Otherauto & mobilityElectric Vehicles
Ford and Amazon partner to sell used cars online.
In a move that feels like a natural evolution of e-commerce, Ford and Amazon are joining forces to sell certified pre-owned vehicles directly to consumers online, a partnership that fundamentally rethinks the often-dreaded car buying process. Initially launching in Los Angeles, Seattle, and Dallas, this collaboration allows customers to browse, finance, and complete the entire purchase of a used Ford from the comfort of their own home, scheduling a simple pickup at a local dealer to finalize the paperwork.This isn't Amazon's first foray into the automotive world; since its late 2023 launch, Amazon Autos has already partnered with Hyundai for new cars and Hertz for used rental fleet vehicles, building a formidable portfolio that now directly challenges online used-car giants Carvana and CarMax. The market reaction was immediate, with shares in those competitors dipping 2-3% on the news, a clear signal of the disruption potential this alliance holds.For Ford, this is a savvy strategic pivot. The used car market has recently become sluggish, with Edmunds.com reporting that three-year-old vehicles, now averaging over $31,000, are sitting on lots for an average of 41 days, the slowest sales pace since 2017. By tapping into Amazon's colossal, trusted user base—'Everyone has an Amazon account,' as Wendy Lane, senior manager of Ford’s Blue Advantage unit, aptly noted to Yahoo! Finance—Ford gains an unprecedented digital storefront without the capital-intensive gamble of building a direct-to-consumer sales model like Tesla.Over 160 Ford dealers have expressed interest, with about 20 in the initial cities being onboarded, acting as the ultimate sellers who handle pricing, pickup, and future servicing, while Amazon serves as the seamless transactional facilitator. This partnership is less about inventing a new wheel and more about perfectly aligning the strengths of a legacy manufacturer with the distribution power of a tech titan, creating a frictionless customer experience that could very well become the new standard for how we buy big-ticket items in a digital-first economy.
#Ford
#Amazon
#used cars
#online marketplace
#Carvana
#CarMax
#featured