AUTOVIA Paving a New Road for Auto Parts Industry
16 March 2000
AUTOVIA Paving a New Road for Auto Parts Industry; Company Unveils National Plans to Connect Automotive Repair Shops with Suppliers via the Internet
SACRAMENTO, Calif.--March 16, 2000--Internet technology is on the verge of transforming how automotive parts are sold and the way repair shops do business.Leading this revolution is AUTOVIA(TM), the first business-to-business e-commerce company to provide automotive repair shops simultaneous online access to multiple automotive and trucks parts suppliers.
Over the next three months, the Sacramento-based company -- funded by such prominent financial backers as Internet Capital Group , Cross Point Ventures and Hearst Corporation -- will roll out its Northern California operations into selected cities nationwide, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis, Atlanta, Baltimore, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
"Using the Internet to improve the way automotive parts are bought and sold is a natural fit for the fast-paced automotive industry," said Rod Georgiu, AUTOVIA's founder and CEO. "AUTOVIA makes it faster and easier for automotive repairs shops to obtain the necessary parts to complete a job in a timely and efficient manner. It's crucial to customer satisfaction. Their businesses depend on it."
AUTOVIA's buyers parts service is free of charge to repair shops. AUTOVIA provides free access to registered repair shops and fleets so that they can instantly compare parts availability among multiple suppliers, quickly find the quality brands that they trust, and display their current negotiated cost, by part number, from each of their current suppliers.
AUTOVIA's Internet service also benefits automotive parts suppliers by reducing manual-order processing costs by as much as 75 percent, reducing the current manual cost of 10-12 percent down to 2.5 percent.
Instead of committing valuable time and money handling heavy loads of phone calls for routine stock checks and orders, the stock check responses occur electronically. Final orders then print out automatically on the suppliers' existing invoice printers, significantly reducing per order operating expenses as well as return rates for ordered parts, which fall substantially below the industry average for e-commerce companies.
"AUTOVIA has significantly improved our production and customer service," said distributor Sam Cracraft, of Sacramento Tires, Batteries and Accessories Company. "Several of our accounts have increased their monthly sales by more than 20 percent, and customers tell me their orders are processed 20 minutes faster than the traditional method of ordering over the phone."
The traditional method of processing orders by phone is expensive and time-consuming for both the buyer and seller. AUTOVIA solves the problem by making the whole process much more efficient and cost-effective. The buyer gets the help when they need it and the seller has more time to assist the customer as a result of less phone time on routine stock checks and orders. The relationship between the two is enhanced by making it easier to do business.
AUTOVIA is the first business-to-business e-commerce company that provides automotive repair shops with simultaneous access to multiple automotive and truck parts suppliers. Launched in 1998 by a team of leading automotive industry experts, AUTOVIA is backed by several venture funds, including Internet Capital Group , Cross Point Ventures and Hearst Corporation. Its integrated web-based Electronic Parts Catalog includes more than 450 national brands.
Based in Sacramento, AUTOVIA currently offers service in selected metropolitan markets and plans to expand into the nation's top markets prior to launching internationally in late 2000. More information about the company can be found at: www.autovia.net.