Yahoo News reports that Amazon will use its Prime service to offer Hyundai test drives to its members.
According to the story, "The program runs through Amazon Prime Now, the speedy-delivery service designed for shoppers who can't wait the two days that Prime usually takes. By visiting Amazon.com/PrimeDriveNow, Hyundai shoppers can have a car brought to their location, whether that's a home, business, or cafe. They'll then have up to an hour to take the car for a spin. (If they like it, though, they'll have to visit a dealership to make a purchase.)
"As nice as that might sound to harried souls, the program has a couple of limitations.
For starters, Hyundai is only offering consumers one model to test drive via Amazon Prime Now: the 2017 Hyundai Elantra. If that's not on your must-have list, this isn't going to benefit you. Also, the program is limited to Orange County and Los Angeles, California. If you're itching to get behind the wheel of a 2017 Elantra and live somewhere else, we're afraid you're going to have to do this the old-fashioned way: by visiting a dealership."
The test drive promotion is scheduled to take place this Saturday and Sunday.
This is just the beginning of Amazon's relationship with Hyundai. Last week, Yahoo News writes, "Hyundai announced that some functions in its Genesis line of luxury vehicles could be controlled via Amazon's voice assistant, Alexa."
According to the story, "The program runs through Amazon Prime Now, the speedy-delivery service designed for shoppers who can't wait the two days that Prime usually takes. By visiting Amazon.com/PrimeDriveNow, Hyundai shoppers can have a car brought to their location, whether that's a home, business, or cafe. They'll then have up to an hour to take the car for a spin. (If they like it, though, they'll have to visit a dealership to make a purchase.)
"As nice as that might sound to harried souls, the program has a couple of limitations.
For starters, Hyundai is only offering consumers one model to test drive via Amazon Prime Now: the 2017 Hyundai Elantra. If that's not on your must-have list, this isn't going to benefit you. Also, the program is limited to Orange County and Los Angeles, California. If you're itching to get behind the wheel of a 2017 Elantra and live somewhere else, we're afraid you're going to have to do this the old-fashioned way: by visiting a dealership."
The test drive promotion is scheduled to take place this Saturday and Sunday.
This is just the beginning of Amazon's relationship with Hyundai. Last week, Yahoo News writes, "Hyundai announced that some functions in its Genesis line of luxury vehicles could be controlled via Amazon's voice assistant, Alexa."
- KC's View:
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One can expect, I would think, that if there is a lot of activity around this promotion in Southern California this weekend, it seems likely that Amazon will roll it out to additional markets and perhaps work with different car companies. We already live in a world where the act of buying a car has changed dramatically, with consumers having far more information and negotiating power than previously.
This conceivably could be the next iteration.
When one considers other changes that have taken place in the car buying process - like Tesla moving away from the traditional dealership model - it seems entirely possible that in a few years, buying a car will be nothing like it used to be. That's hardly a bad thing, because not many people really like going out to buy a car ... except of course, if you are in the car selling business. Then, you'll probably consider this to be a job killer.
