GM launches giveaway contest of 1,000 vehicles

DETROIT, United States (AFP) - General Motors announced a 25 million dollar giveaway promotion that will allow consumers to win some of the automaker's most popular vehicles.

The promotion announced Sunday at the 2004 North American International Auto Show in Detroit is linked to the company's OnStar communications service, which includes features such as emergency road service and global positioning information.

The giveaway includes vehicles such as the Hummer H2 and the Cadillac CTS.

The so-called "Hot Button" program allows consumers visiting a dealer selling OnStar-equipped cars to activate the service. They are told immediately if they've won one of 1,000 vehicles.

The promotion begins Monday and will run for 56 days. The company makes the odds of winning at one in 5,500.

The world's largest automaker has set the pace before with aggressive promotions in the past few years. The introduction of zero-percent and aggressive low-rate financing in late 2001 began at GM and was followed not long after by other automakers.

The two-month giveaway, which will include 2004 model year vehicles from all of the company's eight brands, is designed to spur traffic during a traditionally slow time of year for the industry.

"It's a strong traffic moving program for us," said John Smith, GM group VP of sales, service and marketing in an interview on the sidelines of the Detroit auto show Monday.

GM is billing the "Hot Button" program as the biggest two-month giveaway in history.