GM PARTNERS WITH EBAY ON CERTIFIED USED-CAR INVENTORIES

Going online: Automakers partners with eBay

February 9, 2008—Dealers who sell GM’s certified used cars will be able to list their entire inventories for free on eBay Motors starting later this spring, vice president Mark LaNeve announced Friday. All eight GM-brand certified used vehicles will be posted on the popular consumer site, which gets 11 million visitors. LaNeve also acknowledged, during a question-and-answer period at the J.D. Power Automotive Roundtable, that dealer margins need to be addressed: “We, as an industry, have shrunk them, probably, overboard, and it may be time to go back in the other direction.”

In addition, GM will continue its channeling and consolidation efforts, “working individually and respectfully with dealers, and being cognizant of things like real estate costs.”  The automaker has shrunk the number of rooftops by about a thousand over the past few years, LaNeve said.  The measures are necessary to keep GM competitive as the U.S. auto industry enters what he calls the “Fourth Era,” which will be marked by increased globalization and reinvention of the automobile.