GM selling new cars on eBay
eBay and General Motors have launched of a first-of-its-kind promotion that enables consumers to ‘click and buy’ new cars, crossovers and trucks online from participating California-based Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Pontiac dealers at outstanding values. The new car shopping website, at gm.ebay.com, will be available to consumers from August 11 through September 8 of 2009.
Consumers will be able to browse hundreds of California dealer online showrooms, ask questions, negotiate prices, and arrange financing and payment to purchase a new 2008, 2009 or select 2010 car, crossover or truck online. With more than 225 GM dealers in California participating, shoppers can at any given time expect to see a wide selection of up to 20,000 new GM vehicles at very competitive prices. Vehicles will be offered through eBay Motors’ traditional formats such as “Buy It Now” and eBay’s innovative “Best Offer” option.
The site also incorporates features that will allow consumers to compare pricing across models or participating dealerships, get tips and advice with a Buyer Checklist, and determine the value of their trade-in or whether their current vehicle may also qualify for government-funded ‘Cash For Clunkers’ rebates.
“With 12 million individual car shoppers visiting our site every month, eBay Motors has unique insight into how people prefer to buy their cars,” said Rob Chesney, vice president, eBay Motors. “Through this program, we are helping GM dealers to extend their physical showroom while at the same time delivering to our buyers the great deals and broad selection they expect from eBay.”
“Together with eBay Motors, GM and our dealers are reinventing the car-buying experience for our California customers,” said Mark LaNeve, GM vice president of U.S. sales. “As the dealer showroom expands from the parking lot to the laptop, this makes it easier for a customer to browse available new-car inventory, make an offer, buy it now, or send a message asking for more information from a dealer – all at the customer’s convenience.”
The gm.ebay.com site represents a benchmark in the evolution of both online commerce and automotive sales, where the Internet is becoming the new dealer showroom and playing an increasingly important role in auto selection and purchase. A recent J.D. Power & Associates study cites more than 75 percent of new-vehicle buyers in 2008 used the web during their shopping and research process, compared with 70 percent in 2007. The study also found that 2008 marked the largest year-over-year increase in online automotive shopping since 2001.*
“We are very excited about being a part of this special eBay initiative in California. We’ve found that serious shoppers want it to be easy and have shifted from the traditional forms of researching and purchasing vehicles to getting it all done on the internet,” said Ted Nicholas, president and CEO of Three Way Chevrolet in Bakersfield. “In the not too distant past, a customer had to work too hard to find a vehicle and what might be the best offer to be found. Now, with the custom-built GM/eBay microsite, customers can get all the information they need about available inventory, compare features and price, and make a decision to buy a vehicle now or make an offer.”