GM is trying to eat Silicon Valley's lunch

For a car company that is more than 100 years old, General Motors is proving to be very much up to speed with current trends in automotive tech.

It recently made a $500 million investment in Uber's closest competitor, Lyft. It scooped up another ride-hailing competitor in Sidecar, and it launched its own ride-sharing platform called Maven.

Now GM is in the business of listing some of its own certified used cars online.

The automotive giant on Tuesday announced the Factory Pre-Owned Collection, a service designed to capture more shoppers who prefer to do the bulk of their research online. The website features used vehicles from Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac.

With the launch, GM becomes the first automaker to offer an exclusive nationwide selection of its own vehicles that people start the process of buying online, though customers will have to visit a dealer to complete their purchase.

Steve Hill, GM's vice president of US sales and service, said the Factory Pre-Owned Collection "extends our Shop-Click-Drive service and gives our dealers another way to attract new customers to their dealerships."

GM says 40,000 cars and trucks are listed, ranging from low-mileage company cars to cars that have come off lease and vehicles that were used as rentals. The cars have no more than 37,000 miles on them and come with bumper-to-bumper limited warranties.

Unlike some startups in this space that promise to deliver your newly purchased car to you, GM says you can start the buying process only online. You'll have to pick up the vehicle at a dealer.

Also, while competitors like Vroom and Beepi give customers a limited opportunity to return a car for a refund, GM will only let you exchange for a different car after three days or 150 miles.

The Factory Pre-Owned Collection is part of GM's plan to become more nimble in an industry that is changing faster than ever.

In a one-on-one interview with Business Insider's transportation editor Matt DeBord late last year, GM CEO Mary Barra said: "We are disrupting ourselves. We're not trying to preserve a model of yesterday."

More recently, Barra spoke of the company's commitment to the auto industry's evolving landscape, saying on an earnings call last week that GM was intent on "leading the transformation of personal mobility."