DALLAS — Startup Fastlane this week launched a new ecommerce platform for automotive dealerships. It offers dealers the ability to customize and brand their online car-buying experience, while providing customers with a start-to-finish purchasing process.

Dealers use Fastlane to showcase their inventory, help their customers pick out the car they want, and choose other purchase components such as financing, service contracts and insurance, officials said.

“Fastlane has taken online car-buying to the next level by letting dealers customize their online check-out flow,” said David Luce, Fastlane’s vice president of sales. “Other car-buying platforms have a cookie cutter check-out flow that cannot be changed. Fastlane recognizes that dealers in one market, such as New York, may sell cars differently from dealers in other markets, such as Georgia or California. Fastlane offers dealers a way to personalize the online car-buying experience to meet their customers’ needs, while adding value to the overall purchase experience.”

Brandon Hall, Fastlane’s CEO, added: “Fastlane is much more than a lead-generating tool for dealers. It is a complete car-buying system, with advanced features and customizability. The platform seamlessly walks customers through the many aspects of the buying process.”

Online shoppers who land on a dealer's website equipped with Fastlane's platform can pick out their vehicle, get a value for their trade-in vehicle, get pre-approved for financing and even educate themselves on F&I products and vehicle insurance. 

“Online car-buying certainly has its benefits, but that doesn’t eliminate the need for car owners to have a good relationship with a dealer. Our goal is to supplement current dealer operations by adding a unique customer experience through our online checkout," Hall said. "We are here to make online car buying advantageous for car dealers and customers alike by fostering new ways of engagement and creating a dynamic shopping experience for all parties. It’s the best of both worlds.”