Chrome Releases Vehicle Locator Solution to Benefit Both Buyers and Sellers

    PORTLAND, Ore.--Jan. 23, 2003--Chrome Systems Corporation, provider of automotive data, configuration and comparison technology and commerce solutions, today announced the release of Chrome Inventory Search(TM) (CIS), a vehicle locator tool for auto dealers, dealer groups, networks and media sites.
    The release represents the latest component in Chrome's suite of software tools designed to make it easier and more profitable to transact automotive commerce.
    CIS can be implemented as a stand-alone, browser-based inventory search tool. CIS can also be combined with an online vehicle configurator to give consumers a "build-and-find" solution during the online research phase of their purchase. Additionally, the tool can be used inside the dealership to assist sales reps in searching their own inventory. Dealer groups and media networks are able to select which of their trading partners can view the inventory.
    "More than two-thirds of shoppers -- 71 percent -- say it is also very important for a dealership to have searchable inventory", said Judy George, senior vice president of Friedman-Swift Associates, a Cincinnati-based automotive market research firm.
    Integrated with Chrome Carbook(R), Chrome's web-based vehicle configuration and comparison tool, Chrome Inventory Search enables consumers to first build a vehicle online and then find that same vehicle -- or a close match to it -- on a single dealer's lot or in the inventory of a dealer group or partner network. Shoppers can search by year, make and model, or by distance from their home. Results appear in a list that is weighted to ensure closest matches appear at the top.
    "We're very excited about CIS, of course. Our clients have been asking for a practical, meaningful vehicle locator for some time. CIS means dealerships and vehicle buying sites and their customers can now match virtual configurations to vehicles actually sitting on a lot somewhere, a process that is more likely to result in a closed deal," said David Mingle, President of Chrome Systems.
    "After buyers decide what they want, they need to know where they can find it. With CIS, Chrome answers that question. This is a huge step forward for dealers and media sites interested in shorter sales cycles and greater customer satisfaction," added Mingle.
    At the back end of the process is Chrome Inventory Everywhere(TM), an inventory editing and posting tool that combines DMS inventory records with Chrome's New Vehicle Data to give dealers the most vehicle-specific information available, anywhere. Once the inventory is posted online, Chrome Carbook users, utilizing the CIS search option, can view and search on that inventory.
    Chrome Inventory Search will be shown at the 2003 National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Convention & Exposition in San Francisco, on February 1-4, and is available immediately.

    About Chrome

    With more than 13,500 clients, including half of all automotive dealers in the U.S. and Canada, Chrome provides vehicle content, software, technology and services to deliver complete enterprise solutions to all segments of the retail automotive industry. These segments include manufacturers, fleet companies, dealers, Internet sites, and financial institutions.
    Chrome pioneered the technology behind electronic vehicle configuration and for more than 17 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 9 of the 10 largest fleet leasing companies.