General Motors and Volvo have partnered with Amazon to offer customers in-vehicle delivery of packages in the United States.
The service will be available for both automakers’ vehicles beginning Tuesday in 37 cities with plans to expand the service coast to coast.
Packages can be delivered to a location registered by the customer.
The service is available on more than 7 million 2015 model year or newer Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac vehicles for GM. It comes free for Amazon Prime members with an active OnStar account.
Volvo, one of the smaller luxury brands in the U.S., hopes to cater to high-end customers with busy lives by offering a convenience that leverages Amazon’s size and reach.
Technology, connectivity and software are allowing automakers to extend the role and utility of light vehicles in ways beyond transportation -- in this case transforming a sedan or crossover into a temporary drop box or secure locker.
“The ambition is to work toward full national coverage,” Volvo Chief Digital Officer Atif Rafiq said without providing a target for when nationwide service would be reached.
The current coverage area for the service, , coincides with large U.S. metropolitan areas where the online retail giant already offers Amazon Key, a service available to Amazon Prime customers that debuted last autumn that allows packages to be delivered inside a customer's front door without giving the courier an actual key.
The same idea will be applied to owners of GM and Volvo vehicles who download the Amazon app and link their Amazon Prime account with their OnStar or Volvo On Call account. After the setup is complete and a delivery location is registered, customers can shop on Amazon.com and select the “in-car delivery” option at checkout.
“This is another example of how we provide customers with technologies that add value and enhance the ownership experience,” said Alan Batey, president of GM North America, in a statement.
The apps will notify the customer when the delivery is about to happen, when it is completed and when the vehicle is safely locked. Deliveries are made to a stationary car parked in a publicly accessible area.
Rafiq said that the service will be accessible to the majority of Volvo owners in the U.S. Amazon estimates that millions of Amazon Prime customer will also have access to the program.
“With Amazon Key In-Car, we're fueling another convenient and secure way to get packages to our customers,” Amazon Vice President of Delivery Technology Peter Larsen said in a statement.
Volvo has offered in-vehicle delivery in Europe as part its Volvo On Call app since 2015. The service, which allows one-time digital access for deliveries to a customer's Volvo, is available in Sweden, Norway and Switzerland.
“We are a natural partner for Amazon because of our experience and our conviction that this is an excellent convenience for owners,” Rafiq said.