It's hardly a secret that in 2024, Hyundai makes some of the best electric vehicles you can buy. The problem is that buying one means engaging with Hyundai's notorious network of American car dealers. So, if you'd rather take your chances on Amazon instead and you live in one of the 48 cities involved with the pilot, the newly launched Amazon Autos platform is for you.
Put more simply, the dream is finally real: the ability to pick out the car you want and arrange the financing, e-sign paperwork and delivery options completely online, without having to go to a physical dealership until it's time to take your new car home. It's a buying experience that fans of startup automakers like Tesla and Rivian have enjoyed for years, but now it's coming to a traditional car company as well.
Amazon Autos went live today and works with participating dealers in 48 cities, including New York, Austin, Miami, Dallas, Denver, Seattle, San Francisco, and more. (See a full list in this news release.) For now, the selections are limited to Hyundai's cars, as it was announced as the inaugural launch partner more than a year ago. However, that includes a wide range of electric, hybrid, and gas cars from the Korean automaker. Moreover, more options are coming.
"We continue to add more Hyundai dealerships, and next year, we will roll out additional manufacturers, brands, cities, and new functionality," Amazon officials said in a statement. "With Amazon Autos, customers have a simple, end-to-end online experience to purchase their next vehicle."
Just like buying anything else on Amazon, the process does seem rather simple and seamless.
When you click "shop available cars," you're given a list of available Hyundai models near you—complete with photos—just as you'd see on Cars.com, AutoTrader or another marketplace. But those platforms are for browsing; this is for buying. After searching for the car you want and filtering by various colors, features, and options, you click "begin purchase," and you're taken to a window where you're asked to arrange financing or pay in full. (Leasing, unfortunately, doesn't seem to be an option for now, which means many of the great deals we've seen on Hyundai EVs have to be secured at the dealer.)
After that, you can figure out your trade-in value, set your down payment and monthly payments, apply for credit online if you need to, upload your documents, sign the contracts and then arrange a pickup from your local Hyundai dealer. In theory, this can be done in under half an hour, as opposed to the lengthy, hours-long process that usually entails buying from a dealer.
Another benefit of doing things this way is pricing transparency. "The price customers see at check-out is the price they pay, inclusive of all taxes and fees," Amazon officials said. When you pick up the car, your dealer hopefully starts building a relationship with you to make sure you're happy and have any questions and service needs covered.
That's an area where Hyundai has often struggled in modern times. While the Korean automaker has transformed from a budget brand to one that's a world-class competitor to the likes of Toyota, Volkswagen and Tesla, it's often dogged by the reputation of its U.S. dealer network. Just recently, one InsideEVs staff member who sought to acquire an Ioniq 5 was repeatedly lured to various Hyundai dealers on the promise of super-low lease deals, only to get radically different quotes when he actually came in. So while Hyundai executives can't say this directly, and have not, this could be behind the company's motivations here.
For now, it's probably a good workaround. Hyundai cannot go full-bore into completely online sales in the U.S. because it's bound by franchise agreements with its existing dealer network, and legal wrangling between the dealers and the automaker reportedly held up the platform's launch. (See also how Volkswagen's dealers are throwing a fit after the new Scout Motors brand announced a plan to sell directly like Tesla does.) Dealers have also held up direct sales for many startup automakers in several states.
Still, it's increasingly odd that a new car is one of the few things you can't buy online in 2024. Amazon's efforts here could go a long way toward remedying that, especially as more car companies get added to the mix.
Would you buy a car from Amazon? Let us know in the comments.
Contact the author: patrick.george@insideevs.com
