Amazon.com
will permit the sale of cars on its e-commerce platform, allowing it to handle some of consumers’ biggest-ticket purchases.
Amazon
(ticker: AMZN) said Thursday that it will begin online sales of vehicles next year. Hyundai will be the first brand available for purchase. The car maker named Amazon Web Services as its preferred cloud-computing provider to facilitate the online transformation.
“Amazon is the ideal partner to help realize our vision of progress for humanity, including improving how people and goods move more efficiently and sustainably,” Hyundai Chief Executive Jaehoon Chang said in the news release.
Customers will be able to shop for cars available at dealerships near them on Amazon’s website, and then check out online using preferred payment or financing options. Shoppers will then have the option to have the vehicle either delivered to them directly or shipped to their local dealership.
Amazon shares closed down 0.3% to $142.83 Thursday. The stock has jumped 70% this year.
The news that a new and enormous competitor will be selling cars online hit stock in
Carvana
(CVNA) and
CarMax
(KMX) on Thursday. Carvana stock fell 5.3% to $32.36, but despite that decline, it is up 583% this year.
The company didn’t reply to a request for comment.
CarMax stock was down before the news after a Wedbush Securities analyst cut his target for the stock price, citing a rise in delinquencies on auto loans. The stock closed down 5.6% at $64.15, for a year-to-date gain of 5.4%.
“We are not surprised by Amazon’s announcement, and we see it as another distribution avenue for cars,” Jim Lyski, chief innovation and strategy officer for CarMax, said in a statement. “…We are confident in our diversified business model, and we will continue to innovate to ensure we provide consumers with the best car-buying experience in the industry.”
Write to Angela Palumbo at angela.palumbo@dowjones.com
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