Group 1 Automotive Inc. has launched AcceleRide, an online car-buying platform that allows customers to skip a visit to the dealership, the dealership group said Tuesday.
Through the platform, customers can browse Group 1's inventory of more than 38,000 new and used vehicles, customize features, select financing and payment terms and coordinate delivery to their home, office or local dealership.
"During our extensive pilot program, we made a concerted effort to optimize the digital path-to-purchase to give customers more options for quick, simple, hassle-free ways to buy a vehicle with their desired preferences," Daryl Kenningham, Group 1's president of U.S. operations, said in a statement.
AcceleRide also integrates factory rebate and incentive offers and allows customers to fill in trade-in details online, the statement said. Through the platform, customers can upload all required information digitally, without visiting a dealership.
In April, Kenningham told Automotive News that the close rate for digital customers is almost double the close rate for traditional car buyers.
AcceleRide is available at 79 dealerships nationwide and will be available at all 116 of Group 1's U.S. stores by the end of the summer.
Group 1, of Houston, ranks No. 4 on Automotive News' list of the top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S., with retail sales of 170,517 new vehicles in 2018.
