If you shop on Amazon for guitar strings, luggage, and electronics, how do you feel about buying your next car on the mega e-commerce platform? At the 2023 Los Angeles Auto Show, Amazon and Hyundai Motor Company jointly announced an online sales collaboration beginning in 2024. Other car brands come later, but Hyundai will be the first brand you can buy on Amazon.
The new strategic partnership has three facets: online vehicle sales, cloud services, and integrating Alexa in future Hyundais. Amazon will begin online sales of Hyundai models on Amazon.com. Amazon Web Services (AWS) will be Hyundai’s preferred provider of cloud services for the vehicle manufacturer’s digital transformation. The two companies will work together to integrate Alexa voice response into Hyundai’s driver infotainment and vehicle management system.
Find my car
Amazon’s new partnership with Hyundai doesn’t cut out auto dealerships. Dealers will be able to list on Amazon vehicles currently available for purchase.
When potential buyers shop for new vehicles on Amazon, they can filter by location, model, trim, color, and options. If a shopper buys a listed vehicle, they can check out on Amazon and arrange pickup or delivery with the dealer. Amazon Prime members shouldn’t expect regular Prime delivery times.
When I inquired about the car purchase process, an Amazon representative told me that the dealers will choose the cars they list on Amazon and may list their entire available inventory or select vehicles. Dealers will also set haggle-free prices for the listed vehicles, with car loans offered through Hyundai’s financing division.
Other aspects of the purchase, such as service contracts and extended warranties, will be handled during the checkout process. The Amazon representative also said the plan is that cars listed on Amazon will be available for immediate delivery at the dealership. You won’t be able to order a car built to your own specifications through this program.
Amazon will not restrict online auto sales to Hyundai only, but Hyundai is the first automaker for this program. If both parties and Hyundai’s dealership networks are happy with using Amazon as a sales channel, we can expect other automobile manufacturers to follow.
Moving Hyundai to the cloud
Amazon and Hyundai also announced that Hyundai chose AWS to assist with the automaker’s transition from traditional on-premises applications to cloud services. The plan is for Hyundai to use AWS technology for all digital aspects of Hyundai’s business operations.
Research, product engineering, and customer engagement are just a few of the applications Hyundai and AWS will move to the cloud. The two companies have initiated a training and certification program to prepare Hyundai engineers to work with diverse cloud applications.
Alexa, take me home and start dinner cooking
Amazon Alexa will be the ears and voice of future Hyundai vehicles beginning in 2025. Drivers can ask Alexa questions and use spoken commands to voice-responsive in-car systems such as navigation and media players.
In addition to requesting streaming media content and adjusting the temperature in the vehicle, drivers will also be able to manage smart home devices while driving, such as smart lighting, security systems, HVAC systems, and smart appliances. In addition to providing Hyundai drivers with a matured existing digital voice assistant, the agreement with Hyundai also appears to be an opportunity for Amazon to sell Alexa-compatible smart home devices, appliances, and systems.
