Amazon Autos Now Selling New Cars, Hope You Like Hyundai

Those interested in purchasing a new vehicle can now pursue, order, finance, and schedule pickup of their car via Amazon. The only catch is that you have to live within one of the 48 metropolitan areas where the program has been enacted and it has to be a Hyundai because that’s the company Amazon Autos partnered with.

The relationship isn’t new, Hyundai has been fitting Alexa to its cars and been making use of Amazon Web Services for years now. However, selling new vehicles online is new with the program set to expand next year — assuming the program launch is successful.

Expansion presumably hinges on sales and finding cooperative dealerships. As things currently stand, customers will still need to go to a Hyundai retail store to pick up their ride. But every other step of the process is supposed to be handled via the Amazon Autos website.

While this means you probably won’t have to talk numbers with a dealer, who will undoubtedly try to upsell you on something, it also means you also don’t get to haggle. Meaning you can’t negotiate a sweeter deal should the opportunity arise. This goes double for your trade-in, which Amazon said it can likewise value via the website.

“We’re partnering with dealers and brands to redesign car shopping — making it more transparent, convenient, and customer-friendly," stated Fan Jin, global head of Amazon Autos. "With Amazon Autos, we’re bringing the simplicity and ease customers expect from Amazon to car shopping, one of their largest purchases, while offering dealers a new channel to connect with a broad audience. We're excited to have Hyundai as our exclusive launch partner and look forward to welcoming more brands and expanding our selection to customers as the program grows. It’s still early for us and we welcome customer and dealer feedback as we continue to add new functionality, expand to additional brands, and iterate on the customer experience.”

Considering that the Hyundai dealership experience isn’t known for being the best in the business, this could be a boon for customers who want to spend as little time in the showroom as possible. But it does limit your ability to negotiate significantly.

Dealers aren’t likely to mind, as this creates another avenue for sales that doesn’t involve putting a salesperson into a room to talk numbers for extended periods. Amazon Autos could theoretically drive up sales for participating stores. But that remains to be seen, as the program officially launched on Tuesday.

"Listing our inventory on Amazon is a game-changer for how we connect with car buyers," said Steven Suh, general sales manager of South Bay Hyundai. "It allows us to showcase our vehicles to millions of daily shoppers, while setting our pricing upfront. We can now reach a large local audience with the convenient and transparent experience customers expect when shopping with Amazon. Customers come in excited to pick up their new car and we can build on those customer relationships from there. This experience really positions dealers for success in the modernizing economy."

For now, you had better like Hyundai and shopping online if you plan on using Amazon Autos. But the company said it wants to incorporate other automotive brands as soon as possible, likely as it adds locations.

Until then, the only participating cities will be: Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Beaumont-Port Arthur, Birmingham, Boston, Champaign/Springfield, Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbia, Columbus, Dallas, Denver, El Paso, Fond Du Lac, Ft. Myers/Naples, Harrisburg-Lancaster-Lebanon-York, Harrisonburg, Hartford, Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Los Angeles, Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Nashville, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland, Providence, Raleigh-Durham, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Sheboygan, Springfield, St. Louis, Tampa, W. Palm Beach, and Washington D.C.

[Images: Amazon]

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