Isn’t it nice to be able to shop from home? Decades ago, no one ever thought that we could buy a phone online, let alone shop for a phone on a phone online, or even that there was an “online”. Crazy how quickly technology advances – they had cell phones when our parents “the Baby Boomer crowd” had cell phones except they were the size of bricks and you were probably better off with a walkie-talkie radio transmission device. Today, you can do just about anything with a phone, and now thanks to Kia America, consumers can order a car to test drive at home with the brand new “Kia@Home”.

Read that carefully – this isn’t a service to shop for and order a new car online. This is a service to schedule a test drive, starting from the location of the consumer’s choice, and leaving the consumer with a different experience than the usual test drive one would experience when buying from a dealership. It’s not like the commercials – you’ll be lucky if you go past the nearest intersection. With Kia@Home, prospective consumers get a better feel and a closer look at two new vehicles currently in the pilot program: Kia Carnival MPV and Kia Niro EV.

Going all-electric, we’re surprised Kia isn’t showcasing the EV6 with this new service, but we think there’s a reason for that. According to the PR, not only will a Kia@Home Drive Specialist be there to showcase the all-new Carnival MPV or the all-electric Niro EV, but each Kia@Home experience will be tailored with a retail experience according to shoppers’ needs. We think the test drive goes so far as to let the consumer run an errand or two. Seeing as how each “experience” includes a detailed walkaround of the vehicle and lasts about an hour, a trip to the mall doesn’t sound out of the question, but let’s be a little realistic and respectful of someone’s time.

“Personalized, convenient and on-demand, Kia@Home brings an interactive and unique Kia experience to shoppers when and where they want…The all-new Carnival MPV and all-electric Niro EV are two of Kia’s most high-tech offerings, and now consumers can get behind-the-wheel for up-close-and-personal test drives in their own individual, real-world settings.” - Russell Wager, vice president, marketing Kia America

Available in several major cities, consumers in the following markets can schedule a test drive with either the Carnival MPV and Niro EV: Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City Metro, Philadelphia, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.. Yes, Miami as in Miami, Florida. Isn’t that just perfect? All consumers need to do to schedule a test drive is book a Kia@Home appointment online at Kia.com, pick either the Carnival MPV or Niro EV model, and then the location for pickup/test drive starting point. If you fall in love, you can then follow that with a real online shopping experience by buying a new car online with NowCar. We have Kia Corp and plenty of other popular automotive brands available online today.

Photo Source/Copyright: Kia