The news: Ford Motor Co. will begin featuring its “Blue Advantage” certified pre-owned vehicles on Amazon Autos.

• The partnership lets consumers within a 75-mile radius of a participating dealer browse inventory, secure financing from multiple banks, complete most paperwork, and schedule pickup online.
• The used Ford vehicles undergo multipoint inspections and include limited warranties of up to one year or 12,000 miles, sold at fixed prices.

How we got here: Ford joins Hyundai on Amazon’s auto portal, which launched about 11 months ago to let consumers buy vehicles from local dealerships through Amazon Autos.

The two automakers are taking distinct approaches. Hyundai moved aggressively, selling new vehicles from dealers in 48 US cities and expanding to more than 130 by August.

Ford is starting smaller, limiting its offering to certified pre-owned vehicles in Los Angeles, Seattle, and Dallas.

Amazon has also partnered with Hertz to sell used rental vehicles on the platform.

A tough market: Amazon is betting that its massive scale and consumer familiarity can help it carve out a niche in a used-auto landscape dominated by Carvana and CarMax.

But the timing is notable given the softening used-car market.

• Prices are up. The average transaction price for 3-year-old vehicles hit $31,067 in Q3, up 5% YoY, per Edmunds.
• That’s slowing sales. In Q3, the average 3-year-old vehicle took 41 days to sell, up 10.8% YoY and the slowest Q3 pace since 2017, when comparable vehicles cost nearly $10,000 less.