Amazon.com announced Thursday it will begin online car sales for the first time next year. Carvana stock tumbled Thursday and gave up more ground Friday.
In a blog post, Amazon said its digital vehicle sales will start with Hyundai cars sold by dealerships.
"This new shopping experience will create another way for dealers to build awareness of their selection and offer convenience to their customers," the e-commerce giant said.
As part of the deal, South Korea's Hyundai will integrate Amazon's Alexa voice assistant into its cars beginning in 2025. It also will use Amazon Web Services (AWS) for cloud services.
Amazon Stock
Shares of Amazon eased 0.3% to 142.83 Thursday. They rallied 1.7% on the stock market today.
Amazon stock now sits less than a buck below a 145.86 buy point, which it briefly cleared on Tuesday, the MarketSmith chart shows.
Carvana Stock, CarMax
Among auto retail stocks, Carvana, CarMax, Lithia Motors and AutoNation each sank 5%-6% in Thursday trading. Carvana stock and Carmax closed lower Friday after trying to rebound intraday. Lithia and AutoNation stock bounced higher.
The coronavirus pandemic accelerated the shift to online car sales.
Tesla spearheaded online car sales through its website. Carvana led the move to online used car sales. But many car dealers have fiercely opposed Tesla selling cars directly to consumers, bypassing traditional dealer networks.
Amazon's move into the car space has long been rumored. In 2017, reports of its entry sparked a sharp sell-off in auto parts stocks.
