Kyle Orlando
New platform offers dealers an alternative to established used vehicle pricing tools
Few areas of dealership operations are as entrenched as used vehicle pricing.
For years, most Canadian dealers have relied on a small number of platforms — most notably vAuto — to guide appraisal, pricing and inventory strategy. That dominance has shaped how used car departments operate, from acquisition to turn.
Now, a new Canadian entrant is looking to carve out space in that workflow.
Lexen is positioning itself as a decision intelligence platform focused on inventory performance, combining market data, internal dealership history and workflow tools in a single system.
For Chief Revenue Officer Kyle Orlando, the opportunity became clear early. After 16 years at eDealer, including eight as President, Orlando first encountered the company through a data partnership. What stood out wasn’t just the concept, but how developed the product already was at that stage. “I’d seen others try to take a run at this space,” said Orlando. “The difference here was this wasn’t something half-built.”
A market ready for alternatives
Breaking into the used vehicle pricing space has proven difficult. Dealers are deeply embedded in existing tools, and switching carries both operational and cultural risk.
But Orlando said the environment is shifting. “There hasn’t been a lot of real competition,” he said. “And when that happens, innovation slows and costs creep up. Dealers are starting to look at alternatives again.”
That interest is being driven by rising software costs, concerns about product evolution, and a desire for more flexibility in how inventory decisions are made.
“There are still operators who feel like they know their market better than anyone,” said Orlando. “And that experience matters. But real-time data gives you a level of precision that instinct alone can’t match.”
A different view of the market
One of Lexen’s key differences is how it builds its view of the market. Rather than relying primarily on listing aggregators, the platform pulls inventory data directly from dealer websites across Canada. The idea is to maintain a broader and more complete picture as dealer behaviour evolves.
“If a vehicle is on a dealer’s website, we see it,” said Orlando. “That matters as some dealers rely less on aggregators. It keeps the market view more complete.”
That external data is paired with internal dealership performance, often incorporating several years of sales history. Dealers can assess not just what the market is doing, but how similar vehicles have performed in their own stores. “Market data tells you what’s happening,” said Orlando. “Your own data tells you how you perform. You need both.”
From instinct to consistency
The shift toward data-driven pricing is well established, but Orlando said the balance between experience and analytics is still evolving.
“There are still operators who feel like they know their market better than anyone,” said Orlando. “And that experience matters. But real-time data gives you a level of precision that instinct alone can’t match.”
The platform allows dealers to filter comparables, remove outliers and focus on the most relevant vehicles, helping create more consistent pricing and appraisal decisions.
One platform, multiple functions
Another differentiator is consolidation. Many dealers rely on separate tools for appraisal, pricing and inventory management. Lexen is designed to bring those functions into a single workflow.
“Dealers are often stitching together different tools to cover appraisal, pricing and inventory,” said Orlando. “If you can bring that into one place, it simplifies operations and reduces cost.”
The platform supports both acquisition decisions and retail pricing, while also tracking performance over time.
Cost and predictability
Pricing is always part of the conversation with dealers. While Orlando avoids positioning the platform as a discount product, he said cost pressure is a growing concern — particularly when increases are unpredictable. “It’s not just the starting price, it’s what happens over time,” said Orlando.
To address that, the company includes a cap on annual price increases in its contracts, limiting them to five per cent. “That’s about giving dealers predictability,” said Orlando. “They should be able to plan their costs without worrying about large jumps at renewal.”
At the same time, Lexen is focused on adding functionality within the platform rather than introducing additional paid modules.
Moving toward automation
Recent development has focused on automation, particularly around pricing strategies. Dealers can define how they want to manage inventory and allow the system to apply those strategies consistently across a vehicle’s lifecycle.
“It’s not about replacing the dealer,” said Orlando. “It’s about executing the strategy consistently without the manual work.”
The roadmap also includes automation around appraisal follow-up, an area Orlando said remains underdeveloped in Canada.
Expanding the scope
While Lexen is currently focused on used vehicles, the company is also developing tools for new vehicle allocation and ordering. The goal is to help dealers better align what they receive from OEMs with what sells in their market. “It’s about making better decisions with what you’re allocated,” said Orlando.
A Canadian-built alternative
Lexen is privately owned and Canadian, something Orlando said resonates with dealers — particularly when it comes to responsiveness.
“Feedback moves quickly,” said Orlando. “We’re not working through layers of a large organization.”
For dealers, the decision to switch pricing tools is not taken lightly. But as expectations around data, cost and flexibility evolve, Orlando believes more stores are at least open to considering alternatives.
“Dealers already understand why these tools matter,” said Orlando. “What they’re asking now is whether there’s another option that delivers the same value, or more.”
