Press Releases

Re-launched Site Features Innovative Tools to Help Buyers Quickly Identify the Right Car and Dealers' Best Deals Based on Kelley Blue Book Data

Redwood City, CA, January 22, 2009 - Dealix, a Division of Cobalt, has re-launched its Usedcars.com site to create a destination designed from the ground up to help buyers of used cars find the 'Right Car, from the Right Dealer, at the Right Price.' At the heart of the redesign is a relationship with Kelley Blue Book that allows car shoppers to compare the price listed by a dealer for a vehicle to the Blue Book® Suggested Retail Value.

The new features in Usedcars.com were selected based on consumer research revealing that buyers looking for used cars online fall into two groups: those open to multiple makes and models, but seeking a deal; and those searching for a vehicle of a specific type. The new capabilities on the site will help both sets of buyers, and include:

• Identification of the "Best Values" in each market - based on the difference between the dealer's posted price for the vehicle and the Blue Book® Suggested Retail Value.
• A Dealer Spotlight section that showcases specific vehicles within dealers' inventory.
• Dynamic presentation of the "most popular" vehicles based on 24-hour visitor activity.
• Greatly improved search capabilities that allow a used car shopper to precisely find their vehicle of interest. New search parameters include mileage per gallon, passenger and cargo capacity, fuel type, and more.

The site redesign is intended to help the sellers of pre-owned cars as well as their customers. "In these times, our customers - auto dealers - need to sell as many cars as possible as quickly as possible," commented Anna Zornosa, general manager of Dealix and executive vice president of The Cobalt Group. "The new Usedcars.com helps them powerfully show their vehicles to customers who are ready to buy."

"With the confidence that Kelley Blue Book's trusted values instill in consumers, this relationship with Dealix provides us with the opportunity to further extend our reach providing value to dealers and consumers, something we have been committed to for more than 80 years," said Damon Bennett, director, business development for Kelley Blue Book. "Providing Kelley Blue Book's values to Usedcars.com's visitors ultimately helps consumers feel confident they are paying a fair price and helps assuage some of the challenges in closing a sale."

For dealers, the new Usedcars.com provides a new set of merchandising tools, including:

• A unique "Best Values" section that illuminates their most aggressively priced vehicles automatically, and at no extra charge to the dealer.
• An optional Dealer Spotlight section, available on seven high-traffic areas of the Usedcars.com site, which features vehicles of the dealer's choosing or an automated display of older inventory that the dealer wants to sell.
• New tools on the Dealix Dealer Extranet allow dealers to manage which vehicles within their inventory receive extra visibility each day.
• Additional information, conveyed via "badges," within inventory and search listings to identify: newly listed vehicles, just-reduced prices, vehicles from dealers with "Premier" designation, vehicles with a dealer "spotlight," and "Best Value" pricing.
• Representation across the Dealix Usedcars.com Network - which includes more than 30 automotive sites, with access to over 11 million used car buyers each month.

Pricing for participation in the Dealix Usedcars.com program will continue to be the pay-for-performance model that made Usedcars.com one of the fastest-growing automotive Internet sites in 2008 (pay-for-performance pricing is not available in all jurisdictions). Last year, Dealix expanded its customer base by 60% and doubled the amount of inventory those customers placed on the site.

With Dealix's pricing, dealers who use the Usedcars.com service pay only when an interested buyer submits a qualified lead - a request for information from the dealer, either through email or via phone. Because of Dealix's innovative Phone Leads Platform 2.0, dealers only pay for phone leads that are greater than 65 seconds in length. The dealer also receives a notification of each email and phone lead, with phone lead documentation, including call detail and placement into the dealer's CRM system.

"The Dealix model of charging on a pay-for-performance basis provides dealers a valuable, much needed choice from the classified advertising model, and by qualifying each lead, lets the dealer effectively measure their return of investment," said David Kain, president of automotive training and consulting firm KainAutomotive.com. "With the all-new and highly-innovative Usedcars.com, dealers can also see that Dealix has made a significant investment to provide them with customers who are even more ready to buy."

For more information on Usedcars.com and other Cobalt/Dealix offerings, please call 1-800-903-1965 or visit www.cobalt.com or www.dealix.com.

About Dealix

Dealix, a Division of Cobalt, is the world's leading provider of quality new and used automotive sales leads for dealerships, dealer groups and automotive manufacturers. Dealix has the broadest and highest quality lead supply network in the industry, including partnerships with AOL Autos, Edmunds, Kelly Blue Book, MSN Autos. Yahoo! Autos, and others. Dealix's advanced quality control and routing technology matches thousands of serious new and used vehicle buyers to the most appropriate dealers daily, delivering a quality user experience while providing dealers one of the most efficient methods to sell more cars.

UsedCars.com

Usedcars.com, a unit of Dealix, connects automotive shoppers with one of the nation's largest selections of previously-owned vehicles, creating qualified sales opportunities for dealers. Unlike other used car portals Usedcars.com does not charge fixed monthly or vehicle search fees regardless of the portal's performance. Dealers only pay for leads on their inventory, a compelling business model that has made Usedcars.com the fastest growing automotive portal on the internet.

About Kelley Blue Book (www.kbb.com)

Since 1926, Kelley Blue Book, The Trusted Resource®, has provided vehicle buyers and sellers with the new and used vehicle information they need to accomplish their goals with confidence. The company's top-rated Web site, www.kbb.com, provides the most up-to-date pricing and values, including the New Car Blue Book® Value, which reveals what people actually are paying for new cars. The company also reports vehicle pricing and values via products and services, including software products and the famous Blue Book® Official Guide.  According to C.A. Walker Research Solutions, Inc.'s 2008 Spring Automotive Web Site Usefulness Study, kbb.com is the most useful automotive information Web site among new and used vehicle shoppers, and half of online vehicle shoppers visit kbb.com.  Kbb.com is a leading provider of new car prices, car reviews and news, Used Car Blue Book Values, auto classifieds and car dealer locations.

Contact Information

Amy Hatch
Marketing Manager, Cobalt
Email: ahatch@cobalt.com
Phone: 206.219.8132