If you haven't bought a car online yet, chances are you will sometime soon, even if the car you are buying is not a Tesla.
Consumers are becoming more comfortable with the idea of making such a major purchase online, to the extent that studies show that some 6 million vehicles will be sold completely online by 2025, comprising at least 5 percent of global sales.
Already no fewer than 10 brands sell vehicles online, and some automakers, such as Ford and Volvo, plan to sell their electric vehicles exclusively online in the coming years - and some, such as General Motors, are already selling used vehicles online too.
The used vehicles GM is selling online were acquired as trade-ins from customers who purchased vehicles from dealer pre-owned vehicle lots, where they were vetted by staff in the dealership's repair and maintenance center.
But how will dealers evaluate vehicles when the car-buying business moves completely online? How will they set a fair value -- fair for themselves and for consumers -- when they accept a trade-in for a new vehicle?
Advanced technology -- using imagery as well as data collected from the vehicle -- could provide online professional traders with the information they need to make those offers, ensuring that customers can afford the new cars they seek to buy. Those who exploit these technologies today will master the used car trade of tomorrow.
As with many other issues on how cars will be sold in the future, automakers are looking at the Tesla experience to understand where they may be going, especially when it comes to trade-ins.
Nearly a quarter of new car sales involve a trade-in. Tesla does accept trade-ins, and it does that mostly online. Other manufacturers are likely to adopt the basic methods used by Tesla -- based largely on high-resolution photos. But as technology advances, automakers and dealers will be able to utilize improved tools to better determine the value of a trade-in.
Among those tools: Advanced data collection from vehicle sensors, combined with curated, pre-selected images that are evaluated by machine learning-based artificial intelligence systems that provide a very accurate picture of a vehicle's condition -- both internal and external.
Such tools can determine if a part has been replaced; if it is a manufacturer's original or recommended product; if it has been involved in an accident; and other information. The entire process can be done remotely -- and using that data, automakers and dealers will be able to make a fair offer against the price of a new vehicle.
The business model and automaker-dealer relationship will also change as more sales move online following consumer demand.
Industry experts say that 18 percent of auto shoppers would buy a vehicle sooner if there was an online purchase option, while 48 percent of consumers would prefer to handle price negotiations in an automated manner online, and 42 percent wanted to do the same for financing.
Currently, most cars are sold via dealers, but with the rise of internet sales, automakers could manage those sales -- and trade-ins -- themselves. But it's against the law for manufacturers to sell directly in many U.S. states.
So, dealers will still be with us for some time to come -- but their role is likely to change significantly, as manufacturers, such as BMW, adopt an "agency model."
Under this system, dealers become direct representatives of automakers, with vehicles sold via an automaker's website, and delivered through the local dealer who acts as the automaker's "agent."
The automakers' dictates for agents would presumably include rules on how to evaluate trade-ins. That makes it especially important that today's dealers who hope to become agents adopt the tech that will enable them to truly understand the condition of vehicles.
The better prepared automakers and agents are for these changes, the more they will thrive in the new world of vehicle sales.