GM cars come with money-back guarantee

Now that the US Cash for Clunkers program has come to an end, it's a safe bet that many auto manufacturers are racking their brains for ways to sustain the sales levels they enjoyed while the program was underway. For bankruptcy-beleaguered GM, the solution is apparently a new marketing effort called May the Best Car Win, a key part of which is a 60-day money-back guarantee on many of the cars it sells.

Aiming to give budget-weary consumers the confidence to spend their hard-earned cash on a GM vehicle without fear of regrets, GM now offers its 60-day guarantee on 2009 and 2010 model year Chevys, Buicks, GMCs and Cadillacs, with the exclusion of medium duty trucks. Consumers who purchase and take delivery on such a vehicle before Nov. 30 can then simply try the vehicle out for 30 days. If they're not satisfied—and they've put fewer than 4,000 miles on the vehicle—they then have another 30 days to return it. GM will then refund the price they paid plus sales tax, but less any rebates or the cost of add-on accessories.

Bob Lutz, the company's vice chairman for marketing and communications, explains: "We know that we’ll need to work very hard to get people’s attention and encourage them to give Chevy, Buick, Cadillac and GMC a try. We think the ‘May the Best Car Win’ campaign and the satisfaction guarantee offer should help re-instill confidence in the excellence of our products. We’re putting our money down that if people buy one of our vehicles and don’t absolutely love it, we’ll take it back. We will stand behind them both in the short-term and over the long haul.”

Tryvertising can make good sense even during the best of times, but when economic conditions are rough—and when a company is seeking to restore weakened confidence in its products? Nothing short of imperative, we'd say. Other auto makers—or any hard-hit company, for that matter: how about you...? (Related: Fertility device offers money-back pregnancy guarantee.)

Website: www.gm.com/guarantee
Contact: www.gm.com/utilities/contact_us/contact.jsp?evar24=60DayGuarantee_sitelet&deep=contact

Spotted by: Katherine Noyes