Amazon Autos to Help Dealers Sell Used Cars

Amazon plans to start helping dealers sell used cars as well as new ones, according to Fan Jin, director and general manager of Amazon Autos.

Speaking on the Tuesday (March 18) episode of the Automotive News Daily Drive podcast, Jin said that adding used inventory for dealers is “really our next biggest milestone here.”

Amazon wants to make sure dealers can sell as much of their inventory as they want through Amazon Autos channel, Jin said.

Asked how the company plans to compete against the existing sites on which dealers can list their used vehicles, Jin said Amazon sees its offering as a way for dealers to have “a fully online eCommerce channel,” as opposed to a strictly lead generation site.

“We think that’s valuable because demographic customer data tells us that more and more customers are very much comfortable with a fully online car transaction, even though that’s a very big purchase,” Jin said. “Customers want an omnichannel experience. It takes folks a while to make a decision, so they may start online, they’re going to go to the dealer maybe to look and have a test drive, they’ll come back, think about it and then finish the purchase online. We see that a lot.”

Amazon aims to enable the online transaction and make it very smooth, Jin said.

The company began rolling out the Amazon Autos offering in December, saying in a press release that it was partnering with automotive dealers and brands to bring the Amazon experience to the car-buying process.

Amazon launched this digital shopping experience in partnership with Hyundai, enabling shoppers in 48 U.S. cities to buy new Hyundai vehicles from local participating dealers on Amazon.

The company said at the time that Amazon Autos planned to add more Hyundai dealers as well as other manufacturers, brands and cities.

Amazon Autos allows car shoppers to browse, order, finance and schedule pickup of the vehicle from their local participating dealer, all within the familiar Amazon store. They can also get an instant valuation and trade for their existing vehicle.

For dealers, this offering provides a new sales channel and a way to streamline the steps involved in the process, Amazon said.