Amazon is expected to attempt to update the way in which people buy new and used cars. They are trying to update this market to be more aligned with the modern technological world and follow their model for buying and selling, be all done online. This would be the first attempt to really transform this industry’s sales tactics, one that is already a hugely successful market. According to the National Automobile Dealers Association, the total addressable market for new and used auto sales stands upwards of $3 trillion.

The program is still being tested by Amazon, having a slow rollout plan in place.

Currently, the Amazon’s proposed plan is being tested with Hyundai. Select dealerships have been chosen to list on Amazon and sell their vehicles, but to employees only. This is the early-stage pilot program like we have seen before as Amazon ventured into other new industries. Most notably, a few years ago Amazon began testing grocery stores, travel bookings, and work in healthcare.

Reportedly, Amazon has received countless requests to include cars and other automobiles on their platform. This report came from the president of Sonic Automotive, Jeff Dyke, which is a leading publicly traded dealership group. So, people from both sides, Amazon and car dealerships, have heard of calls to go online.

According to another car industry expert, around 30% of perspective buyers want the option to online shop for their cars.

Online car sales is not entirely unknown, but it is still limited. Primarily the only companies who offer online car sales are newer electric vehicle companies, such as Tesla and Rivian. Both companies see a majority of their sales come from their online purchases, only having a handful of dealerships around. Additionally, used car sellers like Carvana also practice a mostly online market model. With this said, online car sales is only a small percentage of total car sales, and that could be due to lack of interest or lack of the availability to purchase online.

Some opponents to the idea brought forth by Amazon express their concerns for how this will affect franchise car dealerships. Small and local owned offices will be at risk of being shut down, a risk many try to avoid making a reality, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. It will certainly be interesting to see how the program continues on.