Ford Motor Company commissioned a Harris Poll of 1000 American adults and found 83 percent said they would like to spend as little time as possible at a dealership when shopping for a new car or truck. Many of those same respondents also said that they would like to be able to touch and feel their new vehicle before signing off on its purchase. That reluctance to car-shop the traditional way is what’s behind news that CarSaver.com?which lets shoppers buy, finance, and insure a car online?will set up shop in Walmart stores. Separately, Ford?s credit arm is pushing more ways to make as much of the vehicle-buying process as possible available prior to a customer?s first visit to a dealership.
Walmart will not be selling any cars or trucks in its stores (although the company’s Sam?s Club affiliates do offer a car-buying service in partnership with TrueCar). Molly Blakeman, Walmart?s corporate media relations director, told C/D that the retail behemoth is merely leasing out commercial space to CarSaver at the front of its stores. It installed a touchscreen kiosk at one Walmart location in Stuart, Florida, last April as a test prior to expanding CarSaver to other Walmart stores, Automotive News reported, citing plans in the works for 25 locations in Houston, Dallas, Phoenix, and Oklahoma City. Blakeman would confirm only the existing location in Florida, saying the company is still evaluating results from that site. The touchscreen kiosk emulates CarSaver?s online ...