Skoda lets customers in China buy cars online

Shanghai, July 20 (Gasgoo.com) Skoda Auto, a Czech subsidiary of Volkswagen AG, yesterday launched a website enabling online car purchases in China, becoming the first automaker to sell cars online, xinhuanet.com reported.

The car company is the first to offer online payment services to buyers in China. On a dedicated website (http://ebuy.skoda.com.cn/) potential Skoda consumers can negotiate and perform transactions right from their PCs.

Customers can complete purchases through a 3D showroom. The site also allows them to file individualized orders and price inquiry. A deposit online can be made through the eBuy's strategic partner, Alipay, an online payment arm of Alibaba.

However, experts question the viability of such business doubting if the site would gain widespread acceptance as consumers are usually more cautious when buying big-ticket items online.

China has become Skoda's biggest overseas market after Germany last year with combined sales of 59,000 units, a surge of 170 percent from a year earlier. The Czech automaker owns 200 dealers in 104 cities across China.

The first batch of six dealers in Shanghai, Beijing, Hangzhou and Xiamen will launch the online sales. By next year, nearly half of Skoda's dealers will join the online program.