Priceline.com, AutoNation team up to offer online car-buying service.
Published:
31 July 1999 y., Saturday
In a sign that consolidation is coming to the online car-buying industry, Priceline.com Inc. and AutoNation Inc. are teaming up to offer Priceline_s "name your own price" Internet car-buying service. Under the marketing agreement, consumers_ bids for cars that come through Priceline.com will be offered to AutoNation dealers first. If no AutoNation dealer can meet the customer_s bid, it will go to other dealers. The service, which would be in addition to AutoNation_s existing Internet car-buying service, is being offered initially in Florida_s Tampa Bay and St. Petersburg markets. The companies plan to expand the venture as soon as Priceline.com adds more cities to its Internet car-buying service. Until now, Priceline has only offered the service - in which consumers name a price for their car and a dealer accepts it - in the New York metropolitan area. But the Stamford, Conn., company recently announced it was going national with its car-buying service and hired auto analyst Maryann Keller as president of its auto unit. The companies_ venture illustrates how competitive online car-buying has become as more shoppers head to the Internet. Consulting firm J.D. Power & Associates estimates 40% of new-vehicle buyers use the Internet in some way to shop for a car this year, up from 25% in 1998. Indeed, competition might be propelling AutoNation and Priceline into a tricky marriage, said a critic of the agreement. Dozens of car-shopping sites are fighting to capture those shoppers.
Šaltinis:
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
Software company announced new structure_ of it_s business.
more »
The US technology giant Microsoft said its annual revenues hit a record of $69.94bn (£43.4bn).Sales of the company's Xbox 360 videogame console and its Office software helped fuel the growth.
more »
Fujitsu demonstrated a next generation cholesteric LCD color digital paper module at the International Digital Publishing Expo.
more »
Apple’s next iPhone will begin production in mid to late August and ramp aggressively.
more »
People who create concept designs for future technology always have the luxury that their ideas don’t have to be practical or possible now, just cool enough to get people excited about what might be created one day.
more »
While Twitter isn’t rushing to go public like some of its larger peers, the microblogging service has no problem luring deep-pocketed investors.
more »
Free video chat is coming to Facebook.
more »
Nokia is still one of the biggest names in mobile phones but the company is in rapid decline and profits are sharply down.
more »
Wireless connection standard "Global System for Mobile Communications“ (GSM)
this year on July 1st has reached 20 years of age.
more »
Not long ago we heard a rumor about HTC’s upcoming device supporting a 12 megapixel camera; now we have some info about two more novelties.
more »
While the Stuart Hughes iPad Supreme Editions command respect and an astronomical price, there are other ways to glamorize your brand-new tech toy.
more »