Online Automotive Parts Catalog

SEATTLE--Jan. 24, 2002-- The Cobalt Group, the leading provider of e-business software and services to the automotive retail market, announced today that it has partnered with Mitchell 1, the leading provider of automotive information and data management to independent repair shops, to launch two powerful new online tools that bring efficiencies and increased profits to automotive dealers' parts departments.

As a result of the partnership, wholesale parts buyers, including dealers, independent repair shops, do-it-yourselfers and insurance companies, and consumers, can gain convenient access to a user-friendly online catalog of mechanical OEM (original equipment manufacturer) automotive parts from Cobalt's PartsVoice dealers.

This partnership brings together the PartsVoice database of more than 138 million OEM parts from 9,000 dealers, 17 automotive manufacturers and 39 vehicle makes, with Mitchell 1's extensive parts data for over 250,000 mechanical OEM parts. The new parts catalog is available at www.partsvoice.com. Dealers can also purchase a dealership branded version of the catalog, enabling them to sell their OEM parts directly to consumers and wholesale customers from their own Web site.

``Cobalt is always pursuing opportunities to make dealers' parts departments even more profitable,'' said Mike Bell, Cobalt's PartsVoice vice president and general manager. ``This new partnership between Cobalt and Mitchell 1 arms dealers with cutting-edge e-business tools to help them gain access to more wholesale and retail customers while improving the efficiency of their business.''

``Mitchell 1 provides the most extensive and reliable data source for OEM parts,'' said Dan Ramirez, director of business development for Mitchell 1. ``This strategic partnership with Cobalt will help automotive dealers sell parts to an expanded base of wholesale buyers, including independent repair shops, by providing convenient access to reliable, up-to-date parts information directly from Mitchell 1.''

The PartsVoice online parts catalog makes finding an OEM part quick and easy. Wholesale parts buyers and consumers no longer need to know the exact OEM part number for the part they need, but can find it quickly through an easy-to-use online search interface. The catalog enables buyers to search for parts by year, make and model. Once the customer has selected the parts and browsed the extensive database of stocking dealerships, they can complete the order online.

Dealers who want to further boost their parts department profits can purchase the Cobalt Parts Counter Express, which provides them with their own dealership branded parts catalog and inventory tool for their Web sites. Through a user-friendly interface on the dealer's Web site, wholesale and retail customers can research parts by year, make and model, search the dealer's parts inventory, and get a quote on parts.

The PartsVoice online parts catalog and Parts Counter Express are key components of the integrated PartsVoice parts marketing solution. Dealerships can subscribe to PartsVoice and order Parts Counter Express by contacting a Cobalt sales consultant by phone at 800/909-8244 or by email at sales@partsvoice.com.