Spaniard Buys Nissan X-Trail Over Twitter

The traditional method of car buying typically involved multiple visits to the dealership and a few rounds of test-driving before the customer signs on the dotted line.

The Internet, however, has shortened this process considerably in recent years; being able to read up and research on their choice of vehicle and compare them online against competitors, many customers would have made their minds up on their purchasing decision before even walking into the showroom.

Recently, Mr Raul Escolano in Spain took the online buying process one-step further by completing the purchasing process of his Nissan X-Trail entirely on Twitter. His first meeting with any Nissan personnel throughout the transaction took place only during the day which his vehicle was delivered.

Operating with the Twitter handle @escolano, Mr Escolano began reaching out to various car brands present in Spain by employing the hashtag #compraruncocheportwitter (in English, ‘buy a car on Twitter’).

His call to action was answered by Nissan via Antamotor in A Coruña the brand’s biggest dealer in the Galician region. Through the broadcasting app Periscope, Antamotor personnel were able to virtually walk Mr Escolano through the X-Trail’s various key features over an Internet live stream.

Following that, an online poll was also hosted through Mr Escolano’s Twitter account in which his followers were asked to rank the X-Trail against its competitors; the X-Trail won the poll by securing 43% of the vote.

Upon completion of the deal, Nissan arranged for the keys to Mr Escolano’s new X-Trail to be delivered directly to his home and the vehicle subsequently collected from Nissan’s Spanish headquarters.

The entire interaction between Nissan and Mr Escolano from the first exchange of Tweets to the collection of his car lasted two months. The successful completion of this sale makes Nissan the first automotive brand operating in Europe to sell a vehicle exclusively using Twitter.

Whilst externally identical to the X-Trail that we are familiar with, the Spanish-market X-Trail comes offered with entirely different engine options. Instead of the 2.0- and 2.5-litre naturally-aspirated petrol engines, Mr Escolano got to choose between a 129hp diesel and 161hp petrol engine, both turbocharged and displacing 1.6 litres.