Nissan Dealership Used Twitter To Sell A Car

Is Twitter evolving into the next Craigslist? Probably not, but one European user relied on the social network to buy a car — and not from a private owner, but an actual Nissan dealership. The car maker has revealed that it's become one of the first companies to sell an automobile on Twitter, with Raul Escolano purchasing a Nissan X-Trail from a dealership in Spain.

Nissan Europe hasn't exactly made Twitter an official outlet for vehicle shipping; instead it was Escolano who put out a challenge to all auto makers across Spain to sell him a car by only using the social network. He even created and used the hashtag "#compraruncocheportwitter," which translates to "Buy a car on Twitter."

It's not clear what other manufacturers participated in the challenge, but the Nissan dealership in the city of A Coruña reached out to Escolano and gave him a live streamed tour of the X-Trail via Periscope. Then he even relied on crowdsourcing to help him make the decision, using a Twitter poll to ask followers to vote from the selection of cars he had been offered.

Escolano made his decision after the X-Trail received 43% of the votes, which must've made Nissan very happy. But even then the actual sale didn't take place in person. The dealership used a courier to deliver the transaction paperwork, followed by the car's keys. The only time Escolano met Nissan reps in person was when he picked up his new X-Trail from the Spanish headquarters.

As an experiment this certainly was creative and unique, but it will be interesting to see if either buyers or dealerships play along the next time something like this comes up. It's definitely beneficial for both sides: buyers don't have to go through the hassle of salesmen and negotiations, and car brands, if they play along, can get lots of social exposure and possibly attract other buyers, even if they don't win the final selection.

SOURCE Nissan