The Hottest Cars at the NY Auto Show are on Display at Priceline.com
27 April 2000
The Hottest Cars at the New York International Automobile Show are on Display at Priceline.com
NORWALK, Conn. and NEW YORK--April 27, 2000--| -- | Check out the Chrysler PT Cruiser, Ford Thunderbird, Audi TT Roadster, Jaguar F-Type, Cadillac Imaj and more online |
| -- | Web-based tour now available for those viewing through DSL, T1, cable modems or other high-speed, high-bandwidth connections |
| -- | John Davis, host of PBS' MotorWeek, takes car shoppers on an online video tour of the 2000 New York International Auto Show |
If you can't sneak out of your office to see the hottest cars at the New York International Automobile Show, then sneak on over to priceline.com (Nasdaq: PCLN). The Internet pricing service that helps consumers save money on a variety of goods and services including new cars through its subsidiary, priceline.com Auto Services, LLC, is offering a Web-based tour of the nation's largest and longest running auto show.
The Web tour, which Priceline Auto Services started offering last Friday in a format designed for modem speeds up to 56.6K, is available today in a large-scale format designed for those connecting through office networks, DSL, T1, cable or similar high-speed connections.
Is the new Chrysler PT Cruiser a car or a truck? John Davis, host of the popular PBS show MotorWeek, answers that question in the introduction to Concept Cars, one of 10 separate, two-minute segments of the NY Auto Show. Davis says it is "going to be a huge hit. Everybody wants one and they haven't even started running the TV ads yet." Davis, who is joined by Maryann Keller, president of priceline.com's Automotive Services Group and former award-winning Wall Street auto analyst, discuss how cars such as the PT Cruiser move from concept to reality. They then preview some of the hot concept cars at the show, including the Hyundai Crosstour, Jaguar F-Type and Cadillac Imaj.
If sports cars are your thing, then you can see the new Audi TT Roadster, Porsche 911 Turbo and Dodge Stratus Coupe, among others. SUVs covered include the Toyota Sequoia and BMW X-5. Luxury cars include the Lexus LS 430, Cadillac DeVille DTS and the redesigned, but not yet released, Ford Thunderbird.
The Web preview is available from priceline.com's home page, or by going directly to http://www.priceline.com/promo/nyas.asp.
Priceline Auto Services is unique among Internet car-buying services because it enables you to set the price for your new vehicle. Priceline Auto Services' enhanced auto-buying Web site is easy to use - just choose the car and options you want and the price you are willing to pay, and Priceline Auto Services will let you know in one business day whether a local dealership accepted your offer.
Choosing the car you want is simple. In a graphically-enhanced format, Priceline Auto Services displays popular car models and suggests option configurations that are most popular. To help choose a price, Priceline Auto Services shows the list price, dealer invoice and typical selling price for new car models.
Once you give Priceline Auto Services your offer price, you will be asked to select the local counties where you would be willing to pick up your new car. Priceline Auto Services circulates your offer to dealerships in your selected counties. Dealers can either accept your offer on the spot or respond with counter-offers for your review.
Priceline Auto Services' most unique feature is its confidentiality. Dealers always accept a consumer's offer in writing before receiving the name of the customer. By keeping customers' identities anonymous, Priceline Auto Services levels the playing field so that every consumer, particularly those who don't like to negotiate with salespersons, have the same opportunity to get a good deal on a new car, with no dinnertime phone calls and no pressure to accept someone else's price.
About priceline.com
Priceline.com, parent of priceline.com Auto Services, LLC, is the Name Your Own Price(SM) patented Internet pricing system that enables consumers to achieve significant savings on a variety of goods and services. Priceline.com takes consumer offers and then either communicates these offers to participating sellers or accesses participating sellers' private databases to determine whether it can fulfill the customer's offer. Priceline.com's "virtual" business model allows for rapid scaling using the Internet.
Priceline.com is currently selling multiple services to its sellers across four distinct product categories: a travel service that offers leisure airline tickets, hotel rooms and rental cars; a personal finance service (powered by pricelinemortgage) that offers home refinancing and home equity loans; and an automotive service that offers new cars. Priceline.com also announced that it would offer new credit card, telecommunications and business-to-business services later this year.
Priceline.com also licensed its business model to two privately held companies - Priceline WebHouse Club, Inc., which offers Name Your Own Price(SM) retail goods, beginning with groceries; and Priceline Perfect YardSale, Inc., a local-market selling service for used household items. In return for granting licenses to the WebHouse Club and Perfect YardSale, priceline.com receives royalties and has also received warrants allowing it to purchase an equity stake in the companies under certain contingent conditions. Prior to the exercise of those warrants, the results of WebHouse Club and Perfect YardSale operations will not be included in priceline.com's financial statements.
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