OK, so I promised I wouldn’t continue to write about the cash for guzzlers plan… (sigh) So I’ll sum up new developments quickly: the program is having all kinds of trouble because it’s not equipped to handle such a large market. Basically the website and the help hotline have been jammed with traffic (no pun intended) and have not been helping dealers wanting to register for the program. As with anything, opinions on whether or not this program is working are varying. Some dealers see it working so well they believe that the money set aside to fund the program will run out by late August. And moving on.

Now for some potentially GREAT news for the auto shipping industry! Earlier this month, as part of their efforts to revitalize business, GM began to suggest opening up a partnership between themselves and eBay. Now it’s no news that regular people use eBay to sell their old or rebuilt cars to people all over the country (and a huge part of where an auto shipping business comes into play), but apparently; this isn’t that big of a leap for the auto manufacturing industry. Apparently dealers all over the country have been listing GM certified pre-owned vehicles on the website eBay Motors (eBay’s online auto marketplace). This would be a huge step in regards to new vehicles, something GM’s CEO Fritz Henderson characterized as “an exciting day.” Now who will wind up shipping these cars to the consumers? It is unclear at this point if the automaker will have set in place pre-existing contracts or if this will be left up to the consumer. All I know is this would be a very welcome breath of fresh air in this cruel economic time.