No. of Recommendations: 2
SAN MATEO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 21, 2024-- Upstart (NASDAQ: UPST), the leading artificial intelligence (AI) lending marketplace, today announced that Kia used Upstart Auto Retail Build & Price Reservations as the exclusive reservation and deposit system for the launch of the new Kia EV9 SUV in the United States. The feature was available to all Kia dealers across the U.S.
In addition to reserving and placing a deposit on an EV9 directly from a dealer’s website, Upstart Build & Price Reservations allowed customers to choose the trim, colors, and optional packages they wanted included with their vehicle. For Kia dealers, Build & Price Reservations made it easy to track demand for the EV9 and provided the information they needed to better understand and serve their customers.
This announcement seemed strange in that Upstart seems to be expanding beyond their core competency of AI-driven risk assessment. I would have thought that most of not all auto manufacturers already have their own "Build and price" webpage. Are Upstart having to do too much to gain auto loan market share? PGY is a direct competitor here.
No. of Recommendations: 2
Hey, long time no see, shrewd peeps.
Delayed response to 5thhorseman's post in which he wrote: Upstart seems to be expanding beyond their core competency of AI-driven risk assessment. I would have thought that most of not all auto manufacturers already have their own "Build and price" webpage.
Upstart has been developing expertise at user interfaces for their direct contact with customers as well as delivering customized front-ends for their lending partners. So this is an outgrowth of that segment of the business.
They're trying to become an indispensable partner for a range of businesses, providing consumer facing webpages/portals/software in addition to the risk assessment part of the biz.
