Although online retailer Amazon.com is dipping its toes in the auto market — through an exclusive partnership with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in Italy — the financing portion of the transaction will not take place online, an FCA spokesman told AFN.
Italian consumers can browse Fiat vehicles on Amazon, but the pickup, contracting, and financing are all done via the dealership and lender of the buyer’s choice, the spokesman said.
A “wide range of credit solutions” are offered through the company’s captive arm FCA Bank, which is a partnership between Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Italy SpA and Crédit Agricole Consumer Finance SA, he said.
Amazon, with all of its user data and brand awareness, could be a huge player in the auto finance space if it dedicated resources to it, Andrew MacDonald, senior product manager at Vroom, said at the 2016 Auto Finance Summit.
“Amazon is not always the lowest price, maybe the toilet paper costs a little less on Walmart.com, but people go to Amazon because they get an unbelievable experience, unbelievable service, and they trust the brand,” he said.
