Penske Truck Leasing to sell via eBay

The latest entrant in the race to sell vehicles on eBay: Penske Truck Leasing.

The Reading company announced today that it would sell used trucks on its own eBay page, http://stores.shop.ebay.com/Penske-Used-Trucks, to capitalize on the online auction site's renown for attracting millions of browsing eyes.

The Penske arrangement follows a deal sealed earlier this month in which General Motors Co. said it would sell some of its new models through eBay Motors directly to consumers in California.

Penske, which sells up to 25,000 of its formerly leased trucks as used vehicles annually, said it experimented for two months on eBay before recently launching its site and was impressed: A Penske truck drew 600 to 800 page views a week on eBay, Jack Mitchell, vice president of remarketing for Penske, said today.

The eBay forum is attractive because of its popularity. Across all vehicle categories, including passenger cars, the site draws 13 million unique visits a month, he said.

"Online is the wave of the future, and we're trying to be the innovators and be part of that as it grows," Mitchell said.

Penske sells everything from used, light-duty panel vans popular among contractors to trucks as large as tractor-trailers, the latter accounting for about 45 percent of all sales, Mitchell said.

The eBay partnership is part of a broader strategy to augment online sales. Historically, Penske has sold its vehicles through wholesalers.

In March, Penske launched its own Web site, Penskeusedtrucks.com, which averages about 20,000 unique visitors a month, he said.

Penske trucks on eBay will be sold at auctions lasting from seven to 10 days.