DriveItAway Holdings and Voyager Global Mobility recently announced a strategic alliance to create a new distribution channel for Voyager’s off-fleet vehicles.

What’s unique about this arrangement is the program will make selected off-fleet vehicles available directly to participating subprime and buy-here, pay-here dealers.

Furthermore, certain vehicles may also be offered to dealers on consignment.

In addition, Voyager plans to make selected vehicles available to qualified consumers through DriveItAway’s app-based flexible lease-to-own platform.

According to a news release, the goal of the program is to expand the supply of affordable personal transportation while reducing intermediary costs associated with traditional wholesale remarketing.

The companies pointed out that auction, wholesale and transportation expenses can represent a disproportionately large portion of the ultimate retail price of an entry-level vehicle compared with a higher-priced, late-model vehicle.

By connecting Voyager’s off-fleet inventory more directly with dealers and consumers, the companies intend to reduce those points of friction wherever possible.

For consumers who may have sufficient income to support a vehicle but lack the credit profile or upfront cash typically required for traditional financing, Voyager also intends to offer selected vehicles through the DriveItAway platform to offer flexible lease/rent to own vehicles, to allow access to ownership to those otherwise “shut out” of the conventional process.

“There is clearly a crisis in the availability of entry-level, affordable vehicles,” said DriveItAway founder and chief executive officer John Possumato, who is among the executives and experts scheduled to appear during Used Car Week that begins on Nov. 16 in San Diego.

“For vehicles at the lowest end of the market, auction, transportation and wholesaler fees can materially increase the ultimate retail price,” Possumato continued. “By creating a more direct path from fleet to dealer — and, through the DriveItAway platform, from fleet to consumer — we believe Voyager can lower unnecessary costs and expand access to reliable personal transportation.”

Under the newly launched program, Voyager will remarket selected off-fleet units through several channels intended to reduce friction and lower costs for dealers and end users:

—Offer vehicles directly to participating retailers seeking higher-mileage used inventory expected to retail primarily in the $10,000–$20,000 price range, bypassing certain wholesale intermediaries and auction-related costs.

—Provide selected dealers with the opportunity to carry Voyager-owned vehicles on consignment, subject to applicable program terms.

—Enable participating dealers to sell qualifying vehicles through traditional retail channels or make them available through Voyager’s DriveItAway-powered flexible lease-to-own program for consumers who may lack the credit profile or down payment required for conventional vehicle financing.

“Recent Edmunds data underscores how dramatically the affordable used-vehicle market has changed,” Voyager Global Mobility chief executive officer Menachem Light said in the news release. “Vehicles priced below $20,000 represented 55.2% of used-vehicle sales in the second quarter of 2019 but only 31.8% in the second quarter of 2026. In the $10,000–$15,000 price range, the average vehicle is now four years older and has nearly 40,000 more miles than a vehicle purchased within the same budget seven years ago.

“Voyager has hundreds of off-fleet vehicles becoming available each month,” Light continued. “By channeling suitable vehicles directly to participating dealers — and, in certain cases, providing them on consignment — we believe we can reduce intermediary costs, improve vehicle utilization and help dealers secure the kind of affordable inventory that has become increasingly difficult to find.

“We are excited to launch this program because it is designed to put affordable, higher-mileage vehicles into the hands of the people who need them most,” Light added. “Combining Voyager’s fleet and remarketing capabilities with DriveItAway’s technology and flexible pathway-to-ownership model creates a new channel intended to benefit dealers, consumers and both companies.”