eGM --!!!!:>
GM unveils world's largest virtual car showroom
By Neil Kelleher
NEW YORK, March 10 (Reuters) - General Motors Corp.
on Wednesday put new car buying online, accelerating the No. 1
automaker's drive into cyberspace with a Web site where
consumers can escape the dreaded haggling with auto dealers.
The site, located at www.gmbuypower.com, offers users
access to details about every GM make and model, independent
third party price comparisions, vehicle inventory, GMAC
financing and the ability to talk electonically to dealers of
their choice.
Speaking at a press event in New York, vice president and
group executive of North American vehicle sales Roy Roberts
told reporters that about 75 percent of GM's 7,800 dealers
nationwide have enrolled in GM BuyPower, signaling a change in
the way the company will do business in the future.
GM became the first automaker to set up an Internet site
allowing one-stop online shopping, but some rivals have
information about their vehicles on Web sites. GM BuyPower
includes specifics on more than 350,000 vehicles throughout
GM's car and truck brands, excluding its Saturn division.
"Make no mistake about it, this is the new GM," Roberts
said. "The Internet is becoming mainstream America and this is
the way business will be done in the future. This is just good
business, absolutely good business."
Roberts said GM is encouraging its dealers to offer their
cars at the lowest possible prices on the Web site.
Online shopping boomed during the Christmas holiday season,
and consumers spent about $17 billion on Internet purchases in
1998. Ecommerce is expected to surge to more than $1 trillion
by 2003, according to Internet researcher Forrest Research.
GM said that while it has no specific sales projections for
GM BuyPower, it expects the site to be highly successful.
Roberts said he expects a majority of the 25 percent of
dealers not currently enrolled in GM BuyPower to sign up soon,
noting that there is no enrollment deadline for dealers.
Analysts were less enthusiastic about GM's initiative.
"The jury is still out," said Jim Wangers, senior partner
at Automotive Marketing Consultants Inc. "I think that despite
all of the research that carmakers have been doing, this is not
going to replace the traditional car-buying experience."
Wangers said that while online car sales will certainly
increase in the future, consumers may be hesitant when it comes
to "signing on that dotted line" via a computer screen.
"This is supposedly the second biggest purchase you make in
your life and I think consumers will want that degree of
confidence that comes with that handshake, with that human
interaction," Wangers said.
GM BuyPower first debuted as a pilot service in four
Western states in October 1997. An overwhelmingly positive
response led to the national roll-out on Wednesday.
The site is the only online service enabling consumers to
locate the exact GM vehicle of their choice and find out about
incentives such as rebates by vehicle identification number.
Other online services can only direct consumers to a dealer who
typically pays a fee for that lead and who may not have the
vehicle the customer wants.
GM BuyPower is available 24 hours a day, and will offer
consumers access to GM-certified used vehicles through its
dealer page. Trained and certified GM BuyPower managers will
respond to consumers' electronic inquiries within 24 hours, GM
said.
((--Neil Kelleher, N.Y. Equities, 212 859-1700)) |
