Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles stand on display at the Toyota Mega Web showroom in Tokyo, Japan, on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2017. Toyota is scheduled to report first-quarter results on Aug. 4. Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg
Longo Toyota in El Monte, California, bills itself as the biggest new-car dealership on the planet. Yet until last week, its digital technology was so archaic that salesmen couldn’t produce a list of vehicles they’d lease for the same monthly payment without first toiling with hand-held calculators.
On Aug 22, Longo started letting customers use PCs or smartphones to form a list like this themselves. They can then proceed online through other processes largely kept within the confines of brick-and-mortar dealerships: selecting options, haggling over trade-ins and financing, and scheduling delivery. Buyers can avoid setting foot in the store, if they want.
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