GM, Ford Offers $50 Voucher for Testdriving Cars

Or how desperate the American companies have become following the impact of the economic chaos... Both General Motors and Ford today announced a new campaign aimed at bringing more visitors into their dealerships and, more importantly, allow them to test drive the two manufacturers' models. The whole idea is fairly simple: people attending the New York International Auto Show receive a $50 gift card if they agree to visit GM's and Ford's dealerships and try out one of the two companies' vehicles.

The purpose? To get consumers' attention and to demonstrate the abilities their vehicles are capable to provide, the two companies explained in a statement. Furthermore, the Detroit automakers struggle to repair their crushed image that was solely damaged by massive cost-cutting measures and aggressive campaigns to keep the two in business.

"Auto shows provide a perfect opportunity for buyers to see, touch and feel the latest new cars under one roof," said Mark Schienberg, president of the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association, the organization that owns and produces the New York Auto Show.

"Programs like the $50 gift card offered by GM and Ford help continue conversations between auto show visitors and new car dealers. This is a great way to get engage customers and gets them behind the wheel of some amazing new vehicles."

In case you're wondering what could you do with a $50 gift card, Ford says its voucher can be spent anywhere while GM's is only good for purchases on restaurants.com.

The $50 voucher is only available to visitors of the New York International Auto Show which runs at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan, until Sunday, April 19.