From the launch six years ago, EV Auto CEO and co-founder Alex Lawrence held the ambitious goal of becoming the world’s largest seller of used EVs.
Taking another step toward that goal, he announced on Daily Dealer Live on Monday that his dealership is the first non-franchise dealer to join Amazon Autos.
Driving the news: Lawrence told Daily Dealer Live host Sam D’Arc that EV Auto went live over the weekend.
He said preparation took six to nine weeks.
But now, consumers can search his inventory and complete the purchase online.
“We’ll get a notification. We’ll call you and will arrange delivery or shipment all on the Amazon experience,” Lawrence said.
Early adopter: From the announcement of Amazon Autos and its first OEMs, Lawrence knew he wanted EV Auto on the platform for a few main reasons.
One of them being that Amazon provides a familiar, customer-friendly e-commerce experience.
And another is that the finance partners available to customers are Wells Fargo, Capital One, and Ally, all of which EV Auto previously worked with.
“I want to be wherever my customers are, and Amazon believes that we’ll provide the same experience they do,” Lawrence said.
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Working through initial challenges: Lawrence expects to be charged a per-store fee by Amazon in the future, but there are other details to work through as well.
On the backend, for one, he hopes to work with Amazon to sell chargers in the future.
And though he ships vehicles nationwide, Amazon currently has a mileage limit on searching inventory, which Lawrence explains is to protect the franchise dealers on the platform.
Expansion plans: In addition to the Amazon news, EV Auto is adding a pair of locations in Las Vegas and one in Dallas to its existing stores in Utah and Tennessee.
He hopes to open three to four stores per year, to have a store in every state within a decade.
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