GM to sell new cars on ebay?

Interesting approach.

http://money.cnn.com/2009/07/10/autos/gm_ebay/index.htm?postversion=2009071016

What's next? Costco and Wal-marts?

zoomx2 wrote: What's next? Costco and Wal-marts?

costco already has a purchase program.

Wally World already experimented with a used car mega-mart. You pay whatever is on the sticker, etc. They had one south of Houston. Not sure what happened to that program.

ignorant wrote:

zoomx2 wrote: What's next? Costco and Wal-marts?

costco already has a purchase program.

WooHoo!, didn't know that.... Now I can get a Silverado to take home those 10 Cases of super absorbent tampons I've been eying up......

when I was a kid Sears sold cars out of their catalog

wbjones wrote: when I was a kid Sears sold cars out of their catalog

I remember when you could buy a Moped or Ducati through the J C Penney catalog.

My Father has always though Wal Mart should sell cars. Have a lot out back, the price is the price, a few models with similar trim, all you choose is the color. Would work for him at least.

wbjones wrote: when I was a kid Sears sold cars out of their catalog

Allstate wiki

zoomx2 wrote:

ignorant wrote:

zoomx2 wrote: What's next? Costco and Wal-marts?

costco already has a purchase program.

WooHoo!, didn't know that.... Now I can get a Silverado to take home those 10 Cases of super absorbent tampons I've been eying up......

http://www.costcoauto.com/enterzipcode.aspx?gotourl=%2fdefault.aspx

I need to talk to my father about buying car thrue AFESSE(sp?) He had mentioned getting a new ram for 10K

I heard about this ebay thing on NPR. Interesting concepts and arguments for and against it. The argument FOR it was that GM still makes its same basic profit on vehicles, but the customer gets the car basically wholesale. I mean, let's face it - nobody really does retail anymore. If you need underwear, do you go to Macy's for the most possible markup, or do you go to WalMart for the cheapest possible price? Same Hanes, different distribution and overhead. The arguments against the idea include the fact that without a retail dealer infrastructure with inventory, the instant gratification sales will drop. A fair percentage of sales come from having the product right in front of potential buyers grabbing them while they're emotional and before they can take time to think about it.

I think for the internet to work for GM, they'll have to do it straight up: select a car, select options from a drop down menu, then assign a logical retail value to it. Skip the inflated retail sticker and just go with straight up Saturn-like pricing. Much like the current website lets you spec out and price a vehicle with options, but put an "add to shopping cart" button at the end.

zoomx2 wrote: WooHoo!, didn't know that.... Now I can get a Silverado to take home those 10 Cases of super absorbent tampons I've been eying up......

I didn't realize Silverados leaked so much oil and coolant.

Im all for it...I said it before, the first auto maker to go factory direct will make a fortune. It works for Dell and White Castle...dont make it till someone wants it. Lower overhead, lower WIP inventory, less infrastructure costs.

Now, thats not to say that there wont need to be brick and mortars around town for service after the sale. What happens when the optional heated seats arent installed or my Ipod adapter isnt included when the UPS man brings me my shiny new Chebby? You will need service centers for warranty work and such. But the

curtis73 wrote: "add to shopping cart" button at the end.

will save customers a TON, which will drive up sales, and make a TON of cheddar for the bowtie

I never found car salespeople to know anything about the product. I always walked in to the dealership knowing what I wanted and knowing more about the product. Only exception was a salesman that I knew from my dealership days but he retired.

2002acr wrote: I never found car salespeople to know anything about the product.

TRUE TRUE TRUE

When my wife and I went to the saturn dealership to buy her new Ion Sedan (new in 07). The wife wanted a sedan in case we have some rugrats pop out any time soon, she wanted to be able to do the whole baby seat and stroller deal without having to lean the seats forward. I was teasing that I wanted the new "quad" coupe in supercharged trim - quad coming from their 4 door design with B pillar delete . Anyway, the saleswoman says "yes the quad coupes are quite nice, and they actually have 4 functioning doors". My wife says "suicide doors dont count"

The woman asks "what are suicide doors"

My wife and I stared at each other.

We still bought it

Datsun1500 wrote:

curtis73 wrote: Skip the inflated retail sticker and just go with straight up Saturn-like pricing.

You do realize that Saturn was very profitable for the dealers don't you? The sticker price had a good amount of mark up in it.

But by and large, most Saturn customers didn't have a problem with that because typically there was not the same setup of an adversarial relationship commencing the moment they set foot on a lot.

I saw a massive tree branch fall in my neighbor's back yard last night and take out the power line. I immediately thought of my car parked under a tree out front and the idea of car shopping sent me running to find another parking spot. Doesn't sound like a GRM statement to make, but I hate the haggling, the shell games, the add on pitches and what not. Looking for and finding a car is great fun, but the dealership crap sucks. If you make it simple, make it plain and obvious to buy a car and the price seems reasonable, people would buy in droves. Can you imagine trying to shop for groceries or other daily items the way you would for a car? I'm exhausted just contemplating that. Now imagine your average D3, Japanese, or Korean dealership setting a price whereby you could just walk in and just buying the thing as easily as a pack of gum.

Quoted from the article:

"Automakers are prevented by state laws from selling cars, new or used, directly to consumers. Only licensed auto dealers can do that. Under GM's plan, California GM dealers could put their new vehicle inventories on the auction site and eBay users would bid on them. Each vehicle would also have a "Buy it now" price for shoppers who don't want to risk losing out in a bidding process."

Sounds like with this deal you will still be buying from the dealer. So the middle man is still there.

Toyman01 wrote: Quoted from the article: "Automakers are prevented by state laws from selling cars, new or used, directly to consumers. Only licensed auto dealers can do that. Under GM's plan, California GM dealers could put their new vehicle inventories on the auction site and eBay users would bid on them. Each vehicle would also have a "Buy it now" price for shoppers who don't want to risk losing out in a bidding process." Sounds like with this deal you will still be buying from the dealer. So the middle man is still there.

WTF? Government intervention lining the pockets of big business? That can't be true!

If dealerships really add value a law like that wouldn't need to exist. We'd all shop there and feel fortunate to do so. If a law is in place guaranteeing a dealership's existence then that proves to me the business model is already dead.

'Value added' by a dealership: someone who can fix that fancy new thing and provide services above and beyond. I can't count the number of times I have had a customer buy a car through AAA or similar (online sales), then show up here with a problem and demand a loaner car etc. Fat chance of THAT. Guess what, people: if the dealership does not make a profit selling you a car they have no money to pay for that loaner vehicle.

Those state laws were created to keep manufacturers from putting dealers out of business. I guess some manufacturers set up their own dealers and tried to undercut their earlier dealers.

The way I see it, you have factory authorized service centers. Those dealer service bays provide a valuable service that can't be replicated online. The factory showroom floors, not so much.

At the authorized service centers you have a handful of customer service reps who can answer questions and guide the less net-savvy through the purchase. They make a straight salary, not a commission on sales. They're job is to help the customer and make sure they leave happy with the company and transaction.

Then just have a small assortment of models available for test drives. That's pretty much it.

Buying direct is an interesting idea, but do you really want to buy a car you have never sat in, never test drove, never even seen!

I know it is done on eBay many times, but seems like a bad idea for a new car. You might say you can just go down to the dealer and look at one, but then you need the dealer don't you. You obviously will still need the service departments.

I say, make the car lots employees of the manufacturer (with some middle company to avoid the laws), pay them salary, and let the customer buy direct. F, the damn dealers, they are just adding cost. Yes, keep the service departments etc. I never understood why a company would let outsiders take such a huge chunk of profit, and piss their customers off at the same time by constantly trying to screw them. You might say they don't want the hassle. Come on now GM is(was) a monster of a corporation, they were afraid of getting bigger?!

neon4891 wrote: I need to talk to my father about buying car thrue AFESSE(sp?) He had mentioned getting a new ram for 10K

Don't do it. It's presented as a deal for overseas military folks, but the Army and Air Force Exchanges Service (AAFES) gets these from a questionable distributor based in New Jersey, the Overseas Military Sales Group. In the early 90s they were notorius for selling lemons, and since the customers were overseas, the laws didn;t apply. One couple bought what they thought was a 93 and were sold a new 92, for the same price. When they figured it out, it was too late. The Stars and Stripes newspaper did a 3 month expose on the situation, espcially the iffernce between the GM Chrysler sales and Ford (handled by a division of Ford) and the next year AAFES took over the bookstores the Stars and Stripes paper funded themselves with.