Toyota Launchs buyatoyota.com in the Northwest
25 April 2000
The Cobalt Group and Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. Launch Consumer-Focused Site: buyatoyota.com
SEATTLE--April 25, 2000--The Cobalt Group announced the debut of buyatoyota.com, a dynamic new Web site that features groundbreaking approaches to both consumer-focused automotive Web sites and online real-time dealer inventory availability.Buyatoyota.com is an Internet retailing pilot program that partners Cobalt's Internet technology with Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. and 19 dealerships from the Western Washington Toyota Dealers Association. Buyatoyota.com will be watched closely as a prototype for sites that unify the interests of a collection of regional dealers while providing a bold new standard for consumer-friendly automotive e-tailing. It is also expected to be the new industry model for the compatibility and interdependence of "brick and mortar" dealerships with online retailing.
"This site drives consumers directly to dealers," said John Holt, president and CEO of The Cobalt Group. "There's no need for middle men or broker sites because buyatoyota.com has everything consumers need to research and buy a car online from dealers. Buyatoyota.com is a roadmap to the future of online automotive retailing, where manufacturers and dealers work closely together to provide direct services to online prospects and owners."
As the domain name implies, buyatoyota.com is specifically designed to ease the purchase or lease transaction of the "ready to buy consumer." Buyatoyota.com's retail focus provides car buyers online purchase tools to research, finance, and initiate the lease or purchasing process with any of the 19 participating dealers.
Buyatoyota.com features:
-- Real-time availability status on new and used vehicles
throughout the 19 Toyota dealers in western Washington.
-- Complete new vehicle pricing, including factory MSRP, dealer
price quotes, and dealer invoice.
-- Current regional Internet specials.
-- Online dealer finance application.
-- Online trade-in vehicle estimates from Kelley Blue Book.
-- A dedicated call center to respond to all initial purchase
inquiries with a one-hour email response time between 9 a.m.
and 9 p.m., seven days a week.
-- Online help chat that provides real-time assistance to site
users 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
-- A "saved search" function that allows customers to save new
vehicle searches and track availability updates.
"We believe that this comprehensive approach will result in an exceptional and convenient sales experience for every Toyota customer -- no matter how they prefer to buy their car," said J. Davis Illingworth, Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc.'s senior vice president of planning and development. "As independent e-tailing dotcom concepts come and go, we're convinced the best automotive dotcom is the dealer. With this new model, we're able to leverage the strength of our dealer network in the physical world in combination with the best the online world can offer. We're extremely pleased with the results, which are a product of our successful partnership with The Cobalt Group."
Toyota is putting its money where its mouth is, with a $1.5 million ad campaign in western Washington throughout the duration of the pilot program. If the test results from buyatoyota.com prove positive, Toyota plans to roll out tailored versions of the site custom designed for other Toyota Dealer Associations beginning in the summer of 2000.