Economics
Amazon’s Van-Buying Spree Delivers a Gift to Auto Industry
- E-commerce giant’s fleet has expanded to 30,000 strong
- U.S. vehicle sales to commercial fleets are up 8.7% this year
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The Amazon.com Inc. vans parked outside apartment buildings and along suburban cul de sacs aren’t just bearing gifts to online shoppers this holiday season. The e-commerce giant’s home-delivery push has been a boon to automakers, too.
Amazon has built up a fleet of 30,000 last-mile delivery trucks and vans since creating its own delivery network in 2018, and currently handles about half of its own deliveries. That’s good news for manufacturers of increasingly ubiquitous gray vans with the blue swoosh, which include Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV and Ford Motor Co.