Amazon Is a Go-To for Toilet Paper and Batteries. Can It Sell Cars?

livemint.com:

Willie Hall loves to browse and buy cars online, but he wants more options. Soon, he may turn to Amazon.com. “I’m already a Prime member," said Hall, who lives in Colorado and bought a used Fiat 500 Abarth on Carvana in 2021.

“I’ve been with Amazon for God knows how long and know the way they operate." Amazon is eager to see just how many Willie Halls there are in the U.S. The company last month said shoppers next year will be able to browse, finance and complete a purchase of Hyundai vehicles on Amazon. Shoppers will only have to visit a dealership to pick up their car; the company is also working on delivering the vehicles.

Car sales represent Amazon’s next bet in e-commerce dominance and come after the Covid-19 pandemic made online car purchases more popular. Amazon executives want to make buying vehicles through its website as simple as purchasing toilet paper or dog food, and the company is looking to strike broad partnerships with carmakers. The company is set to face several challenges in expanding the program beyond a pilot phase for employees starting early next year: One is dealerships, which remain at the center of most new-car sales and depend on service revenue for profit incentives.

A second will be trying to get customers who visit its website mainly for lower-priced items to turn to the platform for one of the biggest purchases of their lives. Amazon also will have to navigate different government regulations. “Customers tell us it’s really hard to buy a car," Fan Jin, Amazon’s director of vehicle sales, said in an interview.

Vehicle-buying software is fragmented, with dealers using a range of software providers. Varying regulations across states also make it difficult. “It’s a process that we’ve heard