General Motors to start selling cars on eBay

General Motors and eBay will start a trial program Tuesday to let Californians buy cars online.

Dealers at 225 locations in California will participate in the program, which will run from Tuesday until 8 September. It will be available at the co-branded website, gm.ebay.com.

The site will allow people to compare prices, arrange financing, and check a used car's eligibility for the Cash for Clunkers trade-in program, a US government-funded initiative, where people can get up to $4,500 for trading in a car for a new, more fuel-efficient model. There is the "Buy It Now" option where people agree to pay the advertised price or can make an offer using eBay's auctioning system.

The trial will be started with 20,000 GM models from 2008, 2009, and 2010. After purchase, cars will be picked up at the dealership.

Gathering information online when buying a car has become commonplace in the United States. GM and eBay cited a JD Power & Associates study that found that more than 75 per cent of people did research online while buying a new vehicle.

"As the dealer showroom expands from the parking lot to the laptop, this makes it easier for a customer to browse available new-car inventory, make an offer, buy it now, or send a message asking for more information from a dealer," Mark LaNeve, GM vice president of US sales, said in a statement.

eBay said that its eBay Motors site for selling used cars has been getting 12 million individual visits per month.

Original article: Click to drive: GM, eBay join to sell new cars online from CNET News.com