CC Rider
12-24-2008, 05:44 AM
While in Phoenix this past summer, I was very surprised how dead Walmarts are there. Not sure if this will help business.
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Diapers, Applesauce . . . and a Sedan?
Automotive News
By Arlena Sawyers
Dec. 22, 2008
Used-car buyers in Phoenix have a new place to shop: Wal-Mart. And franchised dealers could benefit.
The world's largest retailer is leasing space in two suburban Phoenix stores to Live X Auto Exchange LLC, an online used-vehicle buying company. Wal-Mart shoppers use Live X computers at the stores to check out more than 1,000 used cars and trucks for sale, Live X founder Patrick Dial said.
Dial declined to say how many vehicles it has helped sell since it was launched last month or what Wal-Mart is charging his company. He said about 35 local dealerships, along with rental-car companies, banks and private sellers, are listing used vehicles.
Live X refers buyers to dealerships. But it also holds a broker's license that allows it to buy used vehicles from dealers and sell them directly to customers, Dial said .
"Here's the secret sauce," Dial told Automotive News. "We're in a nontraditional location but one where there is a promise of value. And customers frequent it over and over."
Next year, Dial said , Live X plans to expand to as many as 13 other Wal-Mart stores in the Phoenix market. He said he would like to roll out the program nationally but has no time-table.
Other than being a landlord, Wal-Mart does not have a business relationship with Live X. In an e-mail statement to Automotive News, spokeswoman Christi Davis Gallagher said the used-vehicle venture reflects Wal-Mart's "mission to provide one-stop convenience and value to save our customers money so they can live better."
Live X does not display vehicles or offer test drives at the two Wal-Mart stores, in Chandler and Mesa, Ariz.
Dealers pay Live X $995 a month to list an unlimited number of used cars and trucks. Dial, a former promoter for country music singer Garth Brooks, said his company's strategy enables dealers to retail aging inventory before they send the used cars and trucks to auction.
At the Wal-Mart stores, Live X employees help customers open free accounts that give them access to the used-vehicle listings. Customers must go to the stores to establish accounts. Live X also works with buyers to help them get credit from lenders.
Customers can search the Live X database by vehicle type and price. When a customer buys a car or truck and is approved for financing, a service technician inspects the vehicle before it is sent to the Live X delivery center. The inspectors work at two local dealerships, Dial said.
At the delivery center, the customer can test-drive the vehicle. At that point, he or she can cancel the deal without penalty. Some participating dealerships also allow customers to return the vehicle within three days and exchange it for another used vehicle in the store's inventory.
Live X does not offer warranties on the vehicles it sells, but individual dealerships do, Dial said.
Larry Miller Mazda, in the Phoenix suburb of Avondale, lists about 28 used vehicles with Live X. As of mid-December, the dealership had not sold any through Live X. But general manager Terry Ferrante says he likes the Live X business model.
"You're always looking for new customers," he says. "There's an old saying that you fish where the fish are. Obviously, Wal-Mart has proven to the rest of us that there are a lot of fish there."
Live X is not the first auto retailer to try to ride Wal-Mart's coattails. Asbury Automotive Group experimented with selling used vehicles in Wal-Mart parking lots in Houston in 2002 and 2003. Asbury abandoned the venture after it said it lost almost $6 million.
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__________________
[ QUOTE ]
Diapers, Applesauce . . . and a Sedan?
Automotive News
By Arlena Sawyers
Dec. 22, 2008
Used-car buyers in Phoenix have a new place to shop: Wal-Mart. And franchised dealers could benefit.
The world's largest retailer is leasing space in two suburban Phoenix stores to Live X Auto Exchange LLC, an online used-vehicle buying company. Wal-Mart shoppers use Live X computers at the stores to check out more than 1,000 used cars and trucks for sale, Live X founder Patrick Dial said.
Dial declined to say how many vehicles it has helped sell since it was launched last month or what Wal-Mart is charging his company. He said about 35 local dealerships, along with rental-car companies, banks and private sellers, are listing used vehicles.
Live X refers buyers to dealerships. But it also holds a broker's license that allows it to buy used vehicles from dealers and sell them directly to customers, Dial said .
"Here's the secret sauce," Dial told Automotive News. "We're in a nontraditional location but one where there is a promise of value. And customers frequent it over and over."
Next year, Dial said , Live X plans to expand to as many as 13 other Wal-Mart stores in the Phoenix market. He said he would like to roll out the program nationally but has no time-table.
Other than being a landlord, Wal-Mart does not have a business relationship with Live X. In an e-mail statement to Automotive News, spokeswoman Christi Davis Gallagher said the used-vehicle venture reflects Wal-Mart's "mission to provide one-stop convenience and value to save our customers money so they can live better."
Live X does not display vehicles or offer test drives at the two Wal-Mart stores, in Chandler and Mesa, Ariz.
Dealers pay Live X $995 a month to list an unlimited number of used cars and trucks. Dial, a former promoter for country music singer Garth Brooks, said his company's strategy enables dealers to retail aging inventory before they send the used cars and trucks to auction.
At the Wal-Mart stores, Live X employees help customers open free accounts that give them access to the used-vehicle listings. Customers must go to the stores to establish accounts. Live X also works with buyers to help them get credit from lenders.
Customers can search the Live X database by vehicle type and price. When a customer buys a car or truck and is approved for financing, a service technician inspects the vehicle before it is sent to the Live X delivery center. The inspectors work at two local dealerships, Dial said.
At the delivery center, the customer can test-drive the vehicle. At that point, he or she can cancel the deal without penalty. Some participating dealerships also allow customers to return the vehicle within three days and exchange it for another used vehicle in the store's inventory.
Live X does not offer warranties on the vehicles it sells, but individual dealerships do, Dial said.
Larry Miller Mazda, in the Phoenix suburb of Avondale, lists about 28 used vehicles with Live X. As of mid-December, the dealership had not sold any through Live X. But general manager Terry Ferrante says he likes the Live X business model.
"You're always looking for new customers," he says. "There's an old saying that you fish where the fish are. Obviously, Wal-Mart has proven to the rest of us that there are a lot of fish there."
Live X is not the first auto retailer to try to ride Wal-Mart's coattails. Asbury Automotive Group experimented with selling used vehicles in Wal-Mart parking lots in Houston in 2002 and 2003. Asbury abandoned the venture after it said it lost almost $6 million.
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