- Hertz opens online sales selection to more non-Hyundai brands
- Adding 45 Hertz stores to “hundreds” of existing Hyundai participants
- Auto sites watching the project but say it’s not yet a threat
Amazon Autos has charged ahead with its foray into online used car sales by signing up Hertz Car Sales as an additional dealer in the U.S.
Beginning this week, car shoppers can browse, finance, and buy from a selection of thousands of vehicles on Amazon.com and visit a Hertz Car Sales lot for final pick up. The offer is now confined to Hertz stores in Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles and Seattle, but the company plans to roll it out to 45 locations across the country.
A new retail channel in ‘beta’
Hertz Car Sales already offered an online purchase process, complete with home delivery, on its own website. The latest deal provides Hertz another retail channel, one still in “beta” mode, but with lots of potential if Amazon can make it work.
“Our goal is to reimagine the car-buying experience and meet customers where they are — whether online or in person — with convenience, confidence and scale,” Jeff Adams, EVP of Hertz Car Sales, said in a news release. “Amazon Autos is the ideal partner to help us deliver on this as customers can shop our expansive inventory of high-quality used cars on the same trusted marketplace where millions shop every day.”
Fan Jin, global head of Amazon Autos, added: “We’re excited for Hertz Car Sales to join the hundreds of franchised dealers in our store, bringing thousands of additional vehicles for customers to choose from. This collaboration allows us to offer an expanded selection of well-maintained vehicles from more dealerships across the country, while maintaining the simplicity that customers expect from Amazon.”
Shortly after the deal was announced last week, share prices of both CarGurus and Cars.com parent Cars Commerce dipped slightly, perhaps due to investor fears Amazon would cut into their traffic. However, by early this week, the small dips had disappeared and share prices of both companies were higher than before the Amazon / Hertz announcement. 
The competitive threat
In recent earnings calls, executives at both companies fielded analysts’ questions about the competitive threat posed by Amazon Autos.
“I will continue to say that we nor anyone else should underestimate Amazon ever,” CarGurus CEO Jason Trevisan said. “We do, though, think that we have some really strong moats and we’re clearly watching what they’re doing.”
CarGurus COO Sam Zales added that Hyundai sales through Amazon were reportedly slow.
“Customers that we’ve talked to — and we keep very tight to the Hyundai community that is working with Amazon — have said it’s low volume,” Zales said. “That’s the feedback we’re getting so far.”
Cars Commerce CEO Alex Vetter also noted lackluster reports about the Amazon test with Hyundai.
“I have talked to a lot of the dealers,” he said. “And the feedback thus far has been — there’s a lot of effort but not a lot of traction.”
Vetter continued: “This is a very specialized category that has a lot of nuances within the market and I’ll certainly say there’s room for many players. I look at all the horizontal players as potential threats, but this is a very specialized vertical industry with multiple layers between OEMs, dealers and obviously consumers all playing an important part.”
(Both calls took place before the Hertz announcement.)
Hertz is the second largest car-rental company in the U.S. after Enterprise. Hertz Global Holdings, the parent company, also owns the Dollar, Thrifty and Firefly rental brands. It typically sells its vehicles after they’ve served six to 36 months as rentals. In the past, Hertz sold all of them through Manheim auctions directly to dealers. More recently, the company has tried various ways to sell directly to consumers to increase sale prices.
Carvana proves another channel
Along with its own website and Hertz Car Sales locations, the company sells cars to consumers through a marketplace arrangement with Carvana launched in 2021. That relationship remains in effect, and a Hertz spokesperson told the AIM Group the Amazon deal is not exclusive.
Hertz becomes Amazon Autos’ first rental car affiliate and also its first non-Hyundai dealership. Amazon Autos launched nationwide at the end of 2024 with 48 Hyundai dealerships. In early August, Jin said the program operated in 130 metros nationwide and “hundreds” of dealerships were involved. In March, Amazon admitted service was thin in some markets — with just one dealership serving Houston, Texas, a city of 2.4 million people, for instance.
Amazon Autos initially focused on new inventory, but it opened to used cars earlier this month. The move widened its selection to non-Hyundai brands offered for sale by Hyundai dealerships. Now that Hertz has signed, the selection has grown further and includes Fords, Toyotas, Chevrolets, Nissans, and others.
Hertz said it offers the following benefits in its Amazon sales program:
- Vehicles are often priced below suggested retail values from Kelley Blue Book.
- Hertz certified vehicles undergo a 115-point inspection.
- Vehicles are backed by a 12-month / 12,000-mile limited powertrain warranty, 24-hour roadside assistance, and a seven-day / 250-mile buy-back guarantee.
- Flexible financing options are available from multiple lenders.
- Vehicle history and condition reports.
- Online purchase experience with e-signature and pickup scheduling.
