Vauxhall's move into selling cars over the internet has netted less than 250 customers in four months, a fraction of the expected volume.

The dot-com cars, offered for £1,000 off normal dealer prices, was backed by a TV commercial campaign featuring Griff Rhys Jones, and launched last November.

Vauxhall recently confirmed that it had generated few sales from the dot-com special editions of the Tigra, Astra, Vectra and Frontera. Around 2,000 potential customers have logged their details on the website and only 248 cars produced for online sale have been ordered.

Announcing the programme at last October's London Motor Show, Vauxhall chairman Nick Reilly said he hoped to sell 1,500 of the specials by the end of 2000. He acknowledged it was “a journey into the unknown”.