Online

DVDs, movies and now the a plug-in car. In Japan, you can buy the BMW i3 electric vehicle on Amazon.

If you're fed up with haggling at your local used-car dealership - so much so that you'd rather not talk to anybody when you're buying your next ride - then Carvana could be for you. It's a used-car dealership (more like a used-car vending machine), and the buying process is completed online. Carvana then gives you the choice to pick up the car yourself or have it delivered to your home. No verbal communication required.

Scion is urging its dealers to ratchet up a new online buying system, according to Automotive News. The program borrows elements from the Amazon retail experience to allow car buyers to configure their vehicle as they see fit, find it at local dealership, secure financing and make the buy at a no-haggle price. Scion even wants the cars to be able to be delivered to the consumer's home, though

We saw the Fiat Freemont first at this past March's Geneva Motor Show, and the newly pleasant people carrier's configurator has just hit the intertubes in Italian. An English-language version for the UK market isn't happening yet, so you'll have to have fun seeing what Europe can get on its Dodge Journey that we can't, and vice-versa by clicking

Furiosa. That's what the new hatchback from Alfa Romeo will be called, by virtue of an international competition to choose the car's name.

Every automaker has its web presence set up where you can sort of shop for a car. It gets a little difficult when you actually go to get a price quote – you'll get directed to a selection of local dealers, some more willing to deal than others – it's enough to make you wish for a "Buy It Now" button. AutoNation's testing pretty much that very idea at an Atlanta location. The experience doesn't differ much from what's already available at automotive sales websites. You can browse inve

Pontiac is trying a new tactic to get the word out about its new G5 Coupe. Every single ad dollar earmarked for promoting the car will be spent on online. Pontiac's marketing director Mark-Hans Richer calls it "a radical experiment". While online-only advertising may not raise Pontiac's brand awareness among consumers like a traditional TV spot, it does allow the brand to target the youth male audience at which the G5 Coupe is aimed more effectively. Plus, it's a lot cheaper than buying a primet