Yahoo, GM Launch Pontiac Online Car Club

The Pontiac division of General Motors Corp.(NYSE: GM) and Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) launched a new online website that will serve as the virtual car-club for Pontiac owners, taking advantage of Yahoo's social media assets.

The companies unveiled a Web site on Wednesday that aggregates news, photos, video and other Pontiac related media, dubbed Pontiac Underground. The Web site combines a number of social media content from Yahoo, including Flickr photos, Yahoo Answers, and Yahoo Groups, with consumer-created Pontiac content from fans.

Pontiac Underground is almost all consumer-generated - it's their community, we're just trying to add to it, said Pontiac Marketing Director Mark-Hans Richer.

Potential car buyers rely on feedback from other people before making a decision, according to a Yahoo Autos study conducted by J.D. Power and Associates. Ninety-four percent of people in the study said they believe consumer-generated content is an important source of information, and

Ninety-four percent of respondents who use the Web said they believe consumer-generated content is an important source when deciding between vehicles, the study found. GM and Yahoo believe the new platform will allow a community to develop around the Pontiac brand - which may help sales.

This new platform delivers on a largely untapped opportunity for brands to use social media tools to engage in conversation with consumers in an authentic and appropriate way, said Jennifer Dulski, vice president and general manager, Yahoo! Autos.

Shares of Yahoo Rose 66 cents, or 2.25 percent, to $30.01 in afternoon trading on the Nasdaq Exchange. GM shares rose 42 cents, or 1.26 percent, to$33.85 on the New York Stock Exchange.