Starting in 2024, people in the market for a car for the first time will be able to buy a vehicle on Amazon, the e-commerce giant and Hyundai Motor Co. announced on Thursday.
Dealerships will be able to sell the Korean company’s vehicles directly to customers on Amazon’s website, which currently lets people pick a vehicle from multiple manufacturers but not actually make the purchase. Customers who buy a Hyundai on Amazon will have the choice of picking their vehicle up at a nearby dealership or having it delivered.
“This new grocery shopping experience will create another way for distributors to promote their variety and offer convenience to their customers,” Amazon and Hyundai said in a blog post.
These advancements are part of a trend to “offer virtual auto retail channels, which are seamless and familiar reporting to today’s consumers,” Edmunds told CBS MoneyWatch in emailed comments.
“Our experts say engaging with Amazon wouldn’t start this trend, as virtual retail has already grown significantly, driven by the pandemic. Amazon is just a well-known bet in this space,” a spokesperson for the online automaker said. said the critic.
“Consumers need to buy cars online, but they also need the ability to use virtual teams at the dealership,” Lori Wittman, president of retail responses at Cox Automotive, told CBS MoneyWatch, citing an article published Friday through Cox. “With the prospect of making an online acquisition of this magnitude, that’s what will bring virtual retail into the automotive mainstream. “
As part of the partnership, Amazon will act as an intermediary between the customer and the dealership, as automakers are not allowed, or even prohibited, from selling cars to consumers in nearly all 50 states.
Any impact on new vehicle cost is hard to predict given that Hyundai didn’t outline how pricing would be set on Amazon, with pricing likely to still be set by local dealers, according to Edmunds.
Tesla circumvented those regulations by promoting its cars through its website, prompting lawsuits against the company from dealers in many states.
In addition to virtual showrooms, Amazon’s site already offers car parts and other related products, including tires.
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