Autobytel Inc. Joins MADD in Fight for Saved Lives and Safer Communities

Autobytel to Sponsor and Promote MADD Event on Its Leading Auto Consumer Sites; MADD Supports Company's 'Take the Pledge to Slow Down' Safe-Driving Campaign

IRVINE, Calif., Sept. 23 -- Autobytel Inc. , through its Take the Pledge to Slow Down campaign, is broadening its safe-driving mission by joining forces with MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving), the premier organization working to stop drunk driving. The alliance for safer communities and saved lives will kick off with Autobytel's sponsorship of MADD's signature 5k fundraising event, Strides for Change. The company will also promote the event on the Take the Pledge to Slow Down area of its automotive research and buying web sites -- Autobytel.com, Carsmart.com and Autoweb.com -- which attract an average of 7 million visitors each month. Visitors to the Autobytel sites can "Take the Pledge" online to drive with special care on neighborhood streets, and access a range of safe-driving tips, information, links, statistics, and resources. MADD, in turn, is featuring a link to the Take the Pledge to Slow Down site on its home page at www.madd.org.

"Although MADD's primary focus is stopping drunk driving and preventing underage drinking and ours is promoting safe, courteous neighborhood driving, we're both fighting the same larger battle against injuries and fatalities caused by unsafe driving," said Autobytel President and CEO Jeffrey Schwartz. "We're excited to join forces with such an influential leader in this absolutely critical fight." Schwartz notes that speeding is a major factor in nearly one-third of traffic fatalities nationwide and that nearly half of these deaths occur on local or low speed "collector" roads, despite the fact that these roads carry only 27.9% of the total vehicle miles traveled in the U.S.(1) Alcohol-related traffic fatalities, meanwhile, claim the lives of more that 17,000 individuals and injure more than half a million people each year.

Autobytel will sponsor the Safety Fair at MADD's signature Strides for Change event on Saturday, October 23rd at the Queen Mary Events Park in Long Beach, CA. Strides for Change is a non-competitive 5k walk that enables corporations and individuals to team up with MADD to keep communities safe by stopping drunk driving and preventing underage drinking.

"The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that that three of every 10 Americans will be involved in an alcohol-related traffic crash at some point in their lives," said MADD Orange County Executive Director, Reidel Post. "By supporting Strides for Change, Autobytel is helping us to make a positive difference in communities nationwide."

About Take the Pledge to Slow Down

Founded to combat speeding on neighborhood streets, Take the Pledge to Slow Down is a grassroots movement that taps into the power of individual activists across the country -- coupled with the power of the Internet -- to encourage drivers to take personal responsibility for their driving. Autobytel Inc. offers a comprehensive Take the Pledge to Slow Down area on three of its consumer websites (www.autobytel.com, www.autoweb.com, and www.carsmart.com), where concerned citizens can "Take the Pledge," access safe driving tips, find information and links, download Take the Pledge materials, and join Autobytel's fight for safer streets and saved lives.

About MADD

MADD is the premier organization working to stop drunk driving, support the victims of this violent crime and prevent underage drinking. MADD is a 501 (c) 3 charity with 600 chapters and 2 million members nationwide. Nearly 270,000 lives have been saved since MADD's founding in 1980. For more information, visit www.madd.org or call 1-800-GET-MADD. Anyone can sign up to walk, become a virtual walker from anywhere, 24 hours a day, or make a charitable donation to help support "Strides for Change" by logging onto www.stridesforchange.com.

About Autobytel

Autobytel Inc. , a leading Internet automotive marketing services company, helps retailers sell cars and manufacturers build brands through marketing, advertising, data and CRM (customer relationship management) products and programs. The Company owns and operates the automotive websites Autobytel.com, Autoweb.com, Carsmart.com, Car.com and AutoSite.com, as well as AIC (Automotive Information Center), a trusted industry source of automotive marketing data and technology for over 20 years. Autobytel is also a leader in dealership lead management and CRM solutions and owns and operates AVV, Inc., a top provider of dealership CRM and sales management products, and Retention Performance Marketing, Inc., (RPM(R)), which powers dealerships with cutting-edge customer loyalty and retention marketing programs. As the Internet's largest new car buying service, Autobytel generates over a billion dollars a month in car sales for dealers through its services and was the most visited new car buying and research destination in 2003, reaching millions of car shoppers as they made their vehicle buying decisions. Autobytel's car-selling sites and lead management products are used by more of the nation's top-100 e-dealers than any other program.

(1) National Highway Traffic Safety