eBay May Help GM Sell CarseBay May Help GM Sell Cars

The often-trying process of buying a car from a dealer could become easier if talks between General Motors and eBay turn into a partnership.

Both eBay and GM expressed excitement over the possibility of a partnership, although eBay indicated that talks are in an early stage and are not final. GM emerged from bankruptcy Friday, much smaller, but hopeful that its leaner structure will enable it to forge a deal with eBay so the auto manufacturer's dealerships can use the auction site to help market its products.

"We are excited about a potential new adventure that supports GM's dealers by expanding on how they already reach consumers through new approaches," eBay said in a statement. eBay's popular "Buy It Now" option could help dealers reach the growing population of younger car drivers who are heavy users of the Internet.

While GM's problems that led to its bankruptcy are well-documented, eBay, too, has seen its used car and car equipment sales decline as users car values have been decreasing in recent quarters.

An eBay-GM partnership would likely build on eBay's auction opportunities, which already have hundreds of thousands of offerings of GM and GM-affiliated products. For instance, an eBay search Friday of GM's best selling Chevrolet drew 448,515 results, ranging from actual cars to hub caps and Chevrolet model kits.

Interest in an eBay-GM partnership heightened as the car maker emerged from bankruptcy Friday and its chief executive Fritz Henderson spoke of revolutionizing the manner in which consumers buy cars using online technologies. "We are excited about it (the potential partnership), but I wouldn't commit to rolling it out more broadly until we find out if it's successful," said Henderson in a statement. "We are excited about a potential new adventure that supports GM's dealers by expanding on how they already reach consumers through new approaches."

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