You Can Buy an Entire Hyundai on Amazon Starting in 2024
The program will begin next year with 18 Hyundai dealers, before expanding to other automakers.
Right now, you can configure a new Hyundai on Amazon and find the closest match at a dealer near you. But starting next year, you'll be able to go a step further and complete your transaction on the retailer's website. Hyundai and Amazon announced the partnership together on Thursday at the 2023 Los Angeles Auto Show.
As the two companies explained in a joint press release, Amazon will start allowing auto dealers to sell vehicles on its U.S. store in 2024, and Hyundai cars will be the first available to buy in this way.
The existing Hyundai Evolve Amazon showroom previews what the experience will be like. It's an admittedly slick digital interface that's responsive, elegant, and feels official, which is of course more than can be said about shopping on Amazon for, say, headphones, or toiletries, or literally anything else.
Shoppers will be able to search local inventory before checking out with their "chosen payment and financing options," per the release. From there, you simply take delivery at the dealer in question, or have your new car brought to you by the dealer. And that's key, because franchisees aren't being passed over in this process, at least not by the sound of the arrangement. "This new shopping experience will create another way for dealers to build awareness of their selection and offer convenience to their customers," the companies claim. Alas, the direct sales revolution is still but a pipedream.
The initiative will begin with 18 dealerships before a "broader rollout," Automotive News reports. "Dealers opt in to list their inventory on Amazon," a Hyundai representative clarified to The Drive.
Although Hyundai will be the first automaker to allow Amazon to handle full transactions, other makes are certain to follow. But Hyundai and Amazon will also work closely together in other ways, as the manufacturer says model year 2025 and newer vehicles will support even deeper integration with the retailer's digital assistant, Alexa. In other words, whether you buy your future Hyundai through Amazon or not, Amazon's going to be a part of it.
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