Honda Accord Wins 2003 Consumer Choice(TM) Award as the Most Popular New Vehicle Among Autobytel Shoppers*

MINI and Hummer Finish in Dead Heat in 'Percentage Growth' Category; Chevy Silverado Wins Again with Online Truck Buyers

LAS VEGAS, Feb. 1 -- Autobytel Inc. , the Internet's most visited new vehicle buying and research destination, today announced the winners of its second annual Consumer Choice Awards(TM) at the 2004 National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Convention in Las Vegas. The Awards were presented to the manufacturers who built the cars and trucks that were the most popular among the 7.7 million average monthly unique visitors who researched and shopped on Autobytel's websites during 2003,(1) based on Purchase Request data amassed by Autobytel throughout the year.* Recipients of the Consumer Choice Awards were announced at a press conference attended by representatives from manufacturers and industry press.

  Online Shoppers March to a Very Different Marketing Beat Than Their
   Offline Counterparts

The Autobytel Consumer Choice Awards provide a broad overview of online shopping behavior, shedding light on an exploding automotive marketing medium (the Internet) that is now considered more influential by consumers than TV advertising.(2) 2003 also marked the first year that more new vehicle buyers sourced their car or truck online than through newspaper ads.(3) The 2003 Consumer Choice Awards once again revealed some striking differences between Autobytel's online shoppers and traditional buyers -- notably, a online tendency toward import cars (as opposed to domestic trucks) and a strong responsiveness to pricing and performance specifications.

   Category            2003 Autobytel Consumer           2003 Overall
                       Choice Award Winner               Sales Leader

   #1 Vehicle          Honda Accord (F-Series fourth)     Ford F-150

   #1 Passenger Car    Honda Accord (Camry distant        Toyota Camry
                       second)

   #1 Truck            Chevy Silverado (beat F-150 by     Ford F-150
                       nearly 50% more Purchase
                       Requests)

   #1 Sport Utility
    Vehicle            Chevy Tahoe                        Ford Explorer

   #1 Minivan          Honda Odyssey (Caravan not         Dodge Caravan
                       in top 5)
   Brand With
    Largest Growth     MINI/Hummer (tie)                  Hummer

"The 2003 market share battle was brutally competitive, with record incentives and a barrage of great new models flooding an already crowded market," said Autobytel President and CEO Jeffrey Schwartz. "If you're serious about analyzing market share in 2003, you have to look at the Internet, where nearly half of all make/model decisions were being influenced.(4) Autobytel's Consumer Choice Awards provide a unique window into this critical market share dynamic."

Honda Accord Re-claims Top Spot; Accord and Civic Outpace F-150 and Camry

While full-size Big 3 trucks once again dominated overall sales in 2003, Autobytel's online buyers were more inclined to request import passenger cars, specifically Hondas. The Honda Accord, a traditional online favorite, was the #1 Overall Most Requested Vehicle among Autobytel shoppers. The Civic, meanwhile, finished third, separated by another perennial Autobytel favorite, the Chevrolet Silverado. Both the Accord and the Civic handily beat the Toyota Camry, the top-selling car in America, and the Ford F-150, the top-selling vehicle in America.

  Chevrolet Wins the Online Truck Wars (Again) With Silverado and Tahoe;
   Domestic SUVs Reclaim Top Spots from Smaller Imports

The perennial online truck favorite, the Chevrolet Silverado, once again dominated the field, garnering nearly 50% more Purchase Requests than the perennial overall sales leader, the F-150. But it may have been a different story if the redesigned 2004 F-150 had hit the market earlier. The new F-150 actually outperformed the Silverado during the final quarter of 2003, driving a significant net annual gain in F-150 Purchase Requests in 2003 versus 2002.

Chevrolet also topped Ford in the SUV category, with the Chevrolet Tahoe finishing the year as the #1 Most Requested SUV. The Ford Explorer was a game competitor, however, rising from the seventh most requested SUV in 2002 to finish second in 2003. The Tahoe and Explorer led a comeback year for domestic SUVs among Autobytel shoppers, at the expense of smaller imports. In 2002, for example, the Honda CR-V, Toyota Highlander and Hyundai Santa Fe finished second, third and fourth, respectively. In 2003, the highest-ranking import was the Honda Pilot, which finished sixth.

MINI and Hummer Tie for Biggest Percentage Growth

One of the big sales stories this year has been the "David and Goliath" battle between MINI and Hummer -- the opposite ends of the "niche" automotive spectrum whose year-end overall market sales tallies were separated by a mere 50 vehicles.(5) Autobytel's Consumer Choice Awards penned a new chapter in this story, as the two brands finished in a virtual tie in the #1 Overall Purchase Request Growth category. Each brand generated approximately 255% more Purchase Requests on Autobytel's sites in 2003 than 2002. Mazda, Lincoln and Cadillac (last year's winner in this category) also enjoyed brisk Purchase Request growth in 2003.

Honda Odyssey Edges Toyota Sienna in Minivan Race; Both Outpace Caravan

The Most Requested Minivan category provided another example of an online/offline consumer split, as the Honda Odyssey, last year's Consumer Choice Award minivan winner, easily outpaced the Dodge Caravan, the top- selling minivan in America. (The Caravan was the second most requested minivan in 2002, but dropped to #8 in 2003.) The real minivan battle was fought between the Odyssey and the upstart Toyota Sienna, which enjoyed a dramatic year-end surge following the launch of the 2004 redesign and threatened to overtake the Odyssey by year's end. Overall, Autobytel shoppers demonstrated renewed interest in minivans in general, with the Windstar (now the Freestar) and Sienna making dramatic gains and the Mazda MPV and Nissan Quest also enjoying solid growth.

  Honda Civic Hybrid Fends off Toyota Prius for Most Requested Fuel-
   Efficient Vehicle Honors

Honda and Toyota also squared off in Autobytel's fuel-efficient vehicle category, and Honda once again held off a major year-end rally (by the redesigned Toyota Prius) to claim top honors. The success of the redesigned Prius may indicate that, in addition to the automakers' move toward adding a hybrid system option to existing models, there remains a strong niche market for hybrid-exclusive vehicles.

Toyota and Ford Finish Strong, Poised for Online Success in 2004

Although they didn't score many Consumer Choice Awards, Ford and Toyota made big gains among Autobytel shoppers during 2003. Break-out vehicles for Ford included the redesigned 2004 F-150 and the Explorer, which was bested by the Chevy Tahoe in the SUV category but nonetheless made significant strides during the year. 2004 redesigns for the Toyota Prius and Sienna, meanwhile, were both very well received by Autobytel shoppers. On the strength of the redesigns, the Prius generated 59% more Purchase Requests in Q4, 2003, versus Q1, while the Sienna grew Purchase Requests 83% over the course of the year. Consumer Choice Award trends suggest that Ford (with several highly anticipated car launches on the way) and Toyota will continue their momentum into 2004.

   2003 Autobytel Consumer Choice Award Winners
   #1 Overall Most Requested New Vehicle - Honda Accord
   #1 Overall Increase Vehicle Requests, 2002-2003 - MINI, Hummer (tie)
   Most Requested New Truck - Chevrolet Silverado
   Most Requested New Passenger Car - Honda Accord
   Most Requested Fuel-Efficient Vehicle (over 38 mpg city/45 mph hwy) -
    Honda Civic Hybrid
   Most Requested New SUV - Chevrolet Tahoe
   Most Requested New Luxury Car - BMW 3 Series
   Most Requested New Sports Car - Ford Mustang
   Most Requested New Minivan - Honda Odyssey

  About Autobytel Inc.

Autobytel Inc. , a leading Internet automotive marketing services company, helps retailers sell cars and manufacturers build brands through marketing, advertising and CRM (customer relationship management) tools and programs. The Company owns and operates the automotive websites Autobytel.com, Autoweb.com, Carsmart.com and AutoSite.com, as well as AIC (Automotive Information Center), a leading provider of automotive marketing data and technology. Autobytel is the industry leader in dealership lead management and CRM solutions and owns and operates AVV, Inc., a leading provider of dealership CRM and data extraction services. Autobytel generates over a billion dollars a month in car sales for dealers through its services and was the most visited new car buying and research destination in 2003, reaching millions of car-shoppers as they made their vehicle buying decisions.

   * Online car buyers submit vehicle Purchase Requests through Autobytel to
   local dealers once they intend to buy a specific vehicle. The Autobytel
   Consumer Choice Awards are based on the volume of vehicle Purchase
   Requests submitted (with an intent to buy) by online shoppers through
   Autobytel's network during 2003
   (1) comScore media metrics (2004)
   (2) "Cars Online 2003" Cap Gemini/Ernst & Young (October 2003)
   (3) J.D. Power and Associates Sales Satisfaction Index Study 2001-2003
   (4) J.D. Power and Associates 2003 New Autoshopper.com Study
   (5) Automotive News (reporting on OEM data)