Comprehensive Dealer e-Business Software Platform Released
SEATTLE--Jan. 9, 2002--Industry rallies around J2EE(TM) technology-based Cobalt Nitra; National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), Hendrick Automotive
Group are first to endorse; Sun Microsystems lauds Cobalt's
implementation of J2EE technology
The Cobalt Group, the leading provider of e-business software and services to the automotive retail market, today unveiled Cobalt Nitra, the first J2EE(TM) technology-based enterprise software platform developed specifically for the automotive retailing industry.
Nitra accelerates the development, integration and deployment of automotive retail e-business software and marketing programs, resulting in powerful new capabilities, significant cost savings and reduced time-to-market for manufacturer, dealer group and dealer e-business programs.
"With Nitra, Cobalt has delivered a technology platform that will serve as a unifying force in the industry, bringing the principal automotive retailing participants -- manufacturers and dealers -- together like never before," said John Holt, president and CEO of The Cobalt Group. "Nitra allows manufacturers and dealers to optimize their current and future e-business investments by standardizing on an extensible technology platform, built specifically for the automotive industry, that seamlessly integrates best-of-breed e-business components from manufacturers, dealers, third parties and Cobalt -- and provides the win, win, win scenario for manufacturers, dealers and consumers so long sought by the industry."
Nitra enables rapid and efficient development, integration and deployment of manufacturer and dealer group e-business programs into the dealer channel, while providing dealers with more control over their online retailing initiatives than ever before available. Nitra allows manufacturers and dealers to speak with one voice to the consumer through tightly integrated e-business programs that provide a seamless transition for consumers between manufacturer and dealer sites, while still allowing dealers to create the unique and powerful online presence required for their local market.
"With Nitra, Cobalt is truly leading the way in automotive retailing e-business technology, bringing benefits to dealers as well as manufacturers. Their track record of innovative leadership in our industry is why we chose to partner with them to bring NADA-endorsed, e-business products to our member dealers," said Robert J. Maguire, chairman of the National Automobile Dealers Association and owner of Maguire Automotive Group in Bordentown, N.J.
Nitra allows dealerships to easily manage and maintain their online retailing programs from anywhere and at anytime, gives them increased flexibility in branding their dealerships online through convenient access to manufacturer-provided images and text, and provides them with a single set of powerful, integrated tools to easily manage their online retailing efforts across all of the franchises they represent.
"While developing Nitra over the past 16 months, we worked very closely with our manufacturer, dealer group and dealer clients to develop a solution that addresses the key challenges they face when creating and operating retail e-business programs," said Cobalt's Holt. "The initial response we have received from our major automotive clients is extremely positive. We're very pleased that Hendrick Automotive, a major dealer group, is the first to adopt Cobalt Nitra, and we look forward to migrating many of our manufacturer and dealer clients to the platform this year."
For manufacturers and dealer groups, Nitra addresses the key challenges they face when assembling and rolling out integrated e-business programs to their dealers. By extending the technology platform deep into their retail operations, Nitra enables manufacturers and dealer groups to:
| -- | Improve cost-effectiveness and time-to-market for retail e-business programs. |
| -- | Provide a consistent, seamlessly integrated brand experience for consumers while still allowing dealers to create unique and powerful online presences required for their local markets. |
| -- | Obtain better metrics for performance management and decision-making. |
| -- | Increase dealer program participation, effectiveness and profitability. |
| -- | Easily develop and deploy new capabilities for existing e-business programs. |
Nitra seamlessly integrates best-of-breed components from a manufacturer or dealer group's portfolio of components from multiple providers, including vehicle configurators, vehicle locators, finance tools, content, and images/graphics into feature-rich consumer friendly retail Web sites. Nitra increases compliance with manufacturer and dealer group branding standards and program guidelines while allowing dealers to manage their participation across multiple manufacturer programs using a single common set of tools.
Dealers will have access to the Nitra technology through two new e-business packages endorsed by the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), the most recognized and influential trade group for the nation's franchised automotive dealers. Representing 19,500 franchised new-car and truck dealers in the U.S. holding nearly 40,000 separate franchises, NADA has taken a firm position that dealers should embrace e-business technology to effectively serve car buyers and owners.
The new NADA-endorsed Nitra software packages, Nitra Basic and Nitra Professional, include a variety of Cobalt's e-business and customer relationship management applications and Nitra-powered Web site management tools that greatly enhance the control dealers have over their Web solutions. The first Nitra applications available to dealers as part of the new packages include:
-- Cobalt Website Manager for Nitra gives dealers the most
comprehensive site management and publishing capabilities in
the industry. Dealers can edit text, change images or switch
the look of their site and publish their changes in real-time
from any Internet-enabled computer 24 hours a day, seven days
a week. Website Manager goes beyond simple editing and
publishing capabilities and allows dealers to change site
navigation, set up and edit meta tags, and add link-outs from
images on their site.
-- Cobalt Marketing Library Manager for Nitra provides a secure
location to store and share custom images, and ultimately
audio clips, video clips, flash animation and other digital
media for use on a dealership Web site. Marketing Library
Manager enables sharing of these images across multiple sites
in a dealer group allowing for greater efficiency.
-- Nitra User Administration allows dealers to establish desired
access levels for each staff member that interacts with their
Web site. Additionally, dealers that have multiple Nitra Web
sites can access all of their sites through one login and
interface.
"We are pleased to continue our partnership with Cobalt for the third year in a row with the endorsement of two Nitra dealer e-business packages for our members," said Don Gentry, NADA's chief information officer. "These packages offer complete, powerful and cost-effective solutions that dealers can begin implementing in their dealerships immediately. We anticipate dealers who put disciplined processes in place in their dealerships to utilize the Nitra packages effectively can receive an ROI of up to 1200% per month."
Charlotte-based Hendrick Automotive Group, one of the nation's largest privately held dealer groups, has signed on as Cobalt's first major dealer group client for Nitra. Hendrick Automotive plans to implement Nitra in the majority of its stores throughout the country.
"We are very excited about the capabilities that Cobalt Nitra provides to our dealerships. The fact that we can swap e-business components in and out of the platform at any time is very powerful," said Matthew Belk, e-business manager for Hendrick Automotive Group. "Nitra enables Hendrick Automotive to take advantage of the benefits of being a multi-make dealer group while staying compliant with the manufacturers. We want to execute with excellence in the e-commerce space and Cobalt is clearly the partner to get us there."
AMR Research automotive analyst Kevin Prouty agrees that Nitra is a compelling new technology for automotive retailing. "Nitra provides a backbone that automakers have needed to synchronize their e-business programs with their dealers and is one of the few systems that bridges the sometimes wide gap between OEM systems and dealer systems."
The automotive industry is standardizing on Sun Microsystems, Inc's Java(TM) programming language and Cobalt is leading the effort to integrate manufacturers' and dealers' mission critical e-business programs on the Java(TM) 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE). This integration is essential for manufacturers and dealers to successfully implement effective online retail programs and protect their e-business investment. J2EE's open standard technology provides the industry with a flexible security model that allows system administrators to authorize designated users for different tasks; scalable technology that streamlines processes and reduces maintenance costs; internationalized software capabilities that allow for rapid and efficient language localization; and investment protection with extensible, industry-standard, cutting-edge technology. Nitra is the largest and most comprehensive implementation of J2EE in the automotive retail market to date.
"Cobalt Nitra is an extremely compelling and powerful application of Sun technology for the automotive industry," said Bill Gerould, group manager, Automotive Industry Practice, Sun Microsystems. "Nitra brings a whole new level of e-business capabilities to manufacturers and dealers, and is a terrific example of the benefits J2EE is bringing to the automotive industry."
Nitra will be available to the automotive industry at the 2002 NADA Convention, Jan. 26-29, in New Orleans. At launch, the Nitra platform will be available to manufacturers, dealer groups and dealers on an ASP subscription basis from Cobalt. In the second half of 2002, manufacturers and dealer groups will have the option to license Nitra and host it in their own IT environment. The NADA-endorsed Nitra e-business packages will be available to dealers at the NADA Convention.
ABOUT THE COBALT GROUP
The Cobalt Group works exclusively in the automotive retail market to help manufacturers and dealers develop integrated e-business programs by leveraging its industry leading technology, broad range of services and deep domain knowledge As the automotive e-business leader, Cobalt is uniquely positioned to help its customers maximize their overall operating efficiencies and profits.
Cobalt offers a broad range of products and services developed specifically for the automotive marketplace including enterprise software for manufacturers and dealers; customer relationship management (CRM) software applications; online automotive commerce applications; the industry's largest OEM parts locating and marketing service; dealership e-business best practices training, consulting, and process compliance analysis; and wholesale used vehicle remarketing services.
Cobalt operates a dealer network larger than any other technology provider in the automotive retail industry including 12,000 franchised dealers and 52 of the 100 largest dealer groups. Cobalt is the only software technology provider ever endorsed by 14 manufacturers and the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA).
With headquarters in Seattle, Wash., Cobalt has offices in five U.S. cities, and a field sales and services force in 30 states, including all major U.S. metropolitan sales areas (MSAs).
For more information, please visit www.cobaltgroup.com or call 800/909-8244.
Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition and J2EE are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries.