"Chrome Intr oduces QuickStart..."
System Integrators, Auto Manufacturers, Fleet Companies and Internet Portals Can Leverage Chrome's Professional Services Group to Design and Develop Complete Automotive Applications Including Vehicle Configuration, Comparison, Location and Ordering Portland, Ore., August 20, 2001-Chrome Systems Corporation, provider of automotive data, configuration technology and commerce solutions, announced today a program helping system integrators, auto manufacturers, fleet companies and Internet portals leverage the deep domain knowledge in vehicle pricing and configuration of Chrome's Professional Services Group to begin the development of automotive applications including vehicle pricing, configuration, comparison, ordering, LTO and BTO systems. Using QuickStart(tm), clients obtain one week of services from Chrome's Professional Services Group to train client developers or begin the design and development of applications built on Chrome's automotive enterprise development platform, AutoBuilder(tm). AutoBuilder is a suite of application programming interfaces forming a powerful open-architecture, object-oriented platform for developing automotive commerce applications including vehicle pricing, configuration, comparison and ordering systems. In addition, a set of API's collectively called AutoPorter(tm) provides the capability to locate specific vehicles in multiple networks of inventory, including the ability to specify which inventories are searched in what order and the ability to search for vehicles at the option-code level. "Clients can leverage Chrome's 15 years of expertise in accurate vehicle pricing and orderable configuration to decrease development costs and increase value to market," said David Mingle, Chrome president and COO. "The learning curve is significantly reduced and return on investment is achieved more rapidly." Chrome created the Professional Services Group (PSG) to help clients decide how best to design, develop, install and customize automotive applications and provide training in the use of AutoBuilder and AutoPorter. PSG members are experienced in the automotive industry, business analysis and strategy, human factors design and applications programming, as well as extremely knowledgeable in the use of AutoBuilder. The combined skill set of the PSG team includes all major development platforms and programming/presentation languages, including Java, JSP, HTML and XML. Chrome: Most Accurate Data Provider In April 2001, CNW Marketing/Research conducted its second annual online vehicle pricing accuracy study, evaluating ten new-vehicle pricing websites for pricing accuracy and orderability. For the second year in a row Chrome ranked first in accurate vehicle pricing and 100% orderable configuration. About Chrome With more than 12,000 clients, including half of all automotive dealers in the U.S. and Canada, Chrome provides configuration technology, software and professional services to produce complete enterprise solutions for all segments of the retail automotive industry, including manufacturers, fleet companies, dealers and Internet sites. Chrome pioneered the technology behind electronic vehicle configuration and for the past 15 years has collected, analyzed and enhanced "raw" automotive data from all manufacturers. Chrome provides the North American ordering system for General Motors and its 8,300 dealers. Chrome sets the standard in ordering systems for fleet management, serving 15 of the 17 largest fleet leasing companies. Chrome's automotive dealer clients accounted for more than half of all new vehicles sold in the U.S. in 2000. The company is based in Portland, Oregon. For more information, contact www.chrome.com <http://www.chrome.com>, 1-800-936-8906.