Want To Buy A New Car? There Will Be An App For That

Derek Kreindler
by Derek Kreindler

AutoNation, which is America’s largest dealership chain, is embarking on a two-year, $100-million project that will include that creation of an app that will allow shoppers to purchase cars online, in a method similar to traditional e-commerce.

CEO Mike Jackson told the Wall Street Journal

“You can sit at home, watch TV. You can view our entire inventory, select the vehicle you’re interested in, get a price and then you can send us a deposit… That vehicle then becomes the customer’s car without the customer “ever having entered the store.”

Jackson had previously declared his war on third-party lead generation sites like Cars.com and Edmunds, and announced plans to shore up AutoNation’s web presence. The ability to select a vehicle from inventory was one of his online strategy’s key selling points, as current lead generation sites often do not have that capability.

Derek Kreindler
Derek Kreindler

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  • AJ AJ on Jul 18, 2014

    Regarding this quote, "let customers control their shopping experiences"... I find that amusing. First of all he's admitting that it doesn't currently happen. Good luck on that change! The entire sales floor is organized, scripted and devoted to doing just the opposite of such.

  • Nrd515 Nrd515 on Jul 18, 2014

    I don't see how setting this up can cost all that money, but after hearing what a new razor blade costs to bring to market, I can see how it gets stupid expensive, quick. I went to the autonation website, and was generally pleased at some of the prices I saw on a couple of different cars. I wouldn't mind flying out ~500 miles or so to pick up a car I liked, but I would rather deal locally, over emails if possible, or on the phone. Once you get inside the dealership, the tension, and most of the time, the games, begins.

  • JD23 JD23 on Jul 19, 2014

    After several experiences with the service departments at Autonation dealerships, it would take a whole lot more than a mobile app for me to willingly engage in a transaction with them.

  • Ddr7 Ddr7 on Jul 19, 2014

    I went the Costco way twice already, simple and easy as long as you have basic knowledge of the price, the only problem, they give you a choice of one dealer, it matters only if it's a small dealer, luckily, this time, I was looking for an Accord, that dealer had over 300 in stock so it was very easy to find the right car.

    • Scoutdude Scoutdude on Jul 20, 2014

      No you can ask for another dealer. When I purchased a car through the Costco program I told them that I didn't like the dealer nearest me as I'd dealt with them before so they gave the the contact info for another dealer. The did not have the exact vehicle I wanted but they obtained it from another dealer.

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