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Special Advertising Section SMART CARS 2000 THE INTERNET |
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Studies repeatedly show most consumers don't like the car-buying process. The Internet makes things easier by letting you find out more than your salesperson knows about options, availability, pricing, road tests, insurance costs, financing, and more--all in the privacy of your own home and whenever you wish. Once a plaything for techno geeks, the Internet definitely has gone mainstream. J. D. Power and Associates predicts half of those buying a new car in 2000 will use the Web to research their purchase. That percentage is up from zero in 1993. You can't quite buy a car on the Internet yet, but you can come mighty close. Using your PC, you can price a specific model and options, find out which dealer has one in stock, line up financing and insurance, and obtain a firm quote before saying hello to a salesperson. State franchise laws still require you to finalize your transaction at a dealership. Until a few months ago, you'd go to an independent Web site such as carpoint.com or autobytel.com to get your automotive information. Sites like those still offer the broadest perspective on the automotive buying game. But now you can go directly to many vehicle manufacturers' Web pages to pick a vehicle, compare it to the competition, view interior and exterior virtual images of it, and locate a local dealer to handle your order. Automakers overhaul their Web facilities constantly, so check often for the latest news and services. This summer General Motors Corp. reorganized all its Internet activities, including its recently launched GM BuyPower Web site, under a new business unit called e-GM. |
GM BuyPower helps you find out about GM vehicles and their options, use an independent service to compare GM cars with the competition, get a list of local dealers, find out what vehicles are in their inventories, check on sales incentives and even print out the window sticker for the exact model you want. If you're ready to buy, you can then e-mail the dealer you found and get a firm price offer back within 24 hours. GM says its site has conducted more than 4 million sessions with consumers since its introduction in March. The average visitor browses the site for 25 minutes and about one in three initiates a search for a local dealer. Other automakers are following suit. In September, for example, Ford Motor Co. and Microsoft's CarPoint Internet service announced a joint venture that will enable Web browsers to "buy" cars and trucks online (with the final transaction handled by a Ford dealer). |
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