General Motors Corp. (GM) on Feb. 21 said it will team with online vehicle sales firm Autobytel.com in a 90-day test allowing consumers to find the vehicle of their choice from regional dealer lots, according to a Reuters story by Michael Ellis.

Under the deal, consumers using Autobytel.com to search for a GM brand will be given a list of inventory at local dealerships and a special "e-price" for the vehicle.

The partnership with Autobytel, which has yet to turn a profit since its founding in 1995, comes as GM considers whether to buy into an independent Internet vehicle selling site. Research indicates many consumers prefer independent sites over manufacturers' Web sites, such as GM's GMBuyPower.com, when shopping for new vehicles.

Customers have a 3-1 preference for independent, multi-brand sites vs. single manufacturer sites, according to Mike Devereux, head of new business development for e-GM, the automaker's Internet business initiatives unit.

In early February, General Motors announced the formation of a joint-venture company with its 7,800 dealers called AutoCentric that would sell vehicles from GM and its competitors, giving consumers more choice. GM said AutoCentric could be developed independently or it could buy into an established third-party Web site.

According to GM, the 90-day test will help the automaker determine the future setup for AutoCentric, and give consumers more choices and information.

"It's been pretty obvious that Autobytel can do things that GM can't," said Art Spinella, an industry analyst and vice president of CNW Marketing/Research, based in Bandon, Ore.

Currently, about 12 to 14 percent of new-vehicle buyers purchase or complete most of the sales process on the Internet, Spinella said. That figure is expected to grow substantially in the future, according to most analysts.

During the 90-day test beginning May 1, car buyers at the Autobytel Web site from one U.S. metropolitan region searching for a select GM brand will be able to survey the assortment of vehicles located at nearby dealership lots. GM said it will disclose the metropolitan area and the GM brand to be part of the test in a few weeks.

Shoppers would be able to pick the vehicle of their choice from dealers' inventory, reserve it with a credit card, and take delivery of it at the dealer of their choice.

In addition to the manufacturer's suggested retail price, the Web site will display the invoice price the dealers paid for the vehicle, and some dealers may post the price for which they will sell the vehicle.

The test is similar to one the automaker recently concluded in the Minneapolis area for Oldsmobile vehicles. However, in Minneapolis, GM set the sale price for the vehicles rather than the dealers.