Amazon will sell Hyundai cars in the United States starting in 2024, according to an agreement announced this Thursday at the Los Angeles Auto Show. In return, the South Korean manufacturer will integrate the well-known digital assistant Alexa, from the global trade giant, into its vehicles.
Hyundai thus becomes the first automobile brand that will sell new vehicles on Amazon, becoming a kind of online dealership.
It will be the same dynamic as with any other product, even if the package is large. Consumers who decide to purchase a Hyundai vehicle through Amazon will have the option of picking it up at the dealership or having it delivered to their home by the establishment.
As part of the agreement, Hyundai has chosen AWS, Amazon's unit dedicated to providing computing services, as its "preferred cloud provider" to "accelerate its digital transformation."
The South Korean manufacturer said in a statement that the agreement with AWS will make it "a more data-oriented organization with a cloud-first technology strategy."
The third aspect of the agreement will be the integration of Amazon's Alexa digital assistant into Hyundai vehicles starting in 2025. This will allow vehicle occupants, with voice messages, to ask the assistant to play music, set reminders, control home devices connected to the digital assistant or obtain updated information on traffic or weather conditions.
Both multinationals celebrate the agreement. The automaker believes the partnership with Amazon "opens up incredible opportunities" for the automaker. For his part, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy stated that the agreement with Hyundai should make vehicle acquisition easier as well as simplify the use of Alexa in vehicles, which will allow the South Korean manufacturer to "transform its customers' experience." ".
