Car buyers and enthusiasts in Guangzhou, China now have the ability to buy or try a car using a smartphone app and a car vending machine. The facility came out of a partnership signed two years ago between Ford and Alibaba.
Standing around five floors tall is a giant vending machine that—instead of spitting out chocolate bars or cans of soda—delivers full-size cars to customers at the push of a button.
Called the Super Test-Drive Center the center houses dozens of Ford vehicles in the multi-story building. Users just select the car they want through the Tmail app and have the option of taking it on a three day test ride. This trial period is free of charge if the person behind the wheel has a good enough credit score with Alibaba affiliate Ant Financial’s credit ranking system known as Sesame Credit. Anyone not in good standing or new to the system has to pay a fee before being able to drive his or her chosen car. Customers can test-drive up to two cars in case their first choice wasn’t quite right.
Apparently, the service taps Alibaba's services and providers potential buyers with with discounts and incentives based on their usage on Alibaba's ecosystem.
The concept of storing cars in mechanical facilities is nearly as old as the car itself. The first system appeared in 1905 and evolved to house thousands of cars though early mechanical faults caused interest to wain. Storing cars in such a fashion has its benefits as it nearly eliminates theft, damage and often results in storing more cars in less space.
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