CarPrices.com Hires Key Executives From Chrysler, DLJ, and J.D. Power
24 February 2000
CarPrices.com Hires Key Executives From Chrysler, DLJ, and J.D. Power As It Expands Its New Car PriceWar
SAN DIEGO--Feb. 24, 2000--CarPrices.com, home of the Internet's first New Car PriceWar(TM), has added three key members to its management team in preparation for the nationwide rollout of its unique online sales model, the company announced today.Paul J. Najarian, formerly a senior vice president at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, has joined CarPrices.com as general counsel and vice president of business development. In addition, Dean Evans has joined the company as director of PriceWar and Tony Cohen has been named chief information analyst.
"We are very pleased to be able to add three outstanding individuals such as Paul, Dean and Tony to our management team, particularly in such a competitive hiring environment," said Ahmed Ghouri, co-founder and vice president of corporate communications for CarPrices.com. "They bring the right blend of management and industry experience to our company as we prepare to take the New Car PriceWar into other markets nationwide."
CarPrices.com started a revolution for buying automobiles online when it launched its New Car PriceWar concept in Novemeber 1999, Ghouri said. The PriceWar is a system in which a customer's new car purchase request is posted on CarPrices.com. Subsequently, multiple dealers compete for the buyer's business with exact, binding, out-the-door prices on the desired vehicle.
The company launched the New Car PriceWar in San Diego in November 1999 and will expand nationally in early 2000, Ghouri said. The new management team members are an important part of that expansion, he said.
Paul Najarian is responsible for CarPrices.com's business development strategy as well as the company's legal matters, Ghouri said. Prior to joining CarPrices.com, Najarian spent seven years with Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette where he was Senior Vice President of its Real Estate Finance Group and played a key role in the purchase, structuring, and distribution of more than $50 billion in securities.
Dean Evans is the overall strategist for CarPrices.com's New Car PriceWar. He has more than 10 years of experience in the automotive and technology sector, including eight years with Daimler Chrysler Corporation on regional and corporate levels and in sales, service, parts and technology divisions. Most recently, he was with Nextag.com, an Internet start-up, were he was responsible for the creation and implementation of a national bid auction marketplace for automobiles.
As chief information analyst, Tony Cohen will interact on a daily basis with the company's PriceWar team, membership department and Web site content group. In addition, he will have executive management responsibilities for data mining applications, Ghouri said. Prior to joining CarPrices.com, Cohen worked with J.D. Power and Associates for nine years where he was chief analyst for virtually all of the company's major syndicated research studies. Some of his most recent work focused on the Internet's impact throughout the automotive retail and distribution channel.
About CarPrices.com (www.carprices.com)
CarPrices.com, headquartered in San Diego, is one of the fastest growing auto-related sites on the Web. It attracts more than 1.5 million visitors per month and is responsible for more than $2 million in new car sales per day.
In 1999, CarPrices.com launched the Internet's first and only New Car PriceWar, in which multiple dealers compete for a buyer's business with exact, binding, out-the-door prices. The New Car PriceWar represents the ultimate value proposition for new car purchasers, who in 1999 spent more than $400 billion on vehicles in the U.S. alone.
CarPrices.com was the first Web site in the automotive category to:
| -- | Offer free new- and used-car prices to consumers on the Internet. |
| -- | Develop an affiliate program in the auto category. |
| -- | Introduce a two-tiered affiliate program. |
| -- | Develop fully integrated co-branded auto channels for top websites and portals. |
The company's PriceWar, which drives down prices for buyers and increases sales efficiency for dealers, has had unprecedented consumer and dealer participation in San Diego. As of December 1999, nearly 80 percent of all new car dealers in San Diego city and county were participating in the program. Moreover, nearly 50 percent of PriceWar participants bought a vehicle through the program in its first month of inception.