The Cobalt Group Launches New e-Business Products to Reduce Auto Dealers' Slow Moving and Idle Parts Inventory
SEATTLE--Jan. 23, 2001--The Cobalt Group , a leading provider of e-business products and services to the automotive industry, announced today two new e-business parts products, PartsVoice Discount Parts Locator and PartsVoice Idle Stock Relocator.
The products are designed to help automotive dealerships reduce slow moving and obsolete parts inventory and associated holding costs.
Accessed through PartsVoice.com, the largest database of original equipment manufacturer (OEM) parts on the Web, Discount Parts Locator allows dealers to easily sell slow moving parts at reduced prices. Idle Stock Relocator matches dealers' idle and obsolete parts inventory with buyers searching for those parts. The two products work together to provide dealers with a cost-effective and complete idle parts management solution.
"There is more than $1 billion in idle parts just sitting on dealers' shelves. Cobalt's PartsVoice Discount Parts Locator and PartsVoice Idle Stock Relocator products provide dealers with a convenient way to sell these parts, making room for more profitable inventory," said John Holt, president and CEO of The Cobalt Group. "This is another example of how Internet-based e-business tools can greatly increase efficiencies and profits in the automotive industry."
Discount Parts Locator
The Discount Parts Locator allows dealers to list slow moving parts at a reduced rate on the PartsVoice parts locator, www.partsvoice.com. Through a password protected account management section on PartsVoice.com, selling dealers can set a discounted price for their slow moving parts based on a percentage above dealer cost or below retail price, or display a "call for pricing" message. Buyers searching for a part enter the OEM part number into the system and results are automatically displayed, listing dealers stocking the part at a discount, along with the discount percentage. Using the E-Mail Parts Request Form, the buyer then submits an online part order form to the selling dealer to arrange the purchase and delivery of the part.
Idle Stock Relocator
Idle Stock Relocator provides dealers with an aggressive way to sell parts that have not sold for an extended period of time. Using parts inventory and sales history information collected from the dealership dealer management system (DMS), Idle Stock Relocator automatically matches idle and obsolete parts from the selling dealers with buyers looking for the parts. The matches are sent to the selling and buying dealers to facilitate the transaction and delivery of the parts.
Discount Parts Locator and Idle Stock Relocator will be showcased and available for purchase at the National Automobile Dealers Association's 84th annual convention and exhibition, Feb. 3-6, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
About The Cobalt Group
The Cobalt Group(TM) , headquartered in Seattle, is a leading provider of e-business products and services that help automotive dealers and manufacturers effectively manage their businesses online. Cobalt's suite of e-business solutions includes Web services, Web site hosting, e-commerce applications, Internet-based customer relationship management applications, data management, and best practices training and consulting.
Nearly half of the nation's auto dealers use Cobalt's technology, including 6,400 Web services clients, and approximately 10,000 PartsVoice (www.partsvoice.com) clients. Cobalt's e-business products and services are endorsed by 15 automotive manufacturers and more than 50 of the 100 largest dealer groups in the United States. Cobalt is the only e-business provider endorsed by the National Automobile Dealers' Association.
Cobalt operates MotorPlace.com(TM) (www.MotorPlace.com), an online business management and industry information resource for auto dealers. At MotorPlace.com, dealers utilize Cobalt tools to manage their Web sites, buy wholesale used vehicles, locate and market OEM parts, and access industry information, news, events, and stock quotes. Cobalt also operates DealerNet(R) (www.dealernet.com), one of the most widely visited consumer automotive information portals on the Web. IntegraLink Corporation, a Cobalt company, is the auto industry's premier provider of automotive data collection and reporting services.
Cobalt has offices in Seattle, Wash.; Portland, Ore.; Detroit, Mich.; Columbus, Ohio; and Austin, Texas. For more information, please visit www.cobaltgroup.com or call 800/909-8244.