Compete, Inc. Predicts February Rebound In Mid-Sized SUV Sales; Forecasted 31 Percent Recovery Reverses Worrisome Drop in January

    BOSTON--Feb. 18, 2003--Compete, Inc. predicts that demand for domestic, mid-sized Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) will rebound 31 percent to 104,000 vehicles in February. Compete's forecast of February strength represents a significant turnaround from the worrisome results in January when SUV sales dropped a precipitous 40 percent from December.
    Using predictive analytics, Compete has established the connection between consumer online automotive interest and resulting in-dealer sales. Compete analyzes the online behavior of more than 100,000 active online automotive shoppers per month as they research their vehicle choices. As well as tracking online measures of preferences and demand, Compete's forecast of domestic, mid-sized SUVs quantifies the impact of incentives, days in the month, and seasonal patterns. The vehicles included in the forecast are the SUV models from Ford, General Motors and Chrysler Group - Explorer, Trailblazer, Grand Cherokee, Durango, Envoy, Jimmy, Blazer, Aviator, Mountaineer, Bravada, and Rendezvous.
    "The online data show that the January drop was not the beginning of an ominous trend," stated Lincoln Merrihew, Automotive Practice Director for Compete. "Online consumer behavior shows demand rebounding sharply in the early days of February. Automakers should calibrate their individual incentive programs for the remainder of the month with the recovering demand that has been observed."

    About Compete's Automotive Industry Analytics

    With more than two-thirds of automotive consumers now turning to the Internet to research their vehicle purchases, online shopping behavior has emerged as a predictive indicator of vehicle sales - both offline and online. Based on the largest pool of automotive intenders - more than 100,000 active online vehicle shoppers per month - Compete provides automakers with detailed and immediate insights into vehicle demand. With its large pool of online automotive consumers, Compete can segment demand in great detail - by vehicle model, consumer demographics and psychographics and by region of the country. Compete's intelligence services help automakers optimize decisions and monitor performance in four key areas: marketing effectiveness, demand forecasting, spending optimization, and new vehicle launches.

    About Compete, Inc.

    Compete, Inc. is pioneering the analysis of consumer behavior online to predict consumer purchasing - both offline and online. As a Predictive Analytics services firm, Compete mines unique, actionable insights from 10 terabytes of data describing online behavior. Based on weekly monitoring of 10 million consumers, the industry's largest commercial source of consumer behavior data, Compete delivers its analyses with the speed and frequency required to impact ongoing business tactics and to measure performance against competitors continuously. Typical applications of Compete's services include customer acquisition and conversion, cross-shopping analysis, customer loyalty, pricing and promotion optimization, demand forecasting, competitive market share monitoring, service cost reduction and marketing ROI management. Compete serves major consumer companies in industries such as automotive, consumer banking and finance and wireless. Venture-backed by leading investors Charles River Ventures, St. Paul Venture Capital, North Hill Ventures and idealab!, the company is online at www.compete.com.