OpenAuto Announces Business-to-Business Automotive E-Commerce Strategy
18 April 2000
OpenAuto Announces Business-to-Business Automotive E-Commerce Strategy
WALNUT CREEK, Calif.--April 18, 2000--Company Plans To Launch First Business-to-Business Online Exchange to Automate Automotive E-commerce Fulfillment, Drive Online Car Sales
OpenAuto (www.openauto.com) today announced plans to shift its entire focus to business-to-business automotive e-commerce solutions, becoming the first company to build the technology infrastructure required to automate fulfillment and facilitate online car sales.
OpenAuto initially launched as a direct-to-consumer automotive e-commerce company. However, the company quickly recognized a greater market opportunity for providing the "missing link" technology solution -- automated, easily integrated e-commerce fulfillment -- that allows online automotive retailers and brick-and-mortar dealers to focus on their online buyers' experience and service instead of the technical architecture required to provide that experience.
OpenAuto will create a national online exchange servicing the business-to-business market between the automotive industry and e-commerce companies. Through OpenAuto's exchange and its application services, automotive retailers and brick-and-mortar dealers will finally be able to provide online car buyers a complete online shopping experience--real-time prices for immediately available cars that match the criteria of the car they want.
"OpenAuto's suite of business-to-business automotive e-commerce solutions will help brick-and-mortar car dealers and automotive retailers sell more cars by automating the entire fulfillment process through our application services -- which no other automotive retailer has been able to achieve," said John Truchard, OpenAuto's co-founder, president and CEO. "Our application services will help traditional car dealers offer on their own Web site the same sophisticated functionality as established online car buying services, and will help emerging online automotive retailers accelerate their speed to market."
OpenAuto's automotive e-commerce fulfillment tools will provide automotive retailing companies with the most cost-effective solution to online consumer demand fulfillment. OpenAuto already has more than 6,000 participating dealers nationwide -- providing its online automotive retailing clients access to the largest new car inventory exchange and therefore the greatest market coverage.
"OpenAuto has always been dedicated to changing the way people buy cars, and now we're going to help automotive retailing companies of all types do just that with our 'one-visit' automotive e-commerce fulfillment solution," Truchard said. "Now, our clients can provide consumers with a means to find, finance and buy new cars online in real-time -- in one seamless process."
As OpenAuto's exchange grows in terms of new car inventory and e-commerce transaction volume, its value to car dealers and online automotive retailers increases. This positions the company's services to become the industry standard for automotive retailers seeking to satisfy consumers' growing demand for buying cars through the Internet. Market research firm Forrester Research reports that 8 percent of car shoppers will buy their vehicle online this year, resulting in a $40 billion market opportunity that will continue to blossom. In addition, J.D. Power and Associates predicts that 55 percent of all new-car buyers will use the Internet this year to help them with their purchases, growing to 66 percent in 2001.
About OpenAuto
OpenAuto is the first business-to-business automotive e-commerce company to build the necessary technology infrastructure to automate and facilitate online car sales for the entire marketplace. OpenAuto's suite of automotive e-commerce application services will help brick-and-mortar car dealers offer on their own Web sites the same sophisticated functionality as established online car buying services, will allow automotive e-commerce companies to focus on consumer experience and service, and will help emerging automotive e-commerce companies accelerate their speed-to-market. Launched in November 1999, OpenAuto is a venture-backed company based in the San Francisco Bay Area. For more information, please visit www.openauto.com, or call 925/974-8700.