General Motors has stopped selling cars through the internet in Japan after the two-year effort failed to woo many buyers, the company said on Thursday, according to Associated Press (AP).
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The report said GM began selling cars on the internet after taking a 60% stake in a net car sales company in September 2001 while local car makers in which GM holds stakes – Suzuki and Subaru-maker Fuji Heavy Industries – each took a 20% stake.
But internet car sales failed to catch on, and the company, which handled 60 GM, Suzuki and Subaru models, was dissolved at the end of September, a GM spokesman in Tokyo told AP.
AP said that General Motors has not disclosed how many cars it sold through the internet in Japan, but Fuji Heavy sold about 4,000 cars and Suzuki 1,900. One reason the project was not popular is that certain papers are required for car sales in Japan, which can’t be obtained on the net, making it less convenient, Associated Press said.
