Ford and Alibaba release a car vending machine

Billion Dollar Industry for Billion Dollar Companies

Car shoppers in Guangzhou, China can now test drive and purchase vehicles from a vending machine stocked with cars. The Super Test-Drive holds dozens of Ford vehicles for shoppers to check out. To see a vehicle customers have to download the Tmail app and select the one you want to test drive - you are allowed to for three days. The service also uses Alibaba to offer various discounts and incentives. Alibaba intends on sharing data with Ford and providing discounts for vehicles depending on the shopper's profile in Alibaba. For example, if a user of Alibaba has recently purchased diapers and baby formula - it can be inferred that the user will want a safe vehicle perhaps with a lot of cargo space.

Carvana is Bigger Than You Think

The idea of building vertical as opposed to horizontal is nothing new. Parking garages apply somewhat of the same logic, but with real estate prices continuing to climb it's tough for many of these car dealerships to stay profitable. A company based out of Tempe, Arizona, named Carvana, operates car vending machines across the United States and even lets users insert a token to have their car delivered. The company delivers directly to your door and supports financing with an easy to use online interface. Founders Ernie Garcia, Jr. Ryan Keeton and Benjamin Huston saw revenue increase in 2014. Says CEO Garcia, who had previously worked in finance in New York: "Autos are a trillion dollar industry. It’s the most complained about retail industry out there. I asked, why aren’t there any modern tools being used to give customers a good experience?"