Dealer Group to Make Online Car Purchases a Reality by Next Year

The automotive world is undergoing significant changes, as vehicles are becoming more like appliances than deeply personal purchases. This is no more evident than in the move to autonomous-driving technology and experimentation in online buying. While the autonomous-driving part is already in the works, online buying has somewhat stalled in recent years, mostly due to government regulations. Now, one of the largest dealer groups in the U.S., Sonic Automotive, is set to push online buying to reality by next year, according to Automotive News.

By the end of 2016 or the first quarter of 2017, the dealer group plans to launch Sonic Digital One-Stop. This system will give buyers the option of getting a trade appraisal and completing their purchase completely online. What’s more, the buyer will never even have to set foot in the dealership, as an employee of the dealership will deliver the vehicle to the client—in some cases, on the same day. Once the process is complete, the buyer should only have to sign four or five pieces of paper to comply with state laws.

This new system will build upon Sonic’s existing Sonic-One Experience that it launched at five dealerships. This existing car-buying process includes no-haggle pricing and a soup-to-nuts purchase experience that should take only 45 minutes, thanks to the iPad-equipped sales associate.

So, for those of you who see no need to touch, sniff, and drive a car before buying, it will soon have the ability to do all your vehicle purchases from the comfort of your home.

Not only will this help make the buying experience easier, but it will also help save the dealership money in the long run and keep them profitable. One example of a very aggressive deal that this reduction of costs would help is the 39-month loyalty lease deal on the 2016 Malibu Limited that runs $199 per month with $0 due at signing.