With the automotive dealership model the latest traditional business structure under attack by ‘disruptors’, AP Eagers is getting on the front foot, launching its first two Carzoos outlets in Queensland shopping centres last month.

The model borrows from Tesla, using ‘buddies’ to help potential customers browse online catalogues of used vehicles. The ‘buddies’ are novices to car sales and are paid based on customer satisfaction rather than sales commissions. Customers choose a car before an app sets a discounted price, removing the need to haggle.

AP Eagers General Manager of Innovation and Marketing, Daniel Kemp, said the company believes used car lots could be a thing of the past, with outlets such as Carzoos reducing the anxiety many consumers, particularly women, feel about the car-buying process.

“This is an industry that has not changed in 100 years and one thing our research has shown is that people don’t like the haggling involved in buying a used car,” he told the Courier-Mail.

The first two stores are at Westfield Garden City and Westfield North Lakes. More are planned in the next 12 months, with AP Eagers aiming to eventually build a nationwide chain of 50 stores.