Nissan first European car brand to sell a car through Twitter

Nissan has become the first car brand in Europe to sell a vehicle exclusively through the use of social networking site Twitter.

From first contact with the client to the final decision to buy — six days later — all communication between flagshipGalician dealer Antamotor and customer Raul Escolano (@escolano on Twitter) took place digitally via the social media platform. Known to the dealership as user @escolano, he

Mr Escolano first courted car companies using the hashtag #compraruncocheportwitter (in English, ‘buy a car on Twitter’). He threw down the gauntlet to car brands across Spain, challenging them to support him in buying a vehicle, solely through the use of social networks.

Nissan, via franchisee Antamotor in A Coruña, impressed Mr Escolano with its innovative approach, using popular new used the Periscope platform to film the X-Trail, with the dealer presenting all of the vehicle’s key features in a personalised walk-through which was uploaded to on a live online video stream.

Nissan then went head-to-head with rival models in a poll on Twitter, posed by Mr Escolano, in which followers were asked to rate the cars on the shortlist. The survey, which received 2.6 million impressions (source: Brandwatch), ranked X-Trail ahead of its rivals with 43% of the vote, effectively helping Nissan seal the deal.

In the spirit of the innovative purchase, keys to the X-Trail were delivered direct to Mr Escolano by courier, to complete the online transaction.

He collected the vehicle from the brand’s Spanish headquarters, in the first face-to-face interaction between Nissan and the customer since the sale began two months ago.