• Most Popular
  • Most Shared

GM tests new sales pitch on eBay

DETROIT
Fri Jul 10, 2009 5:23pm EDT
General Motors Company Chairman Edward E. Whitacre, Jr. (R) poses at the GM World Headquarters in front of a Cadillac SRX Crossover, along with GM CEO Fritz Henderson, in front of a Chevrolet Camaro, in Detroit, Michigan July 9, 2009. REUTERS/John F. Martin-General Motors/Handout

DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors and its dealers will test a partnership with eBay Inc in California that allows customers to bid on new vehicles or buy them at a predetermined price online, the automaker said on Friday.

"We'll be testing this and other ideas with our dealers over the next few weeks and hope to expand and build upon them in the coming months," GM Chief Executive Fritz Henderson said in a statement.

The West Coast, which has been dominated by import brands over the past several years, has been the weakest regional market for the U.S. auto industry overall in recent months under the crushing impact from the economic downturn.

"Experiments are experiments ... You don't roll them out until you figure out if they work," Henderson told reporters. "We are excited about it, but I wouldn't commit to rolling it out more broadly until we find out if it's successful."

A new GM emerged from bankruptcy on Friday.

EBay shares were up 24 cents, or 1.5 percent, at $16.33 in morning Nasdaq trading.

(Reporting by David Bailey; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)


More from Reuters

Photo

Microsoft loses Word appeal, will adjust program

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp said on Tuesday it will tweak its Word application to remove a feature judged to be a breach of patent, ensuring that it will be able to continue selling one of its most widely used programs.

» More Top News
Malaysians participate in computer attack and defence hacking competition during The 3rd Annual Hack-In-The-Box Security Conference 2004 in Kuala Lumpur on October 6, 2004. REUTERS/Bazuki Muhammad
Commentary:

Year of the breach

Data security breaches are nasty business and should be avoided at all costs, writes Kevin Prince, a chief technology officer at Perimeter e-Security. Here's a look at the biggest breaches and blunders of 2009.  Commentary 

Technology
Soldiers look on as U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates speaks to soldiers at F.O.B. Warrior in Kirkuk, Iraq December 11, 2009. REUTERS/Justin Sullivan/Pool

Are you pregnant? Sir! No, Sir!

There are some 115,000 U.S. troops in Iraq -- and one commander wants to make sure his soldiers don't multiply.  Full Article 

Politics