Amazon Will Sell You Your Next Car

I went to Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN | AMZN Price Prediction) to shop for a new car. There were 153 pages of vehicles available near me. The system already knew where I lived. But it gave me a choice of dealers in the area. In other words, it showed my location and gave me options

I looked at Hyundais. There were so many pages with their lineups, each with over a dozen features. I could pick price, options, engine size, technical safety features, weight, operating system (Android or iOS), engine power, range, and MPG range. And that was only about half the options available.

On the dealer page, I could choose among three payment options: cash, financing, or leasing. It gave me estimated payments for each. It showed my discounts and other deals. It showed me an estimate of my trade-in’s value.

It showed me the day I could pick up my vehicle or have it delivered.

Dealers have to be ambivalent about the Amazon Autos program. It sends them customers. However, it does not lead people to dealerships where a salesman can pitch a car’s features, walk them around a showroom, and ride in the back seat while the potential buyer test-drives the car. However, with the geotargeting feature, it gets qualified leads. And, dealers have to realize this is the wave of the future. They might as well join it now while it gives them a competitive advantage.

Amazon Autos in over 100 cities. The Wall Street Journal says this included some of the largest metros in the country, meaning New York and LA. For new, it has models from Kia, Mazda, Subaru, Chevrolet, and Jeep. Other car companies will join if they see it is a major conduit to sales.

By the way, the Journal points out that Amazon sells car ads in the section where it sells cars. Advertising is one of Amazon’s newer revenue streams.

At this point, it is not a question of if Amazon Autos will become a major car-buying destination.