Hyundai and Amazon have announced a new partnership in the USA which will see new Hyundai cars sold on the Amazon platform. As part of the agreement the Korean car maker has also selected AWS as its preferred cloud provider and future Hyundai vehicles will make more use of interactive Alexa Built-in technology. 

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy commented, "Hyundai is a very innovative company that shares Amazon’s passion for trying to make customers’ lives better and easier every day. Our broad, strategic partnership should do just that, from changing the ease with which customers can buy vehicles online to making it simple to use Alexa in Hyundai vehicles for entertainment, shopping, smart home adjustments, and calendar checks.” 

This new digital shopping experience will make it easy for customers to purchase a new car online, and then pick it up or have it delivered by their local dealership. Customers will be able to search on Amazon for available vehicles in their area based on a range of preferences. Amazon says the new shopping experience will create another way for dealers to build awareness of their selection and offer convenience to their customers.  

The service will initially focus only on cars dealers have in stock, so that customers will get something of the fast order processing and delivery experience they have come to expect from the global giant. The concept also requires dealers to sign up to the programme and it appears that not all dealers are enthusiastic at this stage. 

The concept will be piloted next year in the US and there are still question marks over issues such as vehicle returns and teething troubles. However, it could well be the start of a trend that will see the car sales model change dramatically in the next ten years.