Ford will be the next automaker to allow its vehicles to be featured on Amazon’s new online car buying site. Starting today, customers can browse, finance, and purchase certified pre-owned Ford vehicles online through Amazon Autos, with in-person pickup at a local Ford dealership.
Ford is the second brand name, after Hyundai, to list its vehicles on the site. But unlike Hyundai, which launched with participating dealerships in 48 cities, Ford’s vehicles will only be available in Los Angeles, Seattle, and Dallas. Amazon says it expects more markets to be added soon.
Ford’s dealers still will have enormous sway over these online sales, including setting the price, maintaining service, and scheduling deliveries. Essentially, Amazon’s platform will be the middleman between the customer and the dealership. As such, Amazon needs to appeal to dealers almost as much as it does to car shoppers. The company is making its pitch by arguing that it can offer “a new sales channel that connects them with millions of Amazon customers.” And with over 310 million active users, Amazon certainly has the numbers to back it up.
The vehicles will be certified pre-owned, meaning you won’t see any brand, spanking new vehicles on the site. And all the vehicles sold on Amazon will be backed by Ford’s warranties and roadside assistance guarantees. According to Ford, every vehicle that appears on Amazon has been “inspected, reconditioned, and comes with a Ford warranty, Ford Rewards points, and in some cases, a money-back guarantee.”
“It’s about delivering the best of both worlds to our customers,” Robert Kaffl, executive director of Ford US sales and dealer relations. said in a release.
People typically hate car shopping, with most surveys showing that the dealership experience tops people’s lists of frustrations. Tesla has helped spearhead a movement toward a direct-to-consumer (DTC) model in which people buy their vehicles directly from the company, eschewing a dealership. Forty-eight states have laws that limit or ban manufacturers from selling vehicles directly to consumers — though that has started to shift recently thanks to Tesla’s popularity. Tesla has no independent dealerships, but dealership associations in multiple states have filed numerous lawsuits against Tesla to prevent the company from selling cars directly.