Chrome Carbook Coming to Canadian Car Buyers in French and English Versions

PORTLAND, Ore.--Jan. 2, 20057, 2005--Chrome Systems Corporation, provider of data, configuration technology and commerce solutions for the automotive industry, today announced a February 1 release date for the Canadian version of its market-leading vehicle configurator tool for web sites, Chrome Carbook(R). The tool has been modified to fit the needs of the Canadian online auto shopper and includes data and content in both French Canadian and English Canadian.

Chrome Carbook(R) is a consumer-facing, Web-based tool for configuring, researching, pricing and requesting vehicles. It is currently accessible from more than 2,000 web sites in the United States. Designed to fit seamlessly within a site's branded look and feel, features can be turned on or off, depending on the desired customer experience. The product offers many benefits, including a free tool for customizing its look and feel, as well as control over which vehicles or pricing to display or compare against. When using the tool, consumers simply click a button to send their vehicle request to a dealer.

Once a vehicle style is selected in Chrome Carbook(R), online shoppers are presented with a wealth of objective information about the vehicle, including standard features and options, as well as stock images. They choose their preferred interior and exterior color scheme from visual color swatches. Since interior color combinations can only be selected if they are available with the selected exterior color, there are no surprised or disappointed shoppers. At the end of the "build a car" process, online shoppers can print a copy of their configured vehicle's specs and price and bring it with them to the showroom.

"We're extremely pleased to offer Chrome Carbook to our partners in Canada," said Dave Mingle, president of Chrome. "We've been delivering vehicle data to the Canadian market through various channels for some time, but this is the first time we've offered our web site vehicle configurator outside of the United States. We're glad to make it easier for buyers and sellers in Canada to transact business, and look forward to future product enhancements."

Chrome's experience in Canada spans several years. The company currently sells a Canadian version of its desktop-based vehicle pricing and ordering tool, PC Carbook(R), has provided the data in the Reynolds & Reynolds sales solution for Canadian dealers, and continues to power the GM BuyPower Canada web site. More recently, it announced business deals with Suzuki Canada and Canadian Black Book.

The Canadian version of Chrome Carbook(R) is available for immediate ordering, with delivery scheduled for February 1. It will be featured at Booth 3221 during the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) 88th Annual Convention and Exposition in New Orleans, January 29-February 1, 2005.

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 with the introduction of PC Carbook(R), and since 1986 has collected, analyzed and enhanced "raw" automotive data from all manufacturers.