GM reportedly ending pilot eBay program, yet claims success
Back in August, General Motors began a pilot program in which it opened up its own eBay mega store. A total of 225 dealers had participated in the California-only pilot, but GM has decided to pull the plug on the program effective today. With the program ending instead of expanding to all of the 50 U.S. States and beyond, many would call the program a failure. GM doesn't see it that way.
The General is calling its eBay experiment a success, stating that the program helped the Detroit, MI-based automaker reach potential customers who wouldn't have otherwise considered GM products. We're not so sure about that one, but then again we're not invited to many board meetings at the Ren Cen, either.
While GM and eBay aren't releasing the amount of sales generated by the program, some site statistics are being released. GM's auction site achieved a fairly impressive 1.5 million views during its month-and-a-half in existence, with a reported 15,000 dealer leads.
GM spokesman John McDonald says that the company is focusing its efforts on a new marketing campaign that touts the General's new 60 day money back guarantee. And just because GM is ending its eBay experiment, it doesn't mean that its thousands of dealers are going to stop posting new cars and trucks on eBay Motors. Dealers from all OEMs have been using the popular auction site for years, and it seems that the majority of auctions on the site now are of the dealer variety.
[Source: Seattle Times]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
HotRodzNKustoms 9:36AM (9/30/2009)
If they sold any cars at all through eBay I would call it a success. Maybe it was not the game changer we were all looking for but I think that is because the program has pretty much been put in place by dealers individually over the years. We might have seen a bigger difference if dealers were not already selling new cars through eBay but they are and have been for a long time.
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BigMcLargeHuge 9:46AM (9/30/2009)
Neither success nor failure, just 'status quo'.
Danimal 9:45AM (9/30/2009)
+1. GM needs to sell cars any way they can. This may have been a strange approach, but even a small amount of sales count when your in GM's position.
Sea Urchin 10:06AM (9/30/2009)
Maybe GM should give direct sales a try, if they can avoid a dealer consumer will be able to save at least 1K and GM will still maintain same profit margin.
I am not saying they fully abandon dealerships, but they should give program a try, far too many people fear to buy a car simply because they feel like they will be taken advantage of by the dealer.
DayShifter 10:50AM (9/30/2009)
@Sea Urchin
+1
That's one of the main reasons I don't purchase new or used from dealers. Too much time spent negotiating price, and figuring out the screwy way they like to do the numbers. Got tired of it, last purchases have all been private party.
Actually tried purchasing a car on eBay.... that also turned into a nightmare. Between auctions ending 5mins earlier, reserve not meant, and the shady phone calls about the winner bidder falling through, would I like to buy at my last bid... etc.. Never again.
zamafir 12:20PM (9/30/2009)
meh, success would be a big increase in sales. it was a stupid idea from the start. people mostly use ebay auto sales to bid on cars and hopefully pay less than they would otherwise. getting a dealer to offer you the same median price between cost and msrp as you'd get going into the showroom seems like the unrealized program this ended being. Maybe a few people ignorant to fleet/internet sales managers managed to get a deal or two, good for them, but given the size and scope of the effort it's hard to call it status quo or give them a job well done.
poorly planned and executed mostly because it was doomed from the start. it reminds me of a few of the hair brained schemes a few of the seniors managing my company come up with from time to time. 'let's get on the twitter and see sales increase!' no... that's not how it's done. And yes, if vw or ford had tried this and seen such pitiful results I'd be just as critical, the whole management not understanding or being able to exploit the potential of web 2.0 has always been an issue of contention with me. Just check out VAG’s iphone games, equally as bleh.
the4thheat 7:38PM (9/30/2009)
Wait...1.5 million hits to their site...and 15,000 visits to a dealership? That's 1% conversion to someone actually going to a dealership lol.
BigMcLargeHuge 9:41AM (9/30/2009)
How does it help reach new customers?
I've never gotten on eBay and searched "car" and discovered that I liked something I'd never considered before.
eBay is where I go to find something specific.
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zamafir 1:26PM (9/30/2009)
and bid on it... and pay less then retail... yes?
BigMcLargeHuge 1:44PM (9/30/2009)
Yes zamafir, that is what I do.
But you're missing the point that I'm referring to. GM is declaring this a success because they have more "new customer leads." So apparently selling wasn't the primary focus.
So back to the question... how are NEW customers attracted via eBay more than the GM websites? Seems you'd have to already be considering GM product to go find it on eBay.
PCIV 9:48AM (9/30/2009)
Autoblog should buy one share of every car company just to force their way into the meetings.
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LoneWolf 9:58AM (9/30/2009)
Good idea
nrb 10:52AM (9/30/2009)
Then we'd have to have a full disclosure of being a stockholder disclaimer at the end of each article.
Sea Urchin 10:09AM (9/30/2009)
Sad part in all of this is that Malibu is really a nice car, GM needs to show people this car, i say go to college and university campuses and let anyone who wants to seat in one and to register for a test drive.
These people will graduate soon and will probably buy their first new car.
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ack154 10:16AM (9/30/2009)
People graduating from a university likely are not looking for anything like a Malibu as their first car... While the idea of getting out there and setting up maybe a "mini showroom" would be great exposure, I think they would need to find their actual target audience.
Danimal 10:32AM (9/30/2009)
ack154. Years ago GM held an "Autoshow in Motion" event they set up in a huge parking lot. they had a few small courses set up with cones and you could drive their cars (including the new at the time C6, CTS-V, SSR, GTO, Cobalt SS. not to mention the various SUVs and sedans including the competitions cars as well) around these courses as much as you wanted for free. (They also provides a free bag lunch)
I brought my friend who could care less about cars and since then he has owned 3 GM vehicles. We still speak fondly of that event. GM needs to double it's effort in things like this, which I think is partially there goal with "May the Best Car Win" campaign.
DayShifter 10:40AM (9/30/2009)
@ack154
Not sure about that, I have a 16 yr old that loves the car. ;-) I think they should just start direct, order on demand, showrooms. Where you have the showroom model of each car, that stays inside, then 2+ test models in the back and a regional lot where they can keep a steady supply for that area. Making more things standard and cutting down of the dizzying array of options will cut down on the amount of inventory in the area lots. Just a thought...
WhereIsJohnGalt 10:31AM (9/30/2009)
Well it seems GM still has a distorted view of what constitutes a "success." Business as usual...
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DayShifter 10:48AM (9/30/2009)
It's not a distorted view, it's the difference between somehting that was a "hit" and something that had a very small success or break even.
nrb 10:54AM (9/30/2009)
Maybe it's a success because they learned a lot that they can use in future promotions, and it cost them almost nothing to do it.