Chaba was in Kochi to launch GM's new models Opel Corsa and Astra 2000 here. He said that online bookings will add to the brand advantage GM already enjoys and increase its visibility for the Netizens who are getting to know the car models better on the Net.

GM's tie-up with rediff.com comes as the car company tries to push its sales. Already a 25 per cent cut in spare parts prices is claimed to have more than doubled the sales volume for the General Motors between February and March this year. Chaba said that the volumes are expected to go further up with the country recording a significant revival in economy and industrial production.

Rediff.com is one of the leading online network targetting Indians worldwide and the company claims about 1.2 million visitors to the site every month. The rediff marketplace is one of the most popular e-commerce platforms and several leading brands have tied up with rediff.com to sell its merchandise on the net.

The merchandise on the rediff site include books, music, apparel, food, toys, pearl, jewellery and a variety of other products. Rediff is offering both original and third-party branded content through interest-specific channels, extensive web-based community features such as free e-mail, chat and personal home pages.

With the success of its online music and book stores, rediff.com is in the process of developing softwares that will allow merchants to automatically sign up, create their stores and transact business on the web.

The Net booking facility for GM models will go hand in hand with the car-maker's plans to expand its dealership networks and to have more authorised service centres all over India. The company will expand its network to 27 dealerships and 21 authorised centres across the country, said Chaba.