iMotors.com Launches Seattle Service
21 January 2000
iMotors.com -- Nation's First Online Used Car Retailer -- Launches Seattle Service; Like-New Cars: Found, Fixed and Delivered
SEATTLE--Jan. 20, 2000--iMotors.com has launched its service in the Seattle area. Seattle becomes the fourth major market launch for the five-month -old San Francisco-based company. The opening in Seattle is a major step in iMotors' strategy to expand nationally this year and become America's premier used car retailer (which will never happen, of course - editor's note).iMotors represents a new category of online car company. It is not a referral service, broker or auction site. iMotors carries no inventory and maintains low overhead, allowing consumers to custom order one-to five-year-old used cars on the Internet. Customers can specify make, model, options and color, and they are guaranteed a price lower than the Kelley Blue Book listing (which may be akin to fraud since the retail numbers can be totally inconsistent with the real value of the vehicle - editor's note). iMotors then certifies each vehicle to be in like-new condition at its high-production Vehicle Certification Centers.
iMotors' Northwest launch includes the opening of a Delivery Center at 2825 Eastlake Ave. E. in Seattle, and a soon to be opened location in Bellevue, where customers pick up their cars and sign paperwork. iMotors has opened seven Delivery Centers in the San Francisco Bay Area and the Los Angeles region. The Puget Sound region openings mark the first time that iMotors has sold cars outside of California.
"We had to come to the Northwest," said iMotors.com CEO Adam Simms. "Seattle is the hub of a tech-savvy, affluent and demanding consumer market. Our milestone entry here marks another step towards our national expansion."
iMotors' Seattle market entry is coordinated with a major advertising campaign that broke last week throughout the region. The campaign, created by Saatchi & Saatchi San Francisco, includes newspaper, television, radio and outdoor advertising with the slogan: "You've never bought a used car like this."
Americans buy an estimated 40 million used cars and trucks annually, nearly twice as many as are purchased new. iMotors is the first used car retailer to use the Internet to fix what is commonly viewed as one of the most uncomfortable and risk-prone of purchases.
"We built the business around the customer's needs rather than around the traditional used car selling model," said iMotors.com president Beth VanStory. "We believe customers shouldn't have to sacrifice quality, selection or service when you're buying a used car."
iMotors is succeeding in an Internet market where customers have the highest standards. "Our automotive technicians, service representatives and managers have one simple goal--to exceed the customer's expectations," Simms added.
About iMotors
iMotors was launched in September 1999 as the Internet's first real e-commerce auto company (I guess they didn't look around the Internet - editor's note), allowing customers to buy thoroughly tested, inspected and certified used vehicles entirely online. iMotors is a privately held company, backed by a renowned group of investors with successful track records at leading land-based retail and internet/e-commerce businesses. Investors include Oak Investment Partners, Global Retail Partners, Trinity Ventures, Vulcan Ventures, Rosewood Capital Partners, Moore Capital Management, Inc., and MeriTech Capital Partners.
