Online Car Sales Gather Steam

Online shopping sites are increasingly turning to cars, which can often be sold cheaper than in showrooms.

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Online retailer Interpark said Wednesday that it will sell Mazda's Miata convertible roadster and Fiat 124 Spider roadster, though only five of each will be available.

In August last year, Ticket Monster offered the new Jaguar sedan for sale, and a month later ebay Korea began selling Chevrolet's Aveo subcompact on its Auction website. Interpark is selling the Miata for W57.5 million and the Fiat 124 Spider at W54.5 million, W3-4 million less than the offline price tag (US$1=W1,189).

"We can do this because Mazda and Fiat supplied them to us at low prices", said Cho Jin-hyuk at Interpark.

Instead of cutting the price tag of the Aveo, Auction offers W5 million worth of credit that can be used on for other purchases on the site.

Offline dealerships do not like the development. Jaguar Land Rover protested against Ticket Monster's move, saying that the price-slashing campaign is unfair for customers purchasing the car offline and cheapens Jaguar's luxury image.

Auction avoided such complaints by striking a deal directly with GM Korea, while Interpark put on sale models that are not being sold offline here.

One staffer at an online retailer said, "Toyota, Nissan and Honda started selling cars through Yahoo! Japan last year, and Hyundai plans to start online sales this year in the U.K., Spain and the U.S. There may be resistance at first, but online car sales will only grow with time".