General Motors has officially pulled the plug on its experimental eBay sales program. GM launched the eBay program in California on August 11th with the hopes of boosting interest in its new car offerings. The program was extended earlier this month to run through the end of September, but GM announced on Tuesday that it will not renew its partnership with eBay after the end of the month.
According to GM spokesman John McDonald, GM no longer needs the eBay initiative as it has recently launched two other national campaigns – its “May the best car win†campaign and its 60-day money back guarantee.
“The need to roll eBay out nationally isn’t there as it was when we first rolled out the pilot,†McDonald told Automotive News. “At the time we had no large, national marketing programs in the system, so that made sense at the time.â€
Although the results seem to be mixed on the eBay pilot program, McDonald called the program “very successfulâ€. Few deals were actually completed online, but GM says many customers completed deals in person or over the phone after first viewing the vehicle on eBay. Over the course of the program, 1.5 million visitors viewed GM’s eBay offerings.
GM hasn’t ruled out a return to eBay, but will focus on other programs before revisiting the California pilot.
