The Cobalt Group Celebrates Its Tenth Anniversary
SEATTLE--March 17, 2005--| In Its First Decade, the Automotive Retailing Solutions Provider Has Gained the Business of Thousands of North America's Most Innovative Automotive Dealerships and Dozens of Leading Auto Manufacturers |
The Cobalt Group, North America's leading provider of automotive retailing solutions, today celebrated its tenth anniversary. Founded on St. Patrick's Day in 1995 with six employees, Cobalt now provides automotive retailing products and services to thousands of North America's most innovative automotive dealerships and is endorsed by more than two-thirds of the world's major automobile manufacturers.
"Ten years ago we set out with a mission to work with automotive dealers -- not against them as many other Internet companies did -- to help them leverage Internet-based technology to increase their sales and improve the car-buying experience for their customers," said John Holt, president, CEO and co-founder of Cobalt. "Our mission today is unchanged and our focus remains firmly on helping dealers. We now offer an integrated suite of products and services that spans the breadth of automotive retailing, including prospect marketing, lead generation and management, showroom control, and customer relationship marketing. Our vision for the next ten years is to provide every essential service that dealers need to run the front end of their dealerships, increasing dealership profitability, customer satisfaction and ownership retention."
From its beginnings in a small office near Seattle's Pike Place Market, Cobalt has grown to 800 employees. Cobalt's headquarters are now in Seattle's SODO neighborhood, and the company has offices in Detroit, Michigan; Austin, Texas; Columbus, Ohio; Redwood City, California; and Bangalore, India. Cobalt serves its automotive retail clients with a field sales force that covers all 50 states and every major metropolitan sales area in the United States and Canada.
Cobalt's rapid growth was built on its innovative technologies and exceptional levels of service exclusively designed to serve the needs of automotive dealers and manufacturers. Aiding Cobalt's expansion were the strategic acquisitions of six automotive technology companies, including Dealernet, PartsVoice, IntegraLink, Cowboy Corporation, Auto Town, and Dealix.
Two key events in Cobalt's history were its initial public stock offering in 1999, and the transaction in 2001 by Warburg Pincus, a global private equity firm and longtime Cobalt investor, to buy out all the company's outstanding shares and take Cobalt private. As a private company, Cobalt has invested millions of dollars in products, services and infrastructure to offer dealers and manufacturers industry-leading innovation, scalability and performance.
A list of key Cobalt highlights follows:
Significant Company Achievements
1995 The Cobalt Group is founded in Seattle with the mission to help
automotive dealers leverage Internet-based technology to sell
more cars and services.
1996 Lexus launches the auto industry's first manufacturer-endorsed
dealer website program, built and operated by Cobalt.
1997 Cobalt purchases Dealernet from Reynolds and Reynolds.
1998 During 1997 and 1998, Cobalt-built dealer website programs are
launched by Acura, Nissan, Infiniti, Mitsubishi, and numerous
Toyota sales regions.
1999 Cobalt holds its initial public offering of stock in 1999 on the
NASDAQ under the ticker symbol CBLT. Cobalt acquires
PartsVoice, the auto parts locating and marketing company.
2000 Cobalt launches endorsed dealer websites for every U.S.
DaimlerChrysler Five Star dealership. Cobalt gains an
endorsement from the National Automobile Dealers Association
(NADA) and acquires IntegraLink, a provider of advanced data
extraction and reporting services. Cobalt launches eCare, its
industry-leading customer care organization.
2001 Cobalt provides its lead management application to the
DaimlerChrysler Five Star dealer and VW dealer networks.
Longtime investor Warburg Pincus takes Cobalt private.
2002 Cobalt launches Nitra, a state-of-the-art J2EE platform built
exclusively for the automotive industry. Cobalt opens an office
in Bangalore, India.
2003 Cobalt launches dealer website programs for Kia and Saturn.
Cobalt acquires Cowboy Corporation, a leader in customer
relationship management (CRM) solutions.
2004 GM selects Cobalt to create and run PowerShift, its dealer
website program. Saturn endorses Cobalt Prospector for the
Saturn retailer network. Cobalt secures $92 million in equity
and debt financing from Warburg Pincus, ABS Capital Partners,
Oak Investment Partners, and Silicon Valley Bank. Cobalt
acquires automotive software provider Auto Town, and Dealix
Corporation, a leading provider of sales leads and technology to
automotive dealerships, large dealer groups and automobile
manufacturers.
2005 Cobalt unveils its complete automotive retailing solution and
gains an endorsement from the American International Automobile
Dealers Association (AIADA).
About The Cobalt Group
The Cobalt Group is North America's leading provider of automotive retailing solutions. For a decade, Cobalt's exclusive mission has been to help automobile dealers and manufacturers leverage online retailing and customer relationship management (CRM) technology to increase their effectiveness and profits and to enhance the car-buying and ownership experience for their customers. Cobalt provides automotive retailing products and services to more than half the automotive dealerships in the United States, Canada and Mexico and is endorsed by more than two-thirds of the world's major automotive manufacturers. Cobalt is endorsed by the American International Automobile Dealers Association (AIADA) and the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA(R)).