About a year ago, Hyundai announced that customers would be able to buy a brand-new Santa Fe and any other vehicle from its lineup through Amazon in 2024 – a breakthrough in automotive retail at the time. But that hasn’t materialized just yet, and this is getting dealers frustrated, according to Mike Stanton, CEO of the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), speaking to Automotive News.
“What I am hearing right now is that the dealers are frustrated,” Stanton told the publication during a panel discussion in Michigan this week. “They’re not there yet with the agreement. It appears to be another digital retailing tool at the moment and probably not top tier.”
Not Out Of The Pilot Yet
The cause of the delay wasn’t specified, but Stanton said that Amazon is working to provide a great customer experience and product. He added that NADA is working with Hyundai and Amazon lawyers to make sure that the agreement works and is in line with state automotive franchise laws. Data privacy was also a concern during the panel discussion, with dealers being cautioned about the data they would give up to Amazon.
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Stanton pointed out that the Hyundai-Amazon sales service isn’t out of the pilot phase yet. While he believes that Amazon understands the complexity of selling cars online, he shared that there is still more work to do. They have yet to see functions like working with multiple banks and processing trades.
To be fair, you can already view Hyundai’s lineup of automobiles, including the exciting Ioniq 5 N, via Amazon, but it looks just like it did in 2021 when Amazon first set up a portal for the South Korean automaker. It’s just another Build & Price tool that’s also available on Hyundai’s USA website, without the ability to purchase or complete the transaction online.
Hyundai and Amazon have worked together on similar ideas before, but the only part of this tie-up that seems likely to take off anytime soon is the integration of Alexa in Hyundai vehicles. Functions like asking Alexa to play music, setting reminders, checking calendars, and providing the latest traffic updates, among others, will become available starting in 2025.
Source:
Automotive News
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