Photo: campaignlive.co.uk
What a great time to be alive. With car vending machines popping up all over the world, Auto Trader from the U.K. has launched the country’s first contactless car vending machine in London last week.
This is a vending machine that not only allows you to purchase your new car right away, but also to pay for it on the spot, with just your phone. The idea is to simplify the whole process by removing haggling, an idea that occurred to company Auto Trader after conducting research that showed how much potential buyers hated or were made uncomfortable by haggling.
Auto Trader pre-haggles the prices on all cars with dealerships, and then makes the offers available on its website, as before. One such car is then placed into the vending machine and can become available immediately upon contactless payment, MotorTrader informs.
With the launch, Auto Trader didn’t go into finer details like insurance or financing, but it did note that the first car made thus available was a Renault Zoe, which goes for £16,000 ($19,600), considerably much cheaper than the retail price. The company adds that all cars sold by way of this vending machine will not cost most than £21,000 ($25,700).
Once the customer decides on a car, they show up at the vending machine, which includes a custom point-of-sale system and a mechanical door that releases the car once payment goes through. It took a team of 6 engineers 3 months to design the car dispenser, the same media outlet informs.
“Buying a brand-new car is an exciting experience, but it can often be tarnished by anxiety around haggling and knowing whether you’re looking at the right price,” a spokesperson for Auto Trader says in a statement. “So we’re showcasing a real-life version on what can be found on Auto Trader; brand new cars at transparent pre-haggled prices that you can drive away today.”
“The only difference is that this Renault Zoe can be purchased at the touch of a card, testing London car buyer’s appetite for electric cars as well as a more instant car buying future,” the statement further says.
Auto Trader pre-haggles the prices on all cars with dealerships, and then makes the offers available on its website, as before. One such car is then placed into the vending machine and can become available immediately upon contactless payment, MotorTrader informs.
With the launch, Auto Trader didn’t go into finer details like insurance or financing, but it did note that the first car made thus available was a Renault Zoe, which goes for £16,000 ($19,600), considerably much cheaper than the retail price. The company adds that all cars sold by way of this vending machine will not cost most than £21,000 ($25,700).
Once the customer decides on a car, they show up at the vending machine, which includes a custom point-of-sale system and a mechanical door that releases the car once payment goes through. It took a team of 6 engineers 3 months to design the car dispenser, the same media outlet informs.
“Buying a brand-new car is an exciting experience, but it can often be tarnished by anxiety around haggling and knowing whether you’re looking at the right price,” a spokesperson for Auto Trader says in a statement. “So we’re showcasing a real-life version on what can be found on Auto Trader; brand new cars at transparent pre-haggled prices that you can drive away today.”
“The only difference is that this Renault Zoe can be purchased at the touch of a card, testing London car buyer’s appetite for electric cars as well as a more instant car buying future,” the statement further says.
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