Wal-Mart, the largest retailer in the U.S., is now adding new and used vehicles to its consumer offerings.
Wal-Mart is the go-to store for many Americans whether it be for school supplies, clothes, toys, pet supplies or groceries. Well, now you can add new and used cars, trucks and crossovers to that shopping list.
The largest retailer in the United States is now looking to make inroads in one of the more competitive retail spaces: new vehicle sales. The company is partnering with several dealership groups, including AutoNation, to form an online new vehicle outlet called CarSaver.
Scheduled to open on April 1, it will encompass 25 Wal-Mart Supercenters in Houston, Dallas, Phoenix and Oklahoma City, according to the company. For the most part, CarSaver can be looked at as a conduit to a brick-and-mortar dealership. At this point, it’s most likely to be an AutoNation outlet.
At open, 16 AutoNation dealers will tackle the Dallas, Houston and Phoenix locations. AutoNation doesn’t have an Oklahoma City-based dealer. Another familiar name, Ally Financial, will handle most of the financing for the Wal-Mart purchased vehicles as the program’s “preferred lender.”
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CarSaver’s digital platform allows potential buyers to go through the entire process from choosing a vehicle to securing financing and getting insurance for the new purchase using its website or touch-screen kiosk. Those are supported by bilingual auto advisers available by phone. CarSaver Centers will set up inside Wal-Mart stores, across from checkout lanes and alongside other services, such as vision centers and nail salons. They’ll have staffers on site to explain the car-buying program to customers.
Customers will be able to select a new, used or certified pre-owned vehicle and apply for financing and auto insurance on the kiosk at the CarSaver Center, on their mobile device via CarSaver’s website or by calling an 800 number.
Costco has been selling new vehicles for years, totaling about 1,000 vehicles annually.
CarSaver then will connect customers with a local, certified dealer and schedule an appointment to visit the dealership. If a shopper doesn’t contact the dealership, an auto adviser reconnects with that shopper.
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Why would someone go to Wal-Mart to buy a car? The same reason they go to Wal-Mart to begin with: savings. When Wal-Mart ran the pilot program last year in Stuart, Florida, buyers saved an average of $3,000, according to CarSaver’s CEO Sean Wolfington.
If all this sounds a bit familiar, well, it’s because another large retailer has been running a similar model for years now: Costco. In fact, Wolfington once oversaw the Costco program, which only sells new cars, through a dealership he once ran, according to Automotive News.
“I was impressed with Costco’s program and how much easier it was for the dealership because consumers trusted Costco and appreciated the haggle-free pricing and hassle-free experience,” he told Automotive News, adding he was “convinced that this was the right way to sell cars – with a fair, transparent price, presented by brands the customer trusts most.”
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Not only do they plan to mirror the program, they’re hoping to achieve similar results, at least. Costco sells about 1,000 vehicles annually through its program, and that appears to be the early target for the Wal-Mart program.