Platform update
Smarter Valuations with Local Market Context
Carvia valuations now reflect local market conditions — US ZIP and Canadian postal support, automatic domain resolution, USD/CAD display, and mi/km units flowing through every widget on your VDP.
Release Overview
A fair price in Phoenix is not a fair price in Toronto. Local Market Context ensures every Carvia valuation reflects where the shopper actually shops — country, currency, distance units, and postal region.
Before this release, valuations could display in the wrong currency, use mileage assumptions from the wrong market, or ignore geography entirely. Shoppers compared your number to local listings and dismissed it. Canadian dealers had no path to serve inventory in CAD and kilometers without a separate product.
Market context normalizes every valuation request into a consistent structure — then flows that context through cache keys, AI prompts, widget display, and downstream widgets like Carvia Score, EV Insights, and ownership cost. It is the localization foundation that Valuation Orchestration and the Vehicle Context Engine build on.
The Problem We Solved
Generic national valuations fail the local comparison test every shopper runs in their head.
When a shopper in Winnipeg sees a fair value in USD based on US mileage norms, they do not think “close enough.” They think your widget is broken. When a US dealer's valuation ignores ZIP entirely, the number may be directionally right nationally but wrong for their metro — and savvy buyers notice.
Cross-border dealer groups faced a harder problem: one widget platform, two countries, no consistent way to pass postal code, currency, and distance units through the entire pipeline. Valuation, score, EV savings, and ownership cost each risked using different assumptions.
What's New
Normalized North American valuation input
Every valuation request passes through normalizeNorthAmericanValuationInput — producing market country (US or CA), distance unit (mi or km), currency (USD or CAD), normalized postal code, display mileage, and canonical mileage in miles for internal calculations. One structure, used everywhere.
Canadian postal code support
Accepts Canada Post-style codes (A1A 1A1 or A1A1A1), validates against the official character set, stores canonical uppercase without spaces, and automatically sets km + CAD. A Winnipeg shopper sees kilometers and Canadian dollars — not a converted afterthought.
Domain-aware ZIP/postal resolution
Widget embeds on verified dealer domains resolve postal code from your client portal configuration — shoppers do not need to type it. Fallback chain: verified domain ZIP → request body → geo cookie → safe default. Consumer-facing dealer widgets use the dealership's market, not the shopper's browser guess.
Market-aware AI prompts
Valuation LLM prompts include explicit market country, currency code, and distance unit — so AI narrative and range estimates reason about the correct market. No more US-default language on a Canadian listing.
Conflict detection
If a Canadian postal code is paired with US distance units (or vice versa), the system rejects the mismatch rather than silently producing wrong output. Data quality over convenience.
Market-aware cache keys
Valuation and insights cache keys include postal code and market parameters — so a cached US valuation is never served to a Canadian request, and vice versa.
Currency alignment for CAD listings
When model output drifts to USD-scale numbers on a CAD listing, the widget layer can detect magnitude mismatch and align display bands to the listing currency — reducing confusing fair-value displays on Canadian inventory.
Verified Records adapts for Canada
The Verified Records widget uses the same market context — appropriate data paths and messaging for Canadian vs. US shoppers on the same carousel embed.
How It Works
From embed load to fair value display — market context is resolved once and reused everywhere.
Step 1: Resolve postal code
When a widget loads on your VDP, Carvia resolves the shopper's market location using the priority chain: your verified dealer domain's configured ZIP/postal (from the client portal) → explicit embed input → geo cookie → fallback. For signed dealer embeds, the dealership's market wins — ensuring valuations reflect your lot's region.
Step 2: Normalize market context
The postal code infers country: 5-digit numeric → US (mi, USD); Canadian format → CA (km, CAD). Mileage is stored in display units and converted to canonical miles for valuation math. Listing price carries through in the market's currency.
Step 3: Flow through the pipeline
Normalized context feeds valuation API calls, cache key generation, AI prompt assembly, and widget rendering. Carvia Score, EV Insights savings calculations, ownership cost analysis, and the Vehicle Context Engine valuation summary all read the same market parameters — no widget left behind with US defaults.
R3K2H3 configured on their verified domain gets valuations in CAD, mileage displayed in km, and EV savings using Canadian electricity rate defaults — automatically on every VDP load.
Value by Role
For general managers and dealer principals
- Credible local pricing — valuations shoppers can compare to listings in their market
- Canadian expansion — serve cross-border groups without a separate widget stack
- Consistent VDP story — valuation, score, and EV tabs all speak the same market language
Scenario: Your group operates stores in Michigan and Ontario. US stores show USD/mi valuations; Ontario stores show CAD/km — same Carvia platform, correct localization per rooftop.
For marketing and internet directors
- Zero shopper friction — domain ZIP resolution means no “enter your ZIP” prompt on the VDP
- Trust signal — localized fair value reinforces transparency positioning
- Foundation for smarter AI — market context enables orchestrated, comparable-anchored valuations in May 2026
For sales and F&I
- Defensible numbers at the desk — fair value matches what the shopper saw online in their currency
- EV conversations — EV Insights savings and charging costs use local rate defaults
- Ownership cost accuracy — total cost projections respect regional fuel and electricity pricing
Scenario: A shopper asks why your used EV is priced where it is. Your salesperson references the Carvia valuation tab — CAD fair value range, km odometer, local market narrative — matching exactly what the shopper read at home.
Getting Started
Local market context is active on all valuation widgets automatically. Two setup steps ensure accuracy.
- Register and verify your dealer domain. In the Carvia client portal, add your VDP domain and complete DNS verification. This enables domain-aware postal resolution.
- Set your rooftop ZIP or postal code. Configure the correct postal code on each verified domain record. This is the primary source for market context on shopper-facing embeds — a Phoenix store should not inherit a national default.
- Spot-check US and Canadian listings (if applicable). Open a VDP and confirm the Valuation tab shows the correct currency, distance units, and fair value range for your market.
- Brief your team on cross-border inventory. If you list Canadian vehicles, confirm postal codes on domain records match each store's location — not a corporate HQ in another country.