{"id":125509,"date":"2018-04-24T12:36:17","date_gmt":"2018-04-24T16:36:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedetroitbureau.com\/?p=125509"},"modified":"2018-04-24T12:36:17","modified_gmt":"2018-04-24T16:36:17","slug":"amazon-will-now-deliver-packages-to-your-car-as-well-as-your-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/2018\/04\/amazon-will-now-deliver-packages-to-your-car-as-well-as-your-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Amazon Will Now Deliver Packages to Your Car, as Well as Your Home"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_125510\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-125510\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Amazon-In-Car-Delivery-Volvo.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-125510\" title=\"Amazon In-Car Delivery - Volvo\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Amazon-In-Car-Delivery-Volvo-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-125510\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">An Amazon driver uses a smartphone app to open the trunk on a Chevrolet Bolt EV.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>More than 100 million people, half of them in the U.S., now subscribe to online retail giant Amazon Prime. The $99-a-year service not only offers free delivery on most packages to a customer\u2019s home but is now adding a new twist: customers can have packages delivered to the trunk of their vehicles.<\/p>\n<p>The In-Car Delivery program will be available, starting today, to millions of owners of General Motors and Volvo vehicles in 37 U.S. cities. To use the service, a customer will simply choose \u201cin-car delivery\u201d among the various options Amazon offers.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_34521\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-34521\" style=\"width: 152px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"\/subscribe\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-34521\" title=\"Subscribe 8\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Subscribe-8.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"152\" height=\"91\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Subscribe-8.jpg 152w, https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Subscribe-8-150x91.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 152px) 100vw, 152px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-34521\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">We Deliver the News Where You Want it!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cAt Amazon, we are always working to make our customers\u2019 lives easier and starting today\u2026.Prime members now have another way to ensure their packages are safe and secure\u2014all for no additional cost,\u201d said Peter Larsen, Vice President of Delivery Technology, Amazon.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><strong><em>(<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thedetroitbureau.com\/2017\/12\/gm-marketplace-will-let-you-order-coffee-donuts-even-make-reservations-while-driving\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Click Here<\/span><\/a><em> to find out about the services offered by GM&#8217;s new in-car Marketplace.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em><\/em><\/strong>The launch of the In-Car Delivery program comes just months after the Seattle-based retailer launched a program allowing homeowners to provide a digital key to let a delivery driver drop a package inside their home. The new in-car service could provide an alternative to a Prime customer who feels uncomfortable with the idea of giving strangers access to the home. But there are other advantages, according to Atif Rifiq, Volvo Cars\u2019 chief digital officer.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<figure id=\"attachment_125511\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-125511\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Amazon-In-Car-Delivery-smartphone-app.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-125511\" title=\"Amazon In-Car Delivery - smartphone app\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Amazon-In-Car-Delivery-smartphone-app-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-125511\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">An Amazon customer can select in-car delivery. They also can opt out of the service.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It provides additional security, especially when shipping valuable goods, such as jewelry;<\/li>\n<li>It lets an Amazon customer maintain the surprise when, say, they order a gift;<\/li>\n<li>The In-Car Delivery program helps protect a shipment from rain or snow; and<\/li>\n<li>The new service allows a delivery to arrive where a customer might need it, whether at home, work or even while on the road.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Another advantage is that customers don\u2019t have to invest $220 for the digital lock Amazon requires for its in-home delivery service.<\/p>\n<p>The In-Car Delivery program works with connected-car services already built into many recent-vintage Volvo and General Motors vehicles. That includes Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac or GMC products starting with the 2015 model-year and whose owners have an active account with the automaker\u2019s OnStar telematics system, as well as 2015 or newer Volvos with the automaker\u2019s On Call service. Both systems already have the ability to remotely lock and unlock a vehicle.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPartnering with Amazon to leverage our embedded in-vehicle connectivity gives Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac owners the option to conveniently receive deliveries inside their vehicle parked at home, work or near other locations in their Amazon address book,\u201d said Alan Batey, President, General Motors North America.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>(&#8220;Hey, Mercedes!&#8221; <\/em><a href=\"\/2018\/01\/hey-mercedes-german-maker-lets-you-to-have-a-conversation-with-your-car\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Click Here<\/span><\/a><em> to see how the German automaker is letting you have a conversation with your car.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_125513\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-125513\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Amazon-In-Car-Delivery-Chevrolet-Bolt.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-125513\" title=\"Amazon In-Car Delivery - Chevrolet Bolt\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Amazon-In-Car-Delivery-Chevrolet-Bolt-300x207.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"207\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-125513\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Amazon In-Car Delivery service works with 2015 model-year and later GM and Volvo models with active telematics subscriptions.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>To use the service, a customer simply selects \u201cIn-Car Delivery\u201d and then, when the package is ready for drop-off, Amazon is able to link to the vehicle\u2019s GPS system to locate it. A driver will also have the license plate number and a photo of the vehicle.<\/p>\n<p>The delivery driver will only have access to a vehicle\u2019s trunk using a proprietary smartphone app that can only be used when there is a parcel scheduled for drop-off. And to further enhance security, \u201cThe person delivering the package cannot go to their next delivery until they can confirm the vehicle has been locked,\u201d said Volvo CIO Rafiq, in an interview Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>All communications with the vehicle will be encrypted, and a customer can opt out of the service at any time. They can also change plans since \u201clife happens,\u201d said Rafiq. If the vehicle is not where it was expected, Amazon will try several times or ask the customer if there is an alternate drop-off point.<\/p>\n<p>Amazon is launching its in-car program with just two automakers, but with similar telematics technologies used by most major manufacturers today, it would appear to be simple to expand the In-Car Delivery program to other brands.<\/p>\n<p>Automakers have been looking for ways to enhance the functionality of their vehicles, particularly as they add more connected-car capabilities. A number of recent models have added the ability to call up Amazon\u2019s Alexa voice assistant from inside the vehicle. Alexa \u2013 and the similar Google Home system \u2013 can be used to check up on some vehicles remotely. With the new, second-generation Nissan Leaf EV, for example, that allows an owner to check battery charge or start up the climate control.<\/p>\n<p>Ford recently paired with Dominoes and Starbucks to allow a motorist to place an order ahead-of-time and have it waiting when they pull into a drive-through. GM\u2019s new Marketplace service will allow a motorist to not only order food or beverages but reserve a hotel room or an airline ticket.<\/p>\n<p>Volvo already launched pilot in-car delivery programs in Sweden and Switzerland, and Rafiq said it could add more partners than Amazon in the U.S. \u201cWe\u2019re definitely open for business\u2026.making our core product smarter and more meaningful and more relevant to (owners\u2019) lives.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>(Toyota Nuro concept explores services passengers might like in self-driving vehicles. <\/em><a href=\"\/2018\/01\/toaster-shaped-nuro-r1-could-soon-pop-up-as-driverless-delivery-van\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Click Here<\/span><\/a><em> for more.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Amazon Prime now has about 100 million members, half in the U.S., and they&#8217;re about to get a major new option: the ability to have packages delivered to the trunk of your car. TheDetroitBureau.com has the story.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":125510,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,8,5,12,9],"tags":[],"make":[41,43,45,58,59,114],"post-state":[],"category_old":[150,151,192,123,185,195,243,242,316,132,291,288,235],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125509"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125509"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125509\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125509"},{"taxonomy":"make","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/make?post=125509"},{"taxonomy":"post-state","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post-state?post=125509"},{"taxonomy":"category_old","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category_old?post=125509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}