General Motors will launch this fall one pilot Internet program that will allow customers to buy vehicles online, and another that will enable them to send custom orders directly to an assembly plant, according to Automotive News.
Key to the two programs is e-GM, GM’s year-old e-commerce division. e-GM’s “e-dealer” pilot will link GM’s main consumer Web site, GM BuyPower, to GM dealers in a metropolitan market that is yet to be announced, which will allow consumers to buy vehicles from a GM dealer completely online, said Mark Hogan, e-GM president. Currently, customers can search a dealer’s inventory through BuyPower, but he has to go to a dealer to buy a vehicle. “We think we’ll have to run a number of (e-dealer) pilots to make sure we’ve got it right,” Hogan said.
The other pilot, led by GM’s purchasing group, will link e-GM’s BuyPower to one or more of GM’s vehicle assembly plants. It will allow consumers to place a custom vehicle order directly to the plant.