General Motors began an experiment in July that had dealers posting new cars for sale on eBay. The project ends today, and although cars didn’t fly off the lot as a result, the move peaked plenty of interest.
GM and eBay said the program, which was limited to California, was useful in helping determine whether auctions would work on a nationwide basis. The online auctions were credited with generating 1.5 million page views and 15,000 sales leads for dealers.
According to GM, about 95% of its California dealers participated in the program, which required little of them other than that they upload inventory information and guarantee availability of the vehicles listed for auction.
Although the auctions will cease after today, GM said it was not closing the door on the online auction format for good. Its dealers will continue to sell certified pre-owned cars on EBay, as do dealers for Ford, Audi, Lexus, Toyota and Mercedes.
In addition, GM’s spokesman John McDonald said the automaker would consider posting new cars for sale online again in the future, perhaps as early as next year.