questions that may arise during the verification process.
Funding
UACC utilizes a predominantly paperless process for the review and purchase of the resulting retail installment sales contracts. Following underwriting approval of a credit application, each dealer delivers a completed motor vehicle retail installment sales contract and other required documentation to UACC. The majority of contracts and other required documentation are uploaded to UACC’s online dealer portal, Fast LaneTM, and available for immediate review by funding staff. Some required documentation is mailed via courier or U.S. Postal Service, and these packages are scanned, indexed and available promptly for review by the funding department.
Upon receipt of contract documentation, a UACC funding analyst will check to ensure that all required documentation has been received and has been fully and properly completed. In order to validate the risk assessment completed at the time of underwriting, the funding analyst will then complete verification of information provided by the applicant in conjunction with information from third-party data providers. In the event of missing documentation or the discovery of inaccurate information, the funding analyst will initiate corrective action as appropriate.
Ancillary Products
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UACC finances the purchase of ancillary products that provide potential protection to consumers during their ownership experience. As of December 31, 2025, UACC finances the purchase of Vehicle Service Contracts ("VSCs") and Guaranteed Asset Protection ("GAP") products.
VSCs provide protection for consumers by paying for the cost of certain covered mechanical-related issues with the vehicle. UACC works with a third-party administrator to underwrite and administer the VSC program and service claims. The retail price of the VSC is included in the total amount financed and is itemized on the retail installment contract. Dealers earn a commission on the sale of each VSC, though each VSC is cancellable by the customer through its term. UACC earns a fee on the sale of each VSC and earns income from the finance charges earned from the additional amounts financed through the life of the financing. At the time of funding, UACC pays premiums to administrators on each VSC financed. UACC may also receive a share of profits from the third-party administrators based on the performance of the portfolio of VSCs financed.
GAP helps protect customers’ vehicle purchases in instances in which the customer’s vehicle experiences a total loss due to damage or theft and the outstanding amount owed exceeds the settlement amount covered by the customer’s insurance policy. UACC sells, administers and services its own GAP product, in addition to financing the purchase of third-party GAP products. The retail price of the GAP product is included in the total amount financed and is itemized on the retail installment contract. Dealers earn a commission on the sale of each GAP product, though each GAP product is cancellable by the customer through the life of financing. UACC earns income from the finance charges earned from the additional amounts financed through the life of the loan.
Servicing
UACC services the retail installment sales contracts it originates or purchases and will continue to service the contracts it originated or purchased for customers of Vroom’s former ecommerce business. Servicing activities consist primarily of collecting and processing customer payments, responding to customer inquiries, initiating contact with customers who are delinquent in payment of an installment, maintaining the security interests in the financed vehicles and, when necessary, arranging for the repossession and liquidation of the financed vehicles and pursuit of deficiencies.
Because UACC has historically focused on the non-prime market, it generally sustains a higher level of delinquencies and credit losses than that experienced by traditional motor vehicle financing sources. UACC segments consumer accounts for collection activity based on the stage of delinquency. Outbound collection efforts utilize a combination of manual (human) and automated (digital) campaigns. Automated campaigns include outbound telephone dialer campaigns, email campaigns, text messaging campaigns, and push notifications via the UACC native mobile app, some of which may involve use of artificial intelligence. When accountholders encounter temporary disruptions in employment or otherwise experience temporary disruptions in their ability to make payments, collection representatives may offer solutions to assist in navigating these life events, such as extensions and due date changes.
UACC uses a network of national and regional third-party suppliers to recover vehicles assigned for repossession. Upon recovery, some accountholders demonstrate a sufficient level of commitment to reinstate their account. UACC liquidates repossessed inventory through a network of third-party auto auctions. UACC utilizes the CarStory Real Market PriceTM (as defined below) as a reference for evaluating price floors for vehicle sales. Following the sale of a repossessed vehicle, the net sale proceeds are applied to the remaining balance of the contract. Any balance remaining after application of the net sale proceeds is recorded as a loss or charged off. Charged-off UACC accounts are transferred to UACC’s recovery department for additional collections work to recover the charged-off balance.
Securitizations
To fund UACC’s automotive finance operations, eligible retail installment sales contracts that UACC originates or purchases are pledged to lenders under warehouse credit facilities and typically sold to third-party investors via private securitization transactions targeted to institutional investors and other financial institutions. In such securitization transactions, UACC conveys a pool of retail installment sales contracts to a special purpose vehicle ("SPV"), typically a trust, which, in turn, issues one or more classes of securities backed by such pool of retail installment sales contracts. While the SPVs are included in our consolidated financial statements, they are separate legal entities, and the assets held by any particular SPV are legally owned by them and are not available to our creditors, the creditors of UACC, or creditors of our other SPVs. Payments to securitization investors are primarily made from cash flows on the related pool of retail
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installment sales contracts. Such payments are not made by Vroom or UACC (except for certain repurchases as described below) and are not based on Vroom's or UACC’s creditworthiness.
UACC continues to service each pool of retail installment sales contracts in accordance with its customary servicing practices and procedures. In such capacity, UACC collects payments on retail installment sales contracts that are in turn transferred to an independent third-party trustee for further distribution to the applicable investors. UACC also prepares a monthly servicer’s certificate that tracks the performance of each pool of retail installment sales contracts, including collections, distributions, delinquencies, and losses on such retail installment sales contracts.
Each retail installment sales contract contributed to an SPV must satisfy certain selection criteria based on factors such as location of the obligor, contract term, payment schedule, interest rate, and whether the contracts are active and in good standing (for instance, when the obligor is not more than 30-days delinquent on monthly payment or bankrupt). UACC does not make any representations or warranties regarding the future performance of the retail installment sales contracts. Upon the breach of one of these representations or warranties (subject to any applicable cure period) that materially and adversely affects the investors' interest, UACC is obligated to repurchase the affected retail installment sales contract from the SPV.
In exchange for the transfer of retail installment sales contracts to the SPV, UACC receives the cash proceeds from the sale of the securities. Since 2012, UACC has completed 17 securitization transactions with over $3 billion in issued securities.
Competition
The automotive financing industry is large and highly competitive. UACC competes with several national, regional, local, and captive finance companies, banks, credit unions, and fintech companies. Many of these companies are larger and have greater financial resources than UACC, including greater access to capital markets for debt instruments or access to lower cost deposit bases. These funding sources may be unavailable to UACC. Many of these companies also have long-standing relationships with automobile dealers and may provide other financing to dealers, including floor plan financing for the dealers' purchases of automobiles from manufacturers and auctions, which we do not offer at this time.
Credit applications may be sent simultaneously to multiple lenders for consideration. As a result, UACC competes with other financing sources based on the approved structure, minimum customer requirements and stipulations, types of vehicles financed, dealer fees, dealer incentives, levels of service, and distribution (accessibility to UACC’s program via credit application technology platforms). We believe that we can obtain from our dealership network sufficient automobile contracts for purchase at attractive prices by consistently applying reasonable underwriting criteria and making timely purchases of qualifying automobile contracts; however, there can be no assurance that we will be able to do so.
Further, the non-prime automotive financing industry has faced challenges recently relating to increasing delinquencies and defaults, lowered recoveries, and other factors, leading some of UACC’s competitors to cease new loan originations, file bankruptcy, or otherwise significantly alter their operations.
Seasonality
The used vehicle industry typically experiences an increase in sales early in the calendar year and reaches its highest point late in the first quarter and early in the second quarter. Vehicle sales then level off through the rest of the year, with the lowest level of sales in the fourth quarter. This seasonality has historically corresponded with the timing of income tax refunds. Consistent with market trends, UACC generally experiences increased funding activity during the first quarter through tax season. Delinquencies also tend to be lower during the first quarter through tax season and higher during the latter half of the year. See “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Financial Condition and Results of Operations—We may experience seasonal and other fluctuations in our quarterly results of operations, which may not fully reflect the underlying performance of our business.”
CarStory
CarStory offers AI-powered analytics and digital services to dealers, automotive financial services companies, and others in the automotive industry, which use CarStory’s solutions to enhance their customer experience and drive increased vehicle purchases.
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Leveraging computer vision and AI, CarStory has curated a comprehensive used vehicle information database, including over 256 million vehicle identification numbers ("VINs"), 203 million window stickers, 4.2 billion vehicle photos and 411 million sales cycles, along with price and price elasticity models.CarStory receives data for over 4.1 million unique VINs listed for sale every day, resulting in CarStory having data for an estimated 80% of U.S. consumer vehicles. This data is aggregated with demand insights from millions of consumer sessions and data from CarStory’s proprietary VIN database to generate more accurate vehicle valuations.
CarStory helps dealers optimize their pricing by leveraging data science models for retail pricing that provide predictive pricing for marketing, buying, selling, and VIN-level features. Unlike simple averages, we believe CarStory’s patented neural-net algorithm can provide a highly accurate market price (the “CarStory Real Market Price”) for vehicle valuations by accounting for factors that averages often miss, such as local market dynamics and dealer performance.
In addition to its data analytics and AI-based pricing solutions, CarStory creates and powers digital experiences for end consumers, including automotive marketplaces, vehicle market reports, and trade-in and appraisal products. CarStory's digital experiences are designed with user behavior data to engage consumers and drive more consumers to vehicle purchase decisions.
The automotive data and service business is large and very competitive. CarStory competes with several companies in the automotive industry, including valuation services, VIN data providers, website marketplaces, inventory aggregators, and retail ecommerce platforms. Many of these companies are significantly larger with well-established sales and marketing teams. We compete with other companies to attract customers to our marketplace and dealers to our digital solutions. Since being acquired by Vroom, CarStory has conducted limited marketing activities and focused on serving its existing customers and continuing to develop its used vehicle database and data science models for retail pricing.CarStory’s vehicle database and data science models for pricing are also used in UACC’s business.
Further, following the Ecommerce Wind-Down and in furtherance of the Long-Term Strategic Plan discussed herein, a portion of CarStory’s technology team has been dedicated to supporting and modernizing UACC’s information technology systems.
Long-Term Strategic Plan
Since announcing the Value Maximization Plan in January 2024, the Company has pivoted to executing a long-term strategic plan ("Long-Term Strategic Plan") that leverages our core assets, including Vroom and CarStory technology, to improve the profitability of the business through four strategic initiatives:
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Build a world class lending program by focusing on using advanced models and analytics to better predict losses and drive profitable growth at UACC. We modernized our lending infrastructure by launching a proprietary automated underwriting decision engine in June 2025. This technology greatly accelerates application processing. In September 2025, we launched our redeveloped custom credit-scoring model, which we believe should better evaluate segments of risk and enhance our risk precision. We expect to continue making improvements to our advanced models and analytics in furtherance of this initiative.
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Build a world class sales and marketing program by attracting and retaining the best dealers and driving deeper dealer engagement to enable growth. In 2025, our technology teams made substantial progress towards modernizing our infrastructure to drive speed and scalability. This included a complete overhaul of Fast Lane, UACC’s online dealer portal. Launched in early 2026, this upgraded platform leverages direct dealer feedback to minimize friction, increase application volume, and streamline the user experience.
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Build operational excellence in originations by enhancing systemic capabilities and decisioning for a more efficient process. In 2025, we drove operational efficiency by integrating Vroom’s patented AI agent into certain aspects of UACC’s funding process. This integration helped automate verification and is intended to reduce fraud and lower the cost-per-funded contract.
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Build operational excellence in servicingby utilizing data science, advanced analytics and technology to enable an improved approach to servicing effectiveness. We are transforming our servicing effectiveness through a digital-first strategy. The launch of our native mobile apps, for iOS and Android, in 2024 and redesigned website in 2025 drove digital adoption among accountholders. These platforms empower accountholders with self-service options reducing manual service burden. We expect to continue making
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targeted improvements to the mobile app, website, and other components of servicing based on our data science and advanced analytics.
We remain focused on returning the UACC business to profitability by improving cumulative net loss (“CNL”), origination cost per funded contract, servicing cost per contract, and fixed costs.
Human Capital Management
Our success is driven by our associates, who execute our strategy of providing indirect financing solutions to dealers and consumers. As of December 31, 2025, we had 655 total employees across our operations, of which 649 were full time.
None of our associates is represented by a labor union or covered by a collective bargaining agreement. We believe our relationship with our associates is positive and in good standing.
We are committed to maintaining a professional, respectful, and inclusive work environment that is free from discrimination, harassment, or any conduct that could create an offensive atmosphere. All associates are required to complete annual training on non-discrimination, anti-harassment, and compliance topics to reinforce our commitment to a safe, supportive, and welcoming workplace.
We foster a culture of open communication and belonging, where all associates are encouraged to share ideas, speak up, and contribute to strengthening our workplace. Our CEO holds town hall meetings to provide company-wide updates and conduct informational sessions for all employees to further transparency and engagement. We value the perspectives of our associates and are committed to listening to their input as we continue to build and improve our culture and operations.
To enable our associates to perform at their best, we offer competitive total compensation and benefits packages, including base pay, performance incentives, comprehensive health and wellness benefits, access to a formal Employee Assistance Program with a strong focus on mental health support, retirement savings plans, paid time off, and professional development opportunities. We invest in training and resources to equip our associates with the knowledge and tools needed to succeed in our dynamic industry.
We view our associates as our most valuable asset. By prioritizing their development, engagement, well-being, and sense of belonging, we aim to maintain a high-performing workforce that supports long-term value creation for our dealers, consumers, shareholders, and communities.
Intellectual Property
The protection of our technology and intellectual property is an important aspect of our business. We seek to protect our intellectual property rights, including our intellectual property rights in our technology, through trademark, trade secret and copyright law, as well as confidentiality agreements, procedures and other contractual commitments and other legal rights. We generally enter into confidentiality agreements and invention assignment agreements with our employees and consultants to control access to, and clarify ownership of, our proprietary rights and information.
As of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, CarStory has 34 issued or allowed U.S. patents with expirations through 2039 and 8 pending U.S. patent applications, and Vroom has one issued patent and one pending U.S. patent application. We own 27 registrations for trademarks in the United States owned by Vroom, Vast (CarStory's parent entity) and UACC, collectively, with renewal deadlines through 2036, including Vroom®, V & No Color Design®, Get In®, Sell Us Your Car®, VroomProtect®, CarStory®, Vast® and United Auto Credit®. We hold 56 registered trademarks in Australia, Brazil, China, Colombia, Chile, Argentina, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Japan, Singapore, Mexico, Canada, South Korea and Peru, including for the Vroom® trademark with renewal deadlines through 2035. We continually review our branding strategies and technology development efforts to assess the existence, registrability, and patentability of new intellectual property. We will continue to preserve the value of our Vroom intellectual property rights where appropriate following the Ecommerce Wind-Down.
Intellectual property laws, procedures and restrictions provide only limited protection and any of our intellectual property rights may be challenged, invalidated, circumvented, infringed or misappropriated. Further, the laws of certain
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countries do not protect proprietary rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States, and, therefore, in certain jurisdictions, we may be unable to protect our proprietary technology, brands, or other intellectual property.
Government Regulation
Our businesses are and will continue to be subject to extensive U.S. federal, state and local laws and regulations. As an entity operating in the financial services sector, UACC is required to comply with a wide variety of laws and regulations. Compliance with these laws and regulations requires that UACC maintain forms, processes, procedures, controls and the infrastructure to support these requirements, and these laws and regulations often create operational constraints both on UACC's ability to implement servicing procedures and on pricing. UACC is subject to laws designed for the protection of consumers, including the Truth in Lending Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, prohibitions against unfair, deceptive, and abusive acts and practices, and various other state and federal laws and regulations. These laws mandate certain disclosures with respect to finance charges on automobile contracts and impose certain other restrictions. Most states regulate retail installment sales, including setting a maximum interest rate, caps on certain fees, or maximum amounts financed. Certain states require UACC to have a sales finance license, consumer credit license, or similar applicable license. UACC has obtained licenses in all states where licensing is required.
UACC’s financing operations are also subject to U.S. federal, state, and local laws and regulations regarding contract origination, acquiring motor vehicle installment sales contracts from retail sellers, furnishing data to credit reporting agencies, servicing, debt collection practices, and securitization transactions. In addition, UACC is subject to supervision and examination by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”), a federal agency created by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”). The CFPB has rulemaking, supervisory and enforcement authority over UACC and is specifically authorized, among other things, to take actions to prevent companies from engaging in “unfair, deceptive or abusive” acts or practices in connection with consumer financial products and services, and to issue rules requiring enhanced disclosures for consumer financial products or services. The CFPB also has authority to interpret, enforce and issue regulations implementing enumerated consumer laws, including certain laws that apply to UACC. The Dodd-Frank Act and regulations promulgated thereunder may affect UACC’s cost of doing business, may limit or expand its permissible activities, may affect the competitive balance within UACC’s industry and market areas, and could have a material adverse effect on UACC.
In addition to the CFPB, other state and federal agencies have the ability to regulate aspects of our business. For example, the Dodd-Frank Act provides a mechanism for state Attorneys General to investigate UACC. In addition, the Federal Trade Commission has jurisdiction to investigate aspects of our business. From time to time, we are subject to investigations by state and federal regulators. We expect that regulatory investigations by both state and federal agencies will continue, and there can be no assurance that the results of such investigations will not have a material adverse effect on UACC. On November 14, 2024, the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation, Division of Banks, commenced a routine compliance examination of UACC that is ongoing and in its final stages. In connection therewith, the Division of Banks indicated that it intends to issue findings of compliance violations and impose penalties, but the extent and scope are still unknown until UACC receives a written report of preliminary findings and has the opportunity to respond.
Vroom’s prior ecommerce business, including the advertising, sale, purchase, financing and transportation of used vehicles, was regulated by every state in which we previously operated our ecommerce business, and by the U.S. federal government. The titling and registration of vehicles and the sale of value-added products also are regulated by state laws, and such laws can vary significantly from state to state. In addition, our ecommerce business was subject to regulations and laws specifically governing the internet and ecommerce and the collection, storage, use and other processing of personal information and other customer data. Further, our ecommerce business was subject to laws regarding the use of, training, testing, oversight and accuracy of AI. Additionally, we are subject to industry-specific regulations and intellectual property laws regarding proprietary data, including motor vehicle records. The federal governmental agencies that have regulated our ecommerce business and have the authority to enforce such regulations and laws against us include agencies such as the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Department of Transportation, the U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration, the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Federal Communications Commission. Additionally, our ecommerce business was subject to regulation by individual state dealer licensing authorities, state consumer protection agencies and state financial regulatory agencies. From time to time, our ecommerce business was subject to audits, requests for information, investigations and other inquiries from our regulators related to customer complaints. Such inquiries could continue for a period following the Ecommerce
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Wind-Down. We previously held automotive dealer licenses and motor vehicle sales finance licenses or retail installment seller licenses in multiple states. As a result of the Ecommerce Wind-Down, we have terminated nearly all such licenses.
In addition to the laws and regulations described above, our facilities and business operations are subject to laws and regulations relating to environmental protection, occupational health and safety, and other broadly applicable business regulations. We also are subject to evolving laws and regulations involving artificial intelligence, taxes, tariffs, privacy and data security, anti-spam, pricing, content protection, electronic contracts and communications, mobile communications, consumer protection, information-reporting requirements, unencumbered internet access to our platform, the design and operation of websites and internet neutrality. We also are subject to laws and regulations affecting public companies, including securities laws and national securities exchange listing rules.
New and changing laws, regulations, executive orders, other governmental actions, and changing enforcement priorities, including due changing presidential administrations, may also create uncertainty about how laws and regulations will be interpreted and applied. Legal and regulatory changes and other actions that materially adversely affect our business may be announced with little or no advance notice we may not be able to effectively mitigate all adverse impacts from such measures. Differing interpretations of such legal obligations can expose us to significant fines, government investigations, litigation and reputational harm. If we are found to have violated laws, regulations, or executive orders, it could materially adversely affect our business, reputation, results of operations and financial condition.
Refer to the section titled “Risk Factors” for a discussion of the various risks we face from regulation and compliance matters.
Available Information
Our website address is www.vroom.com. The information contained on, or that can be accessed through, our website is deemed not to be incorporated in this Annual Report on Form 10-K or to be part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K or any other report filed with the SEC. Our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K, as well as any amendments to those reports, are available free of charge through our website as soon as reasonably practicable after we file them with, or furnish them to, the SEC. The SEC maintains a website at www.sec.gov that contains reports, proxy statements, and other information regarding SEC registrants, including Vroom, Inc.
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Item 1A. Risk Factors
An investment in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully the risks and uncertainties described below, together with the financial and other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, before you decide to purchase shares of our common stock. If any of the following risks materialize, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected. In that case, the trading price of our common stock could decline and you could lose all or part of your investment in our common stock.
Risks Related to Our Emergence from Bankruptcy
We emerged from the Prepackaged Chapter 11 Case in January 2025, which consumed a substantial portion of time and attention of our management and could continue to subject us to risks and uncertainties.
As previously disclosed, on November 13, 2024, Vroom, Inc. (in the context of the Prepackaged Chapter 11 Case, the “Debtor”) commenced a voluntary proceeding (the “Prepackaged Chapter 11 Case”) under Chapter 11 of the United States Code, 11 U.S.C. §§ 101-1532, as amended from time to time (the “Bankruptcy Code”) in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas (the “Bankruptcy Court”) under the name In re Vroom, Inc., Case No. 24-90571 (CML). On January 8, 2025, the Bankruptcy Court entered an order (a) approving the Debtor’s disclosure statement, (b) confirming the Prepackaged Plan of Reorganization of Vroom, Inc. under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code (the “Plan”), and (c) granting related relief (the “Confirmation Order”). On January 14, 2025, the conditions to the effectiveness of the Plan were satisfied or waived and the Plan became effective. We emerged from the Prepackaged Chapter 11 Case on January 14, 2025.
We may not realize any or all of the intended benefits of the Prepackaged Chapter 11 Case, the benefits may not be on the terms or in the manner we expect, and the costs incurred may exceed the intended benefits. The occurrence of one or more of these events could have a material and adverse effect on our operations, financial condition and reputation, and we cannot assure you that having been subject to bankruptcy proceedings will not adversely affect our operations in the future.
As a result of the Prepackaged Chapter 11 Case, our historical financial information will not be indicative of our future performance.
Following our emergence from bankruptcy proceedings, our capital structure was significantly altered. As a result, we do not believe our historical financial performance is indicative of our future financial performance. In addition, the amounts reported in subsequent consolidated financial statements may materially change relative to our historical consolidated financial statements. Upon emergence, we also adopted fresh start accounting under ASC-852, in which case our assets and liabilities are recorded at fair value as of the fresh start reporting date, which differs materially from the recorded values of assets and liabilities on our historical consolidated balance sheets. Our financial results after the application of fresh start accounting may be different from historical trends. This will make it difficult for shareholders to assess our performance in relation to prior periods.
Risks Related to Our Financial Condition, Results of Operations, Liquidity and Indebtedness
There are risks associated with the discontinuance of our ecommerce operations and wind-down of our used vehicle dealership business.
On January 22, 2024, we announced the Value Maximization Plan, pursuant to which we discontinued our ecommerce operations and wound down our used vehicle dealership business to preserve cash and maximize stakeholder value through our remaining businesses, UACC and CarStory (the "Ecommerce Wind-Down"). As a result, we incurred costs including severance costs, inventory liquidation costs, contract and lease termination costs, and non-cash asset impairments.
The purpose of the Value Maximization Plan was to wind-down our ecommerce operations, which were not profitable and had significant cash burn, in order to preserve cash and enable us to maximize stakeholder value through our remaining UACC and CarStory businesses. As of December 31, 2025, we had cash and cash equivalents of approximately $10.4 million. Given our ongoing operating expenses and recent losses at UACC, there can be no assurance that we will succeed in achieving profitability and creating meaningful stakeholder value.
Additionally, the Ecommerce Wind-Down involves continued risks, including:
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exposure to unknown, contingent or other liabilities, including litigation arising in connection with the Ecommerce Wind-Down;
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negative impact on our business relationships, including, but not limited to, potential relationships with our customers, suppliers, vendors, licensees, and employees; and
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unintended negative consequences from changes to our business.
If any of these or other factors impair our ability to successfully implement our Long-Term Strategic Plan, we may not realize its intended benefits or other business opportunities, as we could be required to spend additional time and incur additional expense that otherwise would be used on the development, expansion and profitability of UACC and CarStory.
We may not generate sufficient liquidity to operate our business.
As of December 31, 2025, we had cash and cash equivalents of $10.4 million and restricted cash of $55.9 million and continue to meet our obligations to customers, vendors, counterparties and employees in the ordinary course of business.
We expect to use our cash and cash equivalents to finance our future capital requirements and UACC’s senior secured warehouse facility agreements (the “Warehouse Credit Facilities”) to fund our finance receivables. Certain advance rates available to UACC on borrowings from the Warehouse Credit Facilities have decreased as a result of the increasing credit losses in UACC's portfolio and overall higher interest rates. Any future decreases on available advance rates may have an adverse impact on our liquidity. The Warehouse Credit Facilities were not impacted by the Prepackaged Chapter 11 Case and remain outstanding. If we are unable to maintain the Warehouse Credit Facilities that expire on varying dates in 2026 and 2027 absent renewal, on favorable terms or at all, or if they are terminated or expire and are not renewed or we are unable to find a satisfactory replacement, we may be unable to fund our finance receivables, and our business, operational results, financial position and cash flows would be materially adversely affected.
In addition, in March 2025, UACC sold approximately $307.8 million of rated asset-backed securities in an auto loan securitization transaction from a securitization trust, established and sponsored by UACC for proceeds of $306.5 million. The trust is collateralized by finance receivables with an aggregate principal balance of $382.1 million. These finance receivables are serviced by UACC and UACC receives an “at market” servicing fee. The Company retained the residual interests, which required the Company to account for the 2025-1 securitization as secured borrowings and the assets and liabilities of the trust remain on the balance sheet.
Our revenue growth may be adversely affected by factors including our inability to maintain, grow and develop the UACC and CarStory businesses; weakness in the automotive retail industry generally; general economic conditions, including as a result of tariffs, high interest rates and inflation; global pandemics and other public health emergencies; and increasing competition. Our historical revenue growth is not indicative of our future performance, particularly given the Ecommerce Wind-Down and application of fresh start accounting. We have not invested in growing CarStory's customer base since Vroom acquired CarStory, resulting in CarStory's revenue being concentrated in a small number of customers. An increasing number of consumers conduct online research using AI tools, which has resulted in decreased website traffic and negatively impacted CarStory’s revenue. We may not be able to adapt effectively and competitively to meet this shift. If we are unable to maintain, grow and develop the UACC and CarStory businesses and generate sufficient revenue and achieve profitability, our business, financial condition and results of operations will be materially and adversely affected. Additionally, our cash needs may increase in the future as we focus on growing and developing the UACC and CarStory businesses.
Our future capital requirements will depend on many factors, including our ability to realize the benefits of the Long-Term Strategic Plan, available advance rates on and the amendment and renewal of the Warehouse Credit Facilities, the ability to meet (or continue to meet, as the case may be) the requirements of Nasdaq for listing on the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC or any other exchange, the ability to complete additional securitization transactions on terms favorable to us, future credit losses, the ability to obtain the necessary financing to meet obligations and repay liabilities arising from business operations when they come due, the ability to generate and maintain sufficient cash, and the ability to generate profitable operations in the future. There can be no assurance that our liquidity will be sufficient to achieve the objectives of our Long-Term Strategic Plan, grow and develop UACC and CarStory, operate our business, or comply with the terms of our indebtedness. See "—UACC may be unable to continue to access or renew funding sources and obtain capital needed to maintain and grow its business" and “—Our indebtedness and liabilities could limit the cash flow
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available for our operations, expose us to risks that could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and impair our ability to satisfy our debt obligations.”
We have a history of losses and we may not achieve or maintain profitability in the future.
Vroom has not been profitable since its inception in 2012 and had an accumulated deficit of approximately $53.1 million as of December 31, 2025 after adopting fresh start accounting. We incurred net losses of $(53.1) million and $(165.1) million for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively, which includes $1.0 million and $(26.9) million, respectively, related to net income (loss) from discontinued operations. We may continue to incur significant losses in the future for a number of reasons, including increased losses on UACC's portfolio, our inability to maintain, grow and maximize the value of the UACC and CarStory businesses; weakness in the automotive retail industry generally; general economic conditions, including as a result of tariffs, high interest rates, inflation and unemployment; global pandemics and other public health emergencies; and increasing competition, as well as other risks described in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, and we may encounter unforeseen expenses, difficulties, complications and delays in achieving the goals of our Long-Term Strategic Plan.
While we have significantly reduced our operating expenses as part of our Value Maximization Plan, we expect to continue incurring operating expenses as we invest in the UACC and CarStory businesses, including investments in technology development for those businesses. In addition, we incurred significant expenses in connection with the Prepackaged Chapter 11 Case and our emergence from bankruptcy, and anticipate continued legal, accounting, administrative and other expenses as a public company. As a result of these expenditures, we will have to generate and sustain revenue sufficient to offset our operating expenses in order to achieve and maintain profitability.
Our indebtedness and liabilities could limit the cash flow available for our operations, expose us to risks that could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and impair our ability to satisfy our debt obligations.
As of December 31, 2025, UACC had $393.2 million of securitization debt funded by cashflows on receivables within the securitization trusts and $318.7 million in outstanding borrowings related to the Warehouse Credit Facilities.
In January 2026, Vroom Automotive LLC ("Vroom Automotive"), a subsidiary of the Company, issued Series A preferred units and Series B preferred units (collectively, the "Vroom Automotive Preferred Units") for aggregate gross proceeds of $22.5 million. The Vroom Automotive Preferred Units are entitled to receive quarterly preferential distributions at a variable rate tied to SOFR. These distribution obligations require Vroom Automotive to have sufficient cash flow to make quarterly payments, and the variable rate structure exposes us to interest rate risk, which could have a material adverse effect on our liquidity and financial condition.
Our UACC indebtedness and the Vroom Automotive Preferred Units distribution obligations could have significant negative consequences for our security holders and our business, results of operations and financial condition by, among other things:
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increasing our vulnerability to adverse economic and industry conditions;
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limiting our ability to obtain additional financing;
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requiring the dedication of a substantial portion of our cash flow from operations to service our indebtedness and preferred unit distributions, which will reduce the amount of cash available for other purposes;
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limiting our flexibility to plan for, or react to, changes in our business; and
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placing us at a possible competitive disadvantage with competitors that are less leveraged than us or have better access to capital.
Our business may not generate sufficient funds, and we may otherwise be unable to maintain sufficient cash reserves, or to pay amounts due under our indebtedness, and our cash needs may increase in the future. In addition, our existing indebtedness contains, and any future indebtedness that we may incur may contain, financial and other restrictive covenants that may limit our ability to operate our business, raise capital, or make payments under our other indebtedness.
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We recognized an impairment charge related to long-lived assets. If our amortizable intangible assets or remaining long-lived assets become impaired in the future, we would incur additional impairment charges, which would negatively affect our operating results.
We recognized impairment charges of $4.2 million related to long-lived assets during the year ended December 31, 2025. If our amortizable intangible assets or remaining long-lived assets become impaired in the future, we would incur additional impairment charges, which would negatively affect our results of operations. There is significant judgment required in the analysis of a potential impairment of identified intangible assets and other long-lived assets. Impairment may result from, among other things, significant changes in the manner of use of the acquired assets, negative industry or economic trends and/or significant underperformance relative to historic or projected operating results. See Note 12 to the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements.
We may experience seasonal and other fluctuations in our quarterly results of operations, which may not fully reflect the underlying performance of our business.
We expect our quarterly results of operations, including our yield, net spreads, risk-adjusted margins, credit losses and cash flow to vary significantly in the future based in part on vehicle-buying patterns and macroeconomic conditions. Vehicle sales historically have exhibited seasonality, with an increase in sales early in the year that reaches its highest point late in the first quarter and early in the second quarter, which then levels off through the rest of the year with the lowest level of sales in the fourth quarter. This seasonality historically corresponds with the timing of income tax refunds, which can provide a primary source of funds for customers’ payments on used vehicle purchases. Consistent with market trends, UACC generally experiences increased funding activity during the first quarter through tax season. Delinquencies also tend to be lower during the first quarter through tax season and higher during the latter half of the year.
Other factors that may cause our quarterly results to fluctuate include, without limitation:
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the progress of our Long-Term Strategic Plan;
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our liquidity and ability to raise capital through equity or debt financings;
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our ability to complete securitization transactions on favorable terms;
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our future credit losses;
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increases in vehicle prices;
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changes in the competitive dynamics of our industry;
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the regulatory environment;
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macroeconomic conditions, including as a result of tariffs, interest rates, inflation, unemployment and underemployment rates, vehicle supply and demand, and labor costs;
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changes that impact disposable income, including changes that impact the timing or amount of income tax refunds; and
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litigation or other claims against us and increased legal and regulatory expenses.
In addition, a significant portion of our expenses are fixed and do not vary proportionately with fluctuations in revenues. As a result of these seasonal fluctuations, our results in any quarter may not be indicative of the results we may achieve in any subsequent quarter or for the full year, and period-to-period comparisons of our results of operations may not be meaningful.
Risks Related to Our Operations
The geographic concentration of UACC’s borrowers or dealerships creates an exposure to local and regional downturns or severe weather or catastrophic occurrences that may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Changes in demographics and population, local and regional downturns, or severe weather conditions and other catastrophic occurrences in any of the states where UACC has a high concentration of borrowers or dealership partners could result in payment delays and increased risk of losses, which could materially and adversely affect our revenues and results of operations. During the year ended December 31, 2025, 40.7% of UACC's originations were in UACC's three
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largest states (measured by aggregate financed amount). While we believe that we have a diverse geographic presence, we expect that these three states will continue to generate significant amounts of our loans due to economic, demographic, regulatory, competitive and other conditions in these states. Adverse developments in these states could lead to reduced demand for automotive financing and could materially adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
We depend on key personnel to operate our business, and if we are unable to retain, integrate, adequately compensate, and attract qualified personnel, our ability to develop and successfully grow our business could be harmed.
We believe our success has depended, and continues to depend, on the efforts and talents of our executives and employees. Our future success depends on our continuing ability to retain, develop, motivate and attract highly qualified and skilled employees. Qualified individuals are in high demand, and we may incur significant costs to retain and attract them. In particular, we are highly dependent on the services of our leadership team to the development of our business, future vision, and strategic direction, including as we realign our business in accordance with the Long-Term Strategic Plan. During the year ended December 31, 2025, we had a transition occur on our senior leadership team with respect to our Chief Financial Officer role. Additionally, as a result of the Value Maximization Plan, our business relies more heavily on the performance of UACC and CarStory, and therefore on the key personnel from those subsidiaries. Our future performance will depend, in part, on the successful transition of these positions and any other key management positions that may experience turnover in the future. We heavily rely on the continued service and performance of our senior management team, which provides leadership, contributes to the core areas of our business, and helps us to efficiently execute our business, including with respect to strategic initiatives such as our Long-Term Strategic Plan. If members of our senior management team, including our executive leadership, become unavailable, including due to personal circumstances or if they become ill, or if we are otherwise unable to retain them, we may not be able to manage our business effectively and, as a result, our business and operating results could be harmed. If the senior management team, including any new hires that we make, fails to work together effectively and to execute our plans and strategies on a timely basis, or if we are unable to retain key employees in a cost-effective manner or at all, then our business and future growth prospects could be harmed.
In addition, we issue equity awards to certain of our employees as part of our hiring and retention efforts, and job candidates and existing employees often consider the value of the equity awards they receive in connection with their employment. Our employees’ inability to sell their shares in the public market at times and/or at prices desired may lead to a larger than normal turnover rate. Historically, the market value of our common stock has declined significantly. Additionally, our common stock was suspended from trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market as a result of our Prepackaged Chapter 11 Case. On February 20, 2025, our newly issued Common Stock was relisted for trading on the Nasdaq Global Market. If the actual or perceived value of our Common Stock does not recover, or if we are not able to list or remain listed on a national securities exchange, it may adversely affect our ability to hire or retain employees. See “—We may be unable to satisfy a Nasdaq listing rule or that of another national securities exchange.”
In addition, we may periodically change our equity compensation practices, which may include reducing the number of employees eligible for equity awards or reducing the size or value of equity awards granted per employee or undertaking other efforts that may prove to be an unsuccessful retention mechanism. If we are unable to make meaningful equity awards to our employees or directors, or otherwise fail to attract, integrate, adequately compensate, or retain the qualified and highly skilled personnel required to fulfill our current or future needs, our business and future growth prospects could be harmed.
Our executive officers and other employees are at-will employees, which means they may terminate their employment relationship with us at any time, and their knowledge of our business and industry would be extremely difficult to replace. We may not be able to retain the services of any members of our senior management or other key employees. If we do not succeed in retaining and motivating existing employees or attracting well-qualified employees in the future, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.
We are, and may in the future be, subject to legal proceedings in the ordinary course of our business. If the outcomes of these proceedings are adverse to us, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We are subject to various litigation matters from time to time, the outcome of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Claims arising out of actual or alleged violations of law could be asserted against us by individuals, either individually or through class actions, by governmental entities in
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civil or criminal investigations and proceedings, or by other entities. These claims could be asserted under a variety of laws, including, but not limited to, consumer finance laws, consumer protection laws, intellectual property laws, privacy laws, labor and employment laws, securities laws, and employee benefit laws. These actions could expose us to adverse publicity and to substantial monetary damages and legal defense costs, injunctive relief and criminal and civil fines and penalties, including, but not limited to, suspension or revocation of licenses to conduct business.
See Part I, Item 3. “Legal Proceedings” for more information about legal proceedings to which we are subject.
Risks Related to the UACC Business
UACC may be unable to sell automotive finance receivables and generate gains on sales of those finance receivables, which could harm our business, results of operations, and financial condition.
UACC provides indirect financing by drawing on its Warehouse Credit Facilities to purchase retail installment sales contracts from automotive dealers and pledging eligible finance receivables as collateral, then typically selling the receivables related to the retail installment sales contracts. Certain advance rates available to UACC on borrowings from the Warehouse Credit Facilities have decreased as a result of the increasing credit losses in UACC's portfolio and overall rising interest rates. Any future decreases on available advance rates may have an adverse impact on our liquidity. In addition, UACC has entered into arrangements to sell automotive finance receivables that it purchases, through securitizations, and we expect UACC to enter into additional securitizations in the future, subject to market conditions. If UACC is not able to sell receivables under these current or future arrangements for a variety of reasons, including increased credit losses or because it has reached its capacity under the arrangements, its financing partners exercise termination rights before it reaches capacity, general economic or credit market conditions, market disruption, or it reaches the scheduled expiration date of the commitment, and if UACC is not able to enter into new arrangements on similar terms, it may not have adequate liquidity and our business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected. In addition, as a result of high interest rates, the current inflationary environment and vehicle depreciation in the used automotive industry, UACC has been experiencing higher loss severity. Waiver of monthly servicing fees also results in reduced servicing income. Any future waivers of monthly servicing fees on other prior off-balance sheet securitization transactions could result in consolidation of such transactions. Such future consolidations could increase our indebtedness and may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and liquidity.
UACC's securitizations may expose it to financing and other risks, and there can be no assurance that it will be able to access the securitization market in the future, which may require it to seek more costly financing.
UACC has securitized, and we expect will in the future securitize, certain of its automotive finance receivables to generate cash. In such transactions, it conveys a pool of automotive finance receivables to a special purpose vehicle, typically a trust that, in turn, issues certain securities. The securities issued by the special purpose vehicle are collateralized by the pool of automotive finance receivables. In exchange for the transfer of finance receivables to the special purpose vehicle, UACC receives the cash proceeds from the sale of the securities.
There can be no assurance that UACC will be able to complete additional securitizations in the future, particularly if the securitization markets become constrained. In addition, the value of any securities that UACC may retain in its securitizations, including securities retained to comply with applicable risk retention rules, might be reduced or, in some cases, eliminated as a result of an adverse change in economic conditions, the financial markets, or credit performance. UACC's other rated securities may also be downgraded or put on negative credit watch. In addition, as a result of higher interest rates, the current inflationary environment and vehicle depreciation in the used automotive industry, UACC is experiencing higher portfolio losses. The increased losses could lead to reduced servicing income if UACC elects to waive monthly servicing fees. If it is not possible or economical for UACC to securitize its automotive finance receivables in the future, it would need to seek alternative financing to support its operations and to meet its existing debt obligations, which may be less efficient and more expensive than raising capital via securitizations and may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition, and liquidity.
UACC is currently experiencing increasing credit losses in interests it holds in automotive finance receivables and its credit scoring systems may not effectively forecast its automotive receivables loss rates. Higher than anticipated credit losses or prepayments or the inability to effectively forecast loss rates may negatively impact our operating results.
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UACC specializes in the purchase and servicing of contracts to finance vehicle purchases primarily by non-prime customers, including those who have limited credit history, past credit problems, or low income. Such contracts generally have a higher risk of non-performance and may result in higher delinquencies and higher losses than contracts with customers who have higher credit ratings. UACC is currently experiencing increasing credit losses on its finance receivables, which has negatively impacted the fair value of our financial receivables and increased the losses recognized during 2024 and 2025. We expect these credit losses to continue to negatively impact our business during 2026. Due to the Ecommerce Wind-Down, UACC has become our largest business, and our results of operations and financial condition are increasingly vulnerable to adverse developments in UACC's business.
Until UACC sells automotive finance receivables, and to the extent it retains interests in those receivables after it sells them, whether pursuant to securitization transactions or otherwise, UACC is exposed to the risk that certain accountholders will be unable or unwilling to repay their retail installment sales contracts according to their terms and that the vehicle collateral securing the payment of those retail installment sales contracts may not be sufficient to ensure full repayment. Additionally, higher energy prices (including the price of gasoline) and other consumer prices, unstable real estate values, reset of adjustable-rate mortgages to higher interest rates, geopolitical tensions around the world, interest rate increases, regional bank failures, inflation, the impact of tariffs, and other factors can affect consumer confidence and disposable income. While credit losses are inherent in the automotive finance receivables market, these conditions can increase loss frequency and severity, decrease consumer demand for motor vehicles, and weaken collateral values on certain types of motor vehicles in any period of extended economic slowdown or recession and could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. UACC's origination mix is mostly comprised of non-prime borrowers, and the actual rates of delinquencies, defaults, repossessions and losses on its receivables are higher and more volatile than those experienced in the general motor vehicle finance industry and may be adversely affected to a greater extent during an economic downturn. In addition, caps on interest rates by individual states may limit UACC's ability to offset rising interest rates against automotive financing rates it offers to dealers.
UACC makes various assumptions and judgments about the automotive finance receivables it originates or purchases and may establish a valuation allowance and value beneficial ownership interests based on a number of factors. Although management may establish a valuation allowance and value beneficial ownership interests based on analysis it believes is appropriate, this may not be adequate, particularly in periods of increased industry-wide vehicle depreciation rates. For example, if economic conditions were to deteriorate unexpectedly, additional credit losses not incorporated in the existing valuation may occur. Several variables have affected UACC’s recent loss and delinquency rates, including general economic conditions and market interest rates, and such variables are likely to differ in the future. In particular, given the impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on the economy and individuals, including the associated stimulus programs, historical loss and delinquency expectations may not accurately predict the performance of UACC's receivables and impact its ability to effectively forecast loss rates. Losses in excess of expectations could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. Further, the rate of prepayments cannot be predicted and may be influenced by a variety of factors, including changes in the economic and social conditions of our borrowers.
UACC relies on its internally developed credit scoring systems to forecast loss rates of the automotive finance receivables it originates or purchases. If it relies on systems that fail to effectively forecast loss rates on receivables it originates or purchases, those receivables may suffer higher losses than expected. UACC’s credit scoring systems that were in place before the launch of its redeveloped credit-scoring model in September 2025, were developed prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and, accordingly, were not designed to take into account the effect of the economic, financial and social disruptions resulting from the pandemic, including the associated stimulus programs. Additionally, as noted above, we believe that the impact of the pandemic on the economy and individuals led to loss and delinquency expectations that may not accurately predict the performance of UACC's receivables.
UACC generally seeks to sell these receivables through securitization transactions. If the receivables it sells experience higher loss rates than forecasted, it may be unable to sell those receivables or may obtain less favorable pricing on the receivables it sells in the future and suffer reputational harm in the marketplace for the receivables it sells and its results of operations and financial condition may be adversely affected. If UACC holds receivables that it originates on its balance sheet until it sells them in securitization transactions or, in the future, through loan sales to its financing partners or other arrangements, then to the extent those receivables fail to perform during its holding period, they may become ineligible for sale.
If UACC’s dealers do not submit a sufficient number of suitable automobile contracts to UACC for purchase, its results of operations may be impaired.
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UACC is dependent upon establishing and maintaining relationships with a large number of manufacturer-franchised and independent motor vehicle dealers to supply it with automobile contracts. During the years ended December 31, 2020 through 2025, no single dealer accounted for 1% or more of the automobile contracts UACC purchased, other than Vroom through the Company's former ecommerce business. The agreements UACC has with dealers to purchase automobile contracts do not require dealers to submit a minimum number of automobile contracts for purchase. The failure of dealers to submit automobile contracts that meet UACC’s underwriting criteria could result in reductions in its revenues or the cash flows available to it, and, therefore, could have an adverse effect on UACC's and our results of operations.
As of January 2024, when we commenced the Ecommerce Wind-Down, automobile contracts originated from Vroom customers or purchased from Vroom represented approximately 29.7% of UACC's total serviced loan portfolio. If UACC is unable to replace the volume of automobile contracts it previously originated through Vroom's ecommerce business, our business, financial condition, and operating results could be materially adversely affected.
If UACC loses servicing rights on its automobile contracts, our results of operations would be impaired.
UACC is entitled to receive servicing fees only when it acts as servicer under the applicable sale and servicing agreements governing its Warehouse Credit Facilities and securitizations. Under such agreements, UACC may be terminated as servicer upon the occurrence of certain events, including:
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its failure to observe and perform its duties and responsibilities and comply with other covenants;
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certain bankruptcy events; and
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the occurrence of certain events of default under the documents governing the facilities.
The loss of servicing rights could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Risk retention rules may limit UACC’s liquidity and increase UACC’s capital requirements.
Securitizations of automobile receivables are subject to risk retention rules under Federal law, which generally require that sponsors of asset-backed securities (ABS), such as UACC, retain no less than five percent of the credit risk of the assets collateralizing the ABS issuance. The rules also set forth prohibitions on transferring or hedging the credit risk that the sponsor is required to retain. Because the rules place an upper limit on the degree to which UACC may use financial leverage, its securitization structures may require more capital, or may release less cash, than might be the case in the absence of such rules.
UACC may be unable to continue to access or renew funding sources and obtain capital needed to maintain and grow its business.
UACC uses debt financing to maintain and grow its business. UACC relies on borrowings under senior secured warehouse credit facilities to finance the origination of finance receivables as well as to provide funding for general operating activities. The terms of those facilities generally mature within two years and we typically renew those facilities in the ordinary course. UACC currently has three Warehouse Credit Facilities, expiring in June 2026, August 2026 and April 2027, respectively. See Note 10, Warehouse Credit Facilities and Consolidated VIEs, to the Consolidated Financial Statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and "UACC may be unable to continue to access or renew funding sources and obtain capital needed to maintain and grow its business." We have commenced discussions with certain of our lenders under the Warehouse Credit Facilities regarding amended facilities that would extend the terms beyond the current expiration dates. Failure to secure sufficient warehouse borrowing capacity beyond the expiration of the facilities in 2026 and 2027 would have a material adverse effect on our ability to finance UACC’s lending operations and our results of operations and liquidity. We cannot guarantee that the Warehouse Credit Facilities will continue to be available beyond their current maturity dates, on acceptable terms, or at all, or that UACC will be able to obtain additional financing on acceptable terms or at all. The availability of additional financing will depend on a variety of factors such as market conditions, the general availability of credit, the losses incurred in UACC's loan portfolio, UACC’s financial position, its results of operations, and the capacity for additional borrowing under its existing financing arrangements. Certain events in our industry or in industries adjacent to ours could make it more difficult for UACC to obtain financing. For example, in September 2025, an unrelated subprime auto lender declared bankruptcy. Subsequently, federal authorities alleged that the bankruptcy was due to fraudulent activity. If UACC’s various financing alternatives were to become limited or unavailable, it may be unable to
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maintain or grow origination volume at the level that we anticipate and our financial condition and results of operations would be materially adversely affected.
Risks Related to Cybersecurity and Privacy
An actual or perceived failure to maintain the security of personal information and other customer data that we collect, store, process, and use could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We and certain of our third-party providers collect, maintain and process data about current and prospective customers, employees, business partners and others, including personal information, as well as proprietary information belonging to our business such as trade secrets (collectively, "Confidential Information"). We rely on computer systems, hardware, software, technology infrastructure and online sites and networks for both internal and external operations that are critical to our business (collectively, "IT Systems"). We own and manage some of these IT Systems but also rely on third parties that are not directly under our control to manage certain areas of these operations. For example, we rely on encryption, storage, and processing technology developed by third parties to securely transmit, operate on and store such information. Successful cyberattacks that disrupt or result in unauthorized access to our or third-party IT Systems can materially impact our operation and financial results. Due to the volume and sensitivity of the personal information and data we and these third parties manage and expect to manage in the future, as well as the nature of our customer base, the security features of our IT systems are critical. Any failure or perceived failure by us or by third parties who access our IT Systems and/or Confidential Information to maintain the security of personal and other data that is provided to us by customers, employees and vendors could harm our reputation and brand and expose us to a risk of loss or litigation and possible liability, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. While we employ a number of security measures designed to protect the security of our IT Systems and Confidential Information, there can be no assurance that our cybersecurity risk management program and processes, including our policies, controls or procedures, and of third parties we rely on will be fully implemented, complied with or effective in protecting our IT Systems and Confidential Information.
Additionally, concerns about our practices with regard to the collection, use or disclosure of personal information or other privacy-related matters, even if unfounded, could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations. We are subject to numerous federal, state and local laws, regulations and industry standards regarding privacy, cybersecurity and the collection, use, disclosure and other processing of personal information and other data. The scope and interpretation of these laws continue to evolve and may be inconsistent across jurisdictions. New laws also may be enacted. See "—Failure to comply with federal, state and local laws and regulations relating to privacy, data protection and consumer protection, or the expansion of current or the enactment of new laws or regulations relating to privacy, data protection and consumer protection, as well as our actual or perceived failure to protect such information could harm our reputation and could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations." Further, we are subject to contractual requirements and others’ privacy policies that govern how we use and protect personal information and other data. These obligations may be interpreted and applied inconsistently and may conflict with other rules or our practices. Any failure or perceived failure by us to comply with our privacy policies or obligations may result in regulatory investigations, governmental enforcement actions, litigation (such as class actions), fines or penalties or negative publicity that could have an adverse effect on our business. If our third-party service providers violate applicable laws, contractual obligations or our policies, then such violations also may put consumer, employee and vendor information at risk and could, in turn, harm our reputation, business and operating results.
If we or our third-party providers sustain cyber-attacks or other privacy or data security incidents that result in security breaches, we could suffer a loss of sales and increased costs, exposure to significant liability, reputational harm and other negative consequences.
Threat actors are increasingly sophisticated and can operate large-scale complex automated attacks using tools – including artificial intelligence – that circumvent security controls, evade detection and remove forensic evidence. Similar to most IT systems and companies, we face a consistent threat from cyber-attacks, viruses, malicious software, physical break-ins, theft, ransomware, phishing, social engineering, unintentional employee error or malfeasance, system availability, and other security breaches including malicious code embedded in open-source software, misconfigurations, “bugs” or other vulnerabilities in commercial software that is integrated into our (or our suppliers’ or service providers’) IT Systems, products or services that could compromise the confidentiality, integrity and availability of our IT Systems and Confidential Information. Further, third-party hosts or service providers are also a source of security concerns as it relates to failures of their own security systems and infrastructure. Our technology infrastructure may be subject to increased risk of slowdown or interruption as a result of integration with third-party services, including cloud services, and/or failures by such third parties, which are beyond our control. Remote and hybrid working arrangements at our company (and at many
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third-party providers) also increase cybersecurity risks due to the challenges associated with managing remote computing assets and security vulnerabilities that are present in many non-corporate and home networks. Additionally, any integration of artificial intelligence in our or any service providers’ operations, products or services is expected to pose new or unknown cybersecurity risks and challenges. The costs to eliminate or address evolving security threats and vulnerabilities before or after a cyber-incident could be significant. Our remediation efforts may not be successful and could result in interruptions, delays or cessation of service and loss of existing or potential suppliers or players, any of which could lead to negative reputational impacts.Although we have insurance coverage for losses associated with cyber-attacks, as with all insurance policies, there are coverage exclusions and limitations, and our coverage may not be sufficient to cover all possible claims, and we may still suffer losses that could have a material adverse effect on our business, including reputational damage. Further, we cannot guarantee that applicable insurance will be available to us in the future on economically reasonable terms or at all.
We also could be negatively impacted by existing and proposed U.S. laws and regulations, and government policies and practices related to cybersecurity, data privacy, and data localization. In the event that we or our service providers are unable to prevent, detect, and remediate the foregoing security threats and risks, our operations could be disrupted or we could incur financial, legal or reputational losses arising from misappropriation, misuse, leakage, falsification or intentional or accidental release or loss of information maintained in our IT Systems and Confidential Information.
Failure to comply with federal, state and local laws and regulations relating to privacy, data protection and consumer protection, or the expansion of current or the enactment of new laws or regulations relating to privacy, data protection and consumer protection, as well as our actual or perceived failure to protect such information could harm our reputation and could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
There are numerous federal, state and local laws and regulations regarding privacy and the collection, processing, storing, sharing, disclosing, using and protecting of personal information and other data, the scope of which are constantly changing, subject to differing interpretations, and which may be costly to comply with, inconsistent between jurisdictions or conflicting with other rules. We are also subject to specific contractual requirements contained in third-party agreements governing our use and protection of personal information and other data. We are subject to the terms of our privacy policies and the privacy- and security-related obligations to third parties. We strive to comply with applicable laws, policies, legal obligations and industry codes of conduct relating to privacy and data protection, to the extent possible. However, the application and interpretation of such requirements are constantly evolving and are subject to change, creating a complex compliance environment. In some cases, these requirements may be either unclear in their interpretation and application, or they may have inconsistent or conflicting requirements with each other. Further, there has been a substantial increase in legislative activity and regulatory focus on data privacy and security in the United States, including in relation to cybersecurity incidents. In addition, some such requirements place restrictions on our ability to process personal information across our business or across country borders. Any failure or perceived failure by us to comply with our privacy policies, our privacy-related obligations to customers or other third parties, our privacy-related legal obligations or any compromise of security that results in the unauthorized release or transfer of sensitive information, which may include personally identifiable information or other customer data, may result in governmental enforcement actions, litigation or public statements against us by consumer advocacy groups or others and could cause customers, vendors and third-party business partners to lose trust in us, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Additionally, if vendors, developers or other third parties that we work with violate applicable laws or our policies, such violations may also put customers’, vendors’ or receivables-purchasers’ information at risk and could in turn harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Moreover, laws, regulations, and standards covering marketing, advertising, and other activities conducted by telephone, email, mobile devices, and the internet may be or become applicable to our business, such as the Federal Communications Act, the Federal Wiretap Act, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (the “TCPA”), the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003 (the “CAN-SPAM Act”), and similar state consumer protection and communication privacy laws, such as California’s Invasion of Privacy Act.
We use telephone calls and send short message service (“SMS”) text messages to customers. The actual or perceived improper sending of text messages may subject us to potential risks, including liabilities or claims relating to consumer protection laws such as the TCPA. Numerous class-action suits under federal and state laws have been filed in recent years against companies who conduct telemarketing and/or SMS texting programs, with many resulting in multi-million-dollar settlements to the plaintiffs. Any future such litigation against us could be costly and time-consuming to defend. In particular, the TCPA imposes significant restrictions on the ability to make telephone calls or send text
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messages to mobile telephone numbers without the prior consent of the person being contacted. Federal or state regulatory authorities or private litigants may claim that the notices and disclosures we provide, form of consents we obtain or our outreach practices are not adequate or violate applicable law. This may in the future result in civil claims against us. Claims that we have violated the TCPA could be costly to litigate, whether or not they have merit, and could expose us to substantial statutory damages or costly settlements.
We may send marketing messages via email, subjecting us to the CAN-SPAM Act. The CAN-SPAM Act imposes certain obligations regarding the content of emails and providing opt-outs (with the corresponding requirement to honor such opt-outs promptly). While we strive to ensure that all of our marketing communications comply with the requirements set forth in the CAN-SPAM Act, any violations could result in the Federal Trade Commission seeking civil penalties against us.
We expect that industry standards, laws and regulations will continue to develop regarding privacy, data protection, information security and artificial intelligence in many jurisdictions. For example, the California Consumer Privacy Act, and related laws in other jurisdictions require us to adhere to certain disclosure restrictions and deletion obligations with respect to the Personal Information of their residents, and allow for penalties for violations and, in some cases, a private right of action. These laws also impose transparency and other obligations with respect to personal information of their respective residents and provide residents with similar rights with respect to their personal information. We have invested, and continue to invest, human and technology resources in our efforts to comply with such requirements that may be time-intensive and costly.
It is possible that new laws, regulations and other requirements, or amendments to or changes in interpretations of existing laws, regulations and other requirements, may require us to incur significant costs, implement new processes, or change our processing of information and business operations, which could ultimately hinder our ability to grow our business by extracting value from our data assets. In addition, any failure or perceived failure by us to comply with laws, regulations and other requirements relating to the privacy, security and processing of information could result in legal claims or proceedings (including class actions), regulatory investigations or enforcement actions. We could incur significant costs in investigating and defending such claims and, if found liable, pay significant damages or fines or be required to make changes to our business. These proceedings and any subsequent adverse outcomes may subject us to significant negative publicity and an erosion of trust. If any of these events were to occur, our business, results of operations, and financial condition could be materially adversely affected.
Risks Related to Our Industry and General Economic Conditions
Our businesses participate in highly competitive industries, and pressure from existing and new companies may adversely affect our business and results of operations.
The automobile financing business is large and highly competitive. UACC competes with several national, regional, local and captive finance companies, banks, credit unions, and fintech companies. Many of these companies are much larger and have greater financial resources than UACC, including greater access to capital markets for debt instruments or access to lower cost deposit bases. These funding sources may be unavailable to UACC. Many of these companies also have long-standing relationships with automobile dealers and may provide other financing to dealers, including floor plan financing for the dealers' purchases of automobiles from auctions, which we do not offer. There can be no assurance that we will be able to continue to compete successfully and, as a result, we may not be able to purchase automobile contracts from dealers at a price acceptable to us, which could result in reductions in our revenues or the cash flows available to us. Additionally, if UACC is unsuccessful in maintaining and growing its dealer network, our results of operations, cash flows, and financial condition may be adversely affected.
In addition, the automotive data and service business is large and very competitive. CarStory competes with a number of companies in the automotive industry, including valuation services, VIN data providers, website marketplaces, inventory aggregators, and retail ecommerce platforms. Many of these companies are significantly larger with well-established sales and marketing teams. We compete with other companies to attract customers to our marketplace and dealers to our digital solutions. If we are unable to grow CarStory's marketplace and customer base, our results of operations, cash flows, and financial condition may be adversely affected.
General business and economic conditions, and risks related to the larger automotive ecosystem, including consumer demand, could reduce our sales and profitability, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
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Our business is affected by general business and economic conditions. The global economy often experiences periods of instability, and this volatility may lead to high unemployment and a lack of available credit, which may in turn lead to increased delinquencies, defaults, repossessions and losses on motor vehicle contracts financed through UACC and could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. For example, in 2025, the non-prime automotive financing industry faced challenges relating to increasing delinquencies and defaults, lowered recoveries, and other factors, leading some of UACC’s competitors to cease new loan originations, file bankruptcy, or otherwise significantly alter their operations.
Purchases of new and used vehicles are typically discretionary for consumers and have been, and may continue to be, affected by negative trends in the economy and other factors, including inflation and fluctuating interest rates, the impact of tariffs (as described further below), the cost of energy and gasoline, the availability and cost of consumer credit, reductions in consumer confidence and fears of recession, stock market volatility, increases or changes in regulation and unemployment levels. The current inflationary environment has led to both overall price increases and pronounced price increases in certain sectors, including gasoline prices. Moreover, the Federal Reserve’s efforts to tame inflation have led to, and may continue to lead to, increased interest rates, which affects automotive finance rates, making vehicle financing more costly and less accessible to many consumers. Additionally, increased environmental regulation has made, and may in the future make, used vehicles more expensive and less desirable for consumers.
Our business may be impacted by the imposition of tariffs and other trade barriers, which make it more costly for automobile manufacturers and sellers to export and import vehicles and raw materials, and increase the price consumers in the U.S. pay for vehicles. In recent years, the U.S. government has renegotiated or terminated certain existing bilateral or multi-lateral trade agreements. In addition, the Presidential administration has implemented significant tariffs on imports to the United States from various countries, including those from the European Union, Japan, China, Canada and Mexico. While the U.S. has reached trade agreements with certain countries that reduced tariff rates on some automotive goods, tariffs on imports from other countries, including Canada and Mexico, remain elevated. Such significant tariffs and other restrictions have had, and may continue to have, a major impact on the United States automotive industry, which depends heavily on cross border trade. These tariffs have had a significant adverse effect, including financial, on the automotive industry. Further, any additional tariffs in the United States or retaliatory tariffs imposed by other governments could exacerbate the impact, as could the uncertainty regarding the magnitude or duration of these measures. Steps taken by governments to implement tariffs on raw materials (including steel), automobiles, parts, and other products and materials have disrupted existing supply chains and imposed additional costs on businesses in the automotive industry in the United States and globally. While negotiations regarding tariffs are ongoing and changing rapidly, the resulting environment of retaliatory trade or other practices of additional trade restrictions or barriers increase automobile prices in the U.S. and caused volatility, which has led to, and could continue to lead to, further decreased consumer demand for automobiles, and in turn, decreased demand for motor vehicle contracts financed through UACC, which would negatively impact our results of operations, cash flows, and financial condition.
Risks Related to Laws and Regulations
We operate in a highly regulated industry and are subject to a wide range of federal, state and local laws and regulations and executive orders. Failure to comply with these laws, regulations and executive orders could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our businesses are and will continue to be subject to extensive U.S. federal, state and local laws and regulations and executive orders. The financing of motor vehicles is regulated by every state in which we operate and by the U.S. federal government. Our prior ecommerce business, including the advertising and sale of used vehicles, titling and registration of vehicles, and the sale of value-added products, also was regulated by state laws, and such state laws can vary significantly from state to state. In addition, we are subject to regulations and laws specifically governing the internet and ecommerce and the collection, storage and use of personal information and other customer data. We are also subject to federal and state consumer protection laws, including prohibitions against unfair or deceptive acts or practices. The federal governmental agencies that regulate our business and have the authority to enforce such regulations and laws against us include agencies such as the U.S. Federal Trade Commission ("FTC"), the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB"), the U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration, the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Federal Communications Commission ("FCC"). Additionally, we are subject to regulation by state consumer protection agencies and state financial regulatory agencies.
In our prior ecommerce business, we have been subject to audits, requests for information, investigations and other inquiries from our regulators related to customer complaints. As we encountered operational challenges in keeping up with our rapid growth from 2020 through the first quarter of 2022, we experienced an increase in customer complaints,
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leading to an increase in such regulatory inquiries. We endeavored to promptly respond to any such inquiries and cooperate with our regulators. However, we have incurred fines in certain states and in April 2022, the Attorney General of Texas filed a lawsuit on behalf of the State of Texas in the District Court of Travis County, Texas against Vroom, Inc. and Vroom Automotive, LLC, alleging violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices − Consumer Protection Act and Texas Business and Commerce Code § 17.41 et seq. In December 2023, Vroom, Inc., Vroom Automotive, LLC and the Attorney General of the State of Texas reached a final agreement to resolve all claims in the petition, without any admission of wrongdoing by either Vroom entity. Pursuant to the agreement, which the court approved on December 13, 2023, the Company paid $2 million in civil penalties and $1 million in attorneys' fees, and agreed to abide permanently by an injunction of certain operational practices that were previously implemented.
In relation to our prior ecommerce business, we were licensed as a dealer in the states of Texas, Florida, Arizona, California, Ohio and Wisconsin. We also held a motor vehicle sales finance license in Texas in connection with our Texas dealer license, a retail installment seller license in Florida in connection with our Florida dealer license, a retail installment seller license in Pennsylvania, and filed the required notice in Arizona in connection with our Arizona dealer license. As a result of the Ecommerce Wind-Down, we have terminated nearly all such licenses.
UACC's financing operations are subject to U.S. federal, state, and local laws and regulations regarding contract origination, acquiring motor vehicle installment sales contracts from retail sellers, furnishing data to credit reporting agencies, servicing, debt collection practices, and securitization transactions. Certain states require UACC to have a sales finance license, consumer credit license, or similar applicable license. UACC has obtained licenses in all states where licensing is required. In addition, UACC is subject to enforcement by the CFPB and state consumer protection agencies, including state attorney general offices and state financial regulatory agencies. Any failure to renew or maintain or any revocation of any of UACC's licenses would materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Further, any statutory or other financial penalties imposed on UACC by a regulator for violations of federal, state or local laws or regulations could materially impact our financial condition and results of operations. On November 14, 2024, the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation, Division of Banks, commenced a routine compliance examination of UACC that is ongoing and in its final stages. In connection therewith, the Division of Banks indicated that it intends to issue findings of compliance violations and impose penalties, but the extent and scope are still unknown until UACC receives a written report of preliminary findings and has the opportunity to respond.
In addition to these laws and regulations that apply specifically to the sale and financing of used vehicles, our facilities and business operations are subject to laws and regulations and executive orders relating to environmental protection, occupational health and safety, and other broadly applicable legal obligations. We also are subject to laws and regulations and executive orders involving taxes, tariffs, privacy and data security, anti-spam, pricing, content protection, electronic contracts and communications, mobile communications, consumer protection, information reporting requirements, unencumbered internet access to our platform, the design and operation of websites and internet neutrality.
We are also subject to laws and regulations affecting public companies, including securities laws and Nasdaq listing rules. The violation of any of these laws or regulations could result in administrative, civil or criminal penalties or in a cease-and-desist order against our business operations, any of which could damage our reputation and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. We have incurred and will continue to incur capital and operating expenses and other costs to comply with these laws and regulations.
The foregoing description of laws and regulations and other legal obligations to which we are or may be subject is not exhaustive, and the regulatory framework governing our operations is subject to evolving interpretations and continuous change. The enactment of new laws, regulations and executive orders, the interpretation of existing or new laws and regulations and executive orders in unpredictable or unfavorable ways, and changing enforcement priorities may affect the operation of our business, directly or indirectly, which could result in substantial regulatory compliance costs, civil or criminal penalties, including fines, adverse publicity, decreased revenues, and increased expenses.
Government regulation of the internet is evolving, and unfavorable changes or failure by us to comply with these regulations could substantially harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We are subject to general business regulations and laws and executive orders, as well as those specifically governing the internet and ecommerce. Existing and future regulations and laws and executive orders could impede the growth of the internet, ecommerce or mobile commerce. These regulations and laws and executive orders may involve taxes, tariffs, privacy and data security, artificial intelligence, anti-spam, pricing, content protection, electronic contracts and communications, mobile communications, consumer protection, information reporting requirements, the design and operation of websites and internet neutrality. Since January 2025, President Trump has signed numerous executive
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orders, including some revoking executive orders and actions from the previous administration. It is not clear how existing and changing laws governing issues such as property ownership, sales and other taxes and consumer privacy apply to the internet as the vast majority of these laws were adopted prior to the advent of the internet and do not contemplate or address the unique issues raised by the internet or ecommerce. It is possible that general business regulations and laws and executive orders, or those specifically governing the internet or ecommerce, may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent from one market segment to another and may conflict with other rules or our practices. For example, federal, state and local regulation regarding privacy, data protection and information security has become more significant, and these evolving regulations may increase our costs of compliance. We cannot be sure that our practices have complied, comply or will comply fully with all such laws and regulations. The enactment of new laws and regulations and executive orders, and their interpretation, or the interpretation of existing laws and regulations in an unfavorable way may affect the operation of our business, directly or indirectly, which could result in substantial regulatory compliance costs, civil or criminal penalties, including fines, adverse publicity, decreased revenues and increased expenses.
Risks Related to Our Use of Data and Technology
Our success in utilizing the CarStory Real Market Price is dependent on our ability to offer accurate and competitive pricing for vehicles.
We provide suggested offer pricing to our dealer partners as part of the CarStory platform using data science and proprietary algorithms based on a number of factors, including mechanical soundness, consumer desirability, vehicle history, market prices and relative value as prospective inventory. We also leverage the CarStory Real Market Price for certain vehicle valuations in UACC's underwriting and servicing. If we are unable to provide accurate and competitive pricing through the CarStory Real Market Price, particularly as it relates to any expanded use of the CarStory Real Market Price at UACC, our revenue, gross margins and results of operations would be affected, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our platform utilizes open-source software, and any defects or security vulnerabilities in the open-source software could negatively affect our business.
Our platform utilizes open-source software, and we expect to use open-source software in the future in connection with our platform. To the extent that our platform depends upon the successful operation of open-source software, any undetected errors or defects in this open-source software could prevent the deployment or impair the functionality of our platform, delay the introduction of new solutions, result in a failure of our platform, introduce cybersecurity vulnerabilities, and injure our reputation. For example, undetected errors or defects in open-source software could render it vulnerable to breaches or security attacks, and, in conjunction, make our systems more vulnerable to data breaches.
In addition, the terms of various open-source licenses have not been fully interpreted by United States courts, and there is a risk that such licenses could be construed in a manner that imposes unanticipated conditions or restrictions on our ability to market our platform. Our utilization of some open-source licenses in conjunction with our proprietary software might require us to make the source code for our proprietary software publicly available at no cost or require us to make our source code publicly available for modifications or derivative works, including if our source code is based upon, incorporates, or was created using the open-source software. Although we monitor our use of open-source software to avoid subjecting our software to such requirements or other conditions we do not intend, we cannot assure you that our processes for controlling our use of open-source software will always be effective. Furthermore, we could be subject to third-party claims asserting ownership of, or demanding release of, the open-source software or derivative works that we developed using such software or otherwise seeking to enforce the terms of the applicable open-source license. Such claims could result in litigation and/or substantial costs to defend and resolve. In addition to risks related to open-source license requirements, usage of open-source software can lead to greater risks than use of third-party commercial software, as open-source licensors generally do not provide warranties, support services, indemnification or other contractual provisions regarding the quality of the code or intellectual property infringement claims protections, nor controls on the origin of the software. Many of the risks associated with usage of open-source software cannot be eliminated and could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
A significant disruption in service on our platform could damage our reputation and result in a loss of customers, which could harm our brand or our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our brand, reputation and ability to attract customers depend on the reliable performance of our platform and the supporting systems, technology and infrastructure. We may experience significant interruptions to our systems in the
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future. Interruptions in these systems, whether due to system failures or lack of upgrades, programming or configuration errors, computer viruses or physical or electronic break-ins, could affect the availability of our inventory on our platform and prevent or inhibit the ability of customers to access our platform. In addition, we expect that we will need to invest in and upgrade the UACC systems over time. Problems with the reliability or security of our systems could harm our reputation, result in a loss of customers and result in additional costs.
UACC operates a data center at a colocation facility in California to support its operations. This data center is vulnerable to damage or interruption from fire, flood, power loss, telecommunications failures, terrorist attacks, acts of war, electronic and physical break-ins, computer viruses, ransomware, earthquakes and similar events. The occurrence of any of these events could render communications between our offices inoperable and our results of operations could be harmed. Problems faced by our third-party web-hosting providers, including AWS, could inhibit the functionality of our platform. For example, our third-party web-hosting providers could close their facilities without adequate notice or suffer interruptions in service caused by cyber-attacks, natural disasters or other phenomena. Disruption of their services could cause our website to be inoperable and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Any financial difficulties, up to and including bankruptcy, faced by our third-party web-hosting providers or any of the service providers with whom they contract may have negative effects on our business, the nature and extent of which are difficult to predict. In addition, if our third-party web-hosting providers are unable to keep up with our growing capacity needs, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be harmed.
Any errors, defects, disruptions, or other performance or reliability problems with our platform could interrupt our dealer's access to data that drives our originations, which could harm our business, and financial condition and results of operations.
Our CarStory business relies on artificial intelligence to facilitate the automotive retail experience, and we intend to expand our use of artificial intelligence in connection with UACC. If our use of artificial intelligence results in inaccurate data, regulatory scrutiny, privacy concerns or is otherwise unsuccessful, it could adversely affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition.
We have made significant investments in artificial intelligence (“AI”) initiatives, including through our CarStory business and offerings. CarStory provides AI-powered analytics and digital services, including predictive market data, supporting the automotive industry. CarStory relies on AI, machine learning, automated decision making, data analytics and similar tools to analyze market trends, improve our services, provide insights to our customers and tailor our interactions with our customers (“AI Tools”). Certain of these AI Tools are proprietary to CarStory, and certain are third party AI Tools that CarStory has obtained a right to use from the applicable provider. We expect to expand our use and offerings of AI Tools, both in connection with CarStory’s business and to continue enhancing operations at UACC.
As with many technological innovations, there are significant risks involved in developing, maintaining and utilizing AI Tools and no assurance can be provided that CarStory’s or UACC's use of AI Tools will enhance our products or services, be commercially viable, or continue to be successful. If the models underlying the AI Tools are inadequately or incorrectly designed, improperly trained or used, or the data used to train them is incomplete, inadequate, inaccurate, biased, or otherwise poor data quality, our use of AI Tools may inadvertently reduce our efficiency or cause unintentional or unexpected outputs that are incorrect, insufficient, do not match our business goals, do not comply with our policies or standards, adversely affect our financial condition, business and reputation. Further if we are deemed to not have sufficient rights to use such data to train the AI Tools, then we may be subject to litigation by the owners of the content or other materials that comprise such data, similar to the litigation that is currently pending in various U.S. courts against other developers of AI Tools, and which has an uncertain outcome.
The market for AI Tools is complex and rapidly evolving, and we face significant competition from other companies as well as an evolving regulatory landscape. To the extent AI development and utilization from our industry competitors prove to be successful, or more successful than our approach, the demand for our CarStory platform or UACC services, and thus our business, could be adversely affected. Our efforts to continuously improve our AI Tools, including the introduction of new products or capabilities or changes to existing products or capabilities, may result in new or enhanced governmental or regulatory scrutiny, litigation, privacy or ethical concerns, or other complications that could adversely affect our business, reputation, or financial results. For example, the use of datasets to develop AI models, the content generated by AI systems, or the application of AI systems may be found to be insufficient, biased, or harmful, or violate current or future laws and regulations or deviate from consumers’ expectations of privacy. See “—Any actual or perceived failure to comply with evolving regulatory frameworks around the development and use of AI could adversely affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition.”
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The rapid evolution of AI will require the application of resources to develop, test, maintain and improve our products and services to help ensure that the AI Tools are, and remain, accurate and efficient. The continuous development, testing, maintenance and deployment of AI Tools may also increase the cost profile of our offerings due to the nature of the computing costs involved in such systems, and may involve unforeseen difficulties including material performance problems, undetected defects or errors. We may encounter technical obstacles, and it is possible that we may discover additional problems that may prevent our proprietary AI Tools from operating properly, which could adversely affect our business, customer relationships and reputation. For instance, the models underlying AI Tools can experience decay (also known as “model drift”) in which their performance and accuracy decrease over time without further human intervention to correct such decay. Additionally, we may not be successful in our ongoing development and maintenance of these technologies in the face of novel and evolving technical, reputational, and market factors.
Any actual or perceived failure to comply with the evolving regulatory frameworks around the development and use of AI could adversely affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition.
The regulatory framework around the development and use of these emerging technologies is rapidly evolving, and many federal, state and foreign government bodies and agencies have introduced and/or are currently considering additional laws and regulations. Both in the United States and internationally, the development and use of AI Tools are the subject of evolving regulation by various governmental and regulatory agencies, and changes in laws, rules, directives and regulations governing the use of AI Tools may adversely affect the ability of our business to use or rely on AI Tools. Additionally, existing laws and regulations may be enjoined in judicial proceedings from being enforced or may be interpreted in ways that would affect the operation of our AI Tools, or could be rescinded or amended as new administrations take differing approaches to evolving AI Tools. As a result, implementation standards and enforcement practices are likely to remain uncertain for the foreseeable future, and we cannot yet completely determine the impact future laws, regulations, standards, or market perception of their requirements may have on our business.
Already, certain existing legal regimes (e.g. relating to data privacy) that regulate certain aspects of AI, and new laws regulating AI Tools have either entered into force in the United States and the EU in 2025 or are expected to enter into force in 2026. For example, the California Privacy Protection Agency’s new regulations under the CCPA regarding the use of automated decision-making went into effect on January 1, 2026. California also enacted several laws in 2024 and 2025 that further regulate use of AI and provide consumers with additional protections around companies’ use of AI, such as requiring companies to disclose certain uses of generative AI. Other states in the U.S. have also passed AI-focused legislation, such as Colorado’s Artificial Intelligence Act, which will require developers and deployers of “high-risk” AI systems to implement certain safeguards against algorithmic discrimination, Utah’s Artificial Intelligence Policy Act, which establishes disclosure requirements and accountability measures for the use of generative AI in certain consumer interactions, and Texas’s Responsible AI Governance Act, which prohibits specified harmful uses of AI, including behavioral manipulation and unlawful discrimination. Such additional regulations, and uncertainty around whether they will survive legal challenges or how they will be enforced, may impact our ability to develop, use, procure and commercialize AI in the future.
The current government administration’s approach to investment in and regulation of AI has and is expected to continue to deviate from that of the previous administration and we will need to adapt to any changes that may result from such approach, including as the result of new or changing executive orders. For instance, the federal government may seek to preempt state laws when they seek to govern certain topics involving AI, as evidenced by the current administration’s “Ensuring a National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence” Executive Order signed on December 11, 2025. This order calls for federal standards and legislation that would preempt conflicting state AI regulations and create a federal litigation task force focused on challenging state AI laws in court. The current administration may continue to implement new or rescind existing federal orders and/or administrative policies relating to AI Technologies. Any such changes at the federal level could require us to expend significant resources to modify our products, services, or operations to ensure compliance or remain competitive.
Any of the foregoing, together with developing guidance and/or decisions in this area, may affect our ability to use AI Tools, require additional compliance measures and changes to our operations and processes regarding AI Tools, prevent us from being able to utilize third party AI Tools, and result in increased compliance costs, and potential increases in the risk of civil claims against us. Any actual or perceived failure to comply with evolving regulatory frameworks around the development and use of AI Tools, could adversely affect our brand, reputation, business, results of operations, and financial condition.
It is possible that further new laws and regulations will be adopted in the United States and in other non-U.S. jurisdictions, or that existing laws and regulations, including competition and antitrust laws, may be interpreted or enforced
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in ways that would limit our ability to use AI Tools for our business, or require us to change the way we use AI Tools in a manner that negatively affects the performance of our products, services, and business and the way in which we use AI Tools. We may need to expend resources to adjust our products or services in certain jurisdictions if the laws, regulations, or decisions are not consistent across jurisdictions. Further, the cost to comply with such laws, regulations, or decisions and/or guidance interpreting existing laws, or to adjust our business plans based on changes to how such laws are enforced, including adapting to loosened regulation to remain competitive, could be significant and would increase our operating expenses (such as by imposing additional reporting obligations regarding our use of AI Tools). Such an increase in operating expenses, as well as any actual or perceived failure to comply with such laws and regulations, could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Risks Related to Intellectual Property
Failure to adequately protect our intellectual property, technology and confidential information could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The protection of intellectual property, technology and confidential information is crucial to the success of our businesses. We rely on a combination of trademark, trade secret, patent and copyright law, as well as contractual restrictions, to protect our intellectual property (including our brand, technology and confidential information). While it is our policy to protect and defend our rights to our intellectual property, we cannot predict whether steps taken by us to protect our intellectual property will be adequate to prevent infringement, misappropriation, dilution or other violations of our intellectual property rights. We also cannot guarantee that others will not independently develop technology that has the same or similar functionality as our technology. Unauthorized parties may also attempt to copy or obtain and use our technology to develop competing solutions, and policing unauthorized use of our technology and intellectual property rights may be difficult and ineffective. Changes in the law or adverse court rulings may also negatively affect our ability to prevent others from using our technology. If our intellectual property rights are used or misappropriated by third parties, the value of our brand and intellectual property may be diminished and competitors may be able to more effectively mimic our products and methods of operations. Any of these events could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. Furthermore, we may face claims of infringement of third-party intellectual property that could interfere with our ability to market, promote and sell our brands, products and services. Any litigation to enforce our intellectual property rights or defend ourselves against claims of infringement of third-party intellectual property rights, regardless of merit, could be costly, divert attention of management and may not ultimately be resolved in our favor. Moreover, if we are unable to successfully defend against claims that we have infringed the intellectual property rights of others, we may be prevented from using certain intellectual property and may be liable for damages, which in turn could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. Even if we were to prevail, the time and resources necessary to resolve such disputes could be costly, time-consuming and divert the attention of management from our business operations.
A number of aspects of intellectual property protection in the field of AI and machine learning are currently under development, and there is uncertainty and ongoing litigation in different jurisdictions as to the degree and extent of protection warranted for AI and machine learning systems and relevant system input and outputs. The law is also uncertain across jurisdictions regarding the copyright ownership of content that is produced in whole or in part by generative AI Tools. If we fail to obtain protection for the intellectual property rights concerning our proprietary AI Tools, or later have our intellectual property rights invalidated or otherwise diminished, our competitors may be able to take advantage of our research and development efforts to develop competing products, which could adversely affect our business, reputation and financial condition. Given the long history of development of AI Tools, other parties may have (or in the future may obtain) patents or other proprietary rights that would prevent, limit or interfere with our ability to make, use or sell our own AI Tools.
We may use AI tools, including tools provided by third parties, to develop or assist in the development of our own software code. While use of such tools makes our development process more efficient, AI Tools have sometimes generated content that is “substantially similar” to proprietary or open source code on which the AI Tool was trained. If the AI Tools we use generate code that is too similar to other proprietary code, or to software processes that are protected by patent, we could be subject to intellectual property infringement claims. We may also not be able to anticipate and detect security vulnerabilities in such AI generated software code. If our tools generate code that is too similar to open source code, we risk losing protection of our own proprietary code that is commingled with such code. Finally, to the extent we use third-party AI Tools to develop software code, the terms of use of these tools may state that the third-party provider retains rights in the generated code.
We are currently the registrant of the vroom.com, carstory.com, vast.com and unitedautocredit.net internet domain names and various other related domain names. The regulation of domain names in the United States is subject
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to change. Regulatory bodies could establish additional top-level domains, appoint additional domain name registrars or modify the requirements for holding domain names. As a result, we may not be able to acquire or maintain domain names that are important for our business.
In addition, we have registered certain trademarks that are important to our business, such as the “Vroom®”, “Sell Us Your Car®”, “CarStory®”, “Vast®” and “United Auto Credit®” trademarks. While we are seeking and have secured registration of several of our trademarks in the U.S. and other foreign jurisdictions (including Canada and Europe), it is possible that others may assert senior rights to similar trademarks and seek to prevent our use and further registration of our trademarks in certain jurisdictions. Additionally, our pending trademark or service mark applications may not result in such marks being registered in a timely manner or at all. If we fail to adequately protect or enforce our rights under these trademarks, we may lose the ability to use those trademarks or to prevent others from using them, which could adversely harm our reputation and our business, financial condition and results of operations.