Amazon launches Vehicles, a new destination for car shoppers

Amazon is getting its feet wet in the car shopping business with today’s launch of Amazon Vehicles. It’s not a car store; you can’t buy cars (yet?) through Amazon.com. But it certainly moves the company much farther down the path toward selling cars.

For now, Amazon Vehicles is a research destination aimed at helping anyone looking to buy a car, car parts or accessories. It offers details on new and old cars, ranging — as Amazon’s press release points out — from a 2016 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon (shown below) to a 1965 Ford Mustang. It has car images, videos and customer reviews, and a forum of car enthusiasts where shoppers can connect to get additional questions answered person-to-person.

As a research destination, Amazon Vehicles competes directly with the big online car sites like Cars.com, Edmunds.com, AutoTrader.com and others. It will also compete with the official sites of car manufacturers like Ford, Toyota and others. And it may also impact Google by offering car shoppers an alternative to general search.

“Our goal is to support customers during one of the most important, research-intensive purchases in their lives by helping them make informed decisions every step of the way,” said Adam Goetsch, director of automotive at Amazon.com, in today’s announcement.

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Matt McGee

Matt McGee is the Editor-In-Chief of Marketing Land and Search Engine Land. His news career includes time spent in TV, radio, and print journalism. After leaving traditional media in the mid-1990s, he began developing and marketing websites and continued to provide consulting services for more than 15 years. His SEO and social media clients ranged from mom-and-pop small businesses to one of the Top 5 online retailers. Matt is a longtime speaker at marketing events around the U.S., including keynote and panelist roles. He can be found on Twitter at @MattMcGee. You can read Matt’s disclosures on his personal blog. You can reach Matt via email using our Contact page.