Walmart is teaming up with online automotive retail platform CarSaver to get into the business of car sales according to Automotive News.
CarSaver is launching the program April 1 in Walmart Supercenters in Houston, Dallas, Phoenix and Oklahoma City.
These Walmarts will have new CarSaver Centers alongside the vision and nail centers typical to most Walmarts where customers can select new, used or certified pre-owned vehicles and apply for financing and auto insurance.
Once customers choose their vehicle CarSaver will connect them with a local, certified dealer and schedule an appointment to visit the dealership.
All dealerships will be within 15 miles of Walmart Supercenters with the majority being AutoNation stores.
"The right location is very valuable," said AutoNation Chief Marketing Officer Marc Cannon. "You want to make sure it's convenient for your customers. It's not just the sale. We want to keep them as a customer and continue to develop the service part of our business."
CarSaver, Walmart, auto dealers and participating dealerships in Stuart, Florida conducted a pilot version of the program in 2016. In the experiment, customers saved more than $3,000 off the sticker price on average due to the program's no-haggle, upfront pricing according to CarSaver's CEO Sean Wolfington.
The Walmart program has a goal to sell 1,000 vehicles, new and used, per year. CarSaver hopes to be in Walmart Supercenters across the nation within two years if the launch proves successful.
