On Monday, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, along with Ford¹, launched the first ever car vending² machine in the southern city of Guangzhou.

 

本周一，中国电商巨头阿里巴巴与福特合作在广州推出首台汽车自动售货机。
 

 

With a height of over 20 meters, it may be the world's largest vending machine. It can accommodate 42 cars. Alibaba calls it "super-test drive".

 

To try the Super Test Drive is very simple. Just search Super Test Drive in Chinese in the app, and choose the car that you fall in love with. 

 

Normally it costs 99 yuan, or about 16 US dollars for a three day test-drive.  But if you get a score of over 700 points in Alibaba's own credit system, it's all free. 

 

The vending machine uses a facial recognition system to identify the consumer. After confirmation³, the chosen car gets lowered onto the ground. Then you can drive it away.

 

But at the moment, the vending machine is only for test drives. If you really want to purchase a car, you still have to do so at a dealership⁴. Alibaba says it does not intend to challenge the traditional dealership model.

点击收听单词发音