DETROIT - General Motors today unveiled "Ticket to Ride" -- an innovative cross-brand advertising theme that includes a highly creative online vehicle marketing program. Ticket to Ride supports GM's strategy to aggressively embrace the Internet to transform the vehicle shopping, buying and ownership experience. Effective June 1 through July 15, 2000, Ticket to Ride is the most comprehensive promotion ever launched by an automaker on the Internet. The program leverages the marketing resources of five GM divisions utilizing a common theme across Buick; Cadillac; Chevrolet; Oldsmobile; Pontiac and GMC.

Through the Ticket to Ride Program, GM aims to:

• Put GM's total marketing muscle behind one common promotion of all GM products (except Saturn and Saab).
• Tap the core competencies of e-GM to keep GM on the leading edge of e-commerce. Use the Internet to increase consumer exposure to GM products and to
• drive consumer traffic to GM dealerships.
• Drive user-traffic to the GMBuyPower.com web site, the industry's most comprehensive buying service with over 6,300 participating dealers and 500,000 vehicles
• available online. GMBuypower.com allows consumers to identify the exact vehicle they want, locate a dealer and access GMAC finance tools.
• GMBuyPower.com presently is the most visited automotive web site, generating approximately 690,000 visits per month.
• Leverage the combined assets, brands and advertising strength of GM's unique marketing relationships (Warner Brothers, the PGA, Tiger Woods and NASCAR)
• and its strategic Internet alliances (America Online, NetZero, Kelly Blue Book and Edmunds).

Consumers may access the Internet web site www.gmtickettoride.com and do any of the following:  

• Enter a sweepstakes making them eligible to win up to 20 prizes, including a trip to the 2000 Summer Olympics in Australia; NCAA Final Four tickets; Daytona 500 tickets; a trip to the 24-hour LeMans race in France; tickets to the Country Music Awards; and a round of golf with Tiger Woods.
• Request a certificate to test drive a GM vehicle at a local GM dealer.
• Get a $50 gift certificate (after test drive certificate has been validated by a dealer) to purchase online merchandise provided by GiftCertificate.com.
• Request a discount certificate that can be applied toward the purchase or lease of an industry-leading GM mid-size car or mid-size SUV - two core vehicle segments for GM.

"No other online marketing program in the auto industry comes close to our Ticket to Ride Program," said John Middlebrook, GM vice president of Vehicle Brand Marketing. "The combination of the GM brands with those of our strategic partners gives this program unmatched strength. We are including the Internet in every aspect of our business and companies that delay focusing on the Internet will find themselves chasing the market," said Middlebrook.

Uniting the Internet and Dealership Experiences  

The Internet component of the Ticket to Ride program is uniquely designed to unite Internet shopping with the traditional dealership shopping experience. While it is important for GM to reach out to web-savvy buyers and stay on the leading edge of technological change through increased Internet activity, it is equally important to leverage the service and distribution strength of its dealer network. One of the primary aims of Ticket to Ride is to drive consumer traffic into GM dealerships for their vehicle purchase.  

Research Supports Internet and Dealership  

While statistics show Internet usage for automotive purchases is on the rise, the data also show the deep importance consumers place on the dealership experience. GM and the University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers Department conducted joint research on the use of the Internet for automotive purchases. The results showed that 50 percent of all PC owners use the Internet to shop for a vehicle, yet of those who do use the Internet, 72 percent prefer to purchase cars through a dealership.

Respondents were asked to compare the dealership experience to the Internet on various aspects of new vehicle shopping. While consumers chose the Internet as the best source of information on prices, features and options, the dealership experience was preferred in the following categories:

•       Best Problem Resolution - 84%

•      Best Customer Treatment - 79%

•      Best Service from a Specific Person - 72%

•      Most Pleasant Purchase Experience - 71%

"E-commerce is having a profound impact on the auto industry," said David E. Cole, director of the Office for the Study of Automotive Transportation at the University of Michigan. We are right in the middle of the transition from the Old Economy to the New Economy and the Internet is the great enabler for the auto industry to work in ways it never could," said Cole.

The GM / U of M consumer survey results are also consistent with findings of a recent survey conducted by the Gallup Organization for Automotive Retailing Today, a non-profit coalition of new vehicle dealer associations and automakers formed to increase understanding of the current vehicle buying experience. The Gallup survey found that 76 percent of consumers were satisfied with their dealerships. In addition, 56 percent of respondents named the dealer the most reliable source of information when buying or leasing a new vehicle - 23 percent rated the Internet most reliable.

Source: Jupiter Communications Automotive Online Forecast - April 5, 2000. Jupiter Communications is a leading provider of research on Internet commerce. Jupiter's research, which is solely focused on the Internet economy, provides clients with comprehensive views of industry trends, forecasts, and best practices.

(June 2, 2000)