DriveChicago.com Puts Chicagoans in the Driver's Seat of Online Car Shopping
6 October 2000
DriveChicago.com Puts Chicagoans in the Driver's Seat of Online Car Shopping
Top Chicago Media Companies and Auto Dealers Join Forces
To Create the First-Ever, Local Automotive Portal
CHICAGO, Oct. 6 Car shopping in Chicago is getting easier
with the Saturday, October 7 launch of DriveChicago.com, the area's most
comprehensive, local online source for researching and purchasing new and used
cars.
A joint venture of Chicago's top media companies and area auto dealers,
DriveChicago.com is the first automotive site of its kind to bring together
hundreds of local resources in one convenient online location. Resources from
the site's three partners the Chicago Automobile Trade Association (CATA),
Paddock Publications (Daily Herald) and Hollinger Publications (Sun-Times,
Pioneer Press, Daily Southtown, Star Newspapers and the Post Tribune) give
users access to the most extensive new and used car inventory available online
in Chicago.
"Our partners are the backbone of DriveChicago.com," said Joe Giarratana,
DriveChicago.com general manager. "Each entity brings a wealth of automotive
resources including hundreds of local dealers, car news, reviews and thousands
of classified newspaper ads. Once combined, these tools give Chicagoland
consumers the largest, most informative and cost-effective automotive
marketplace on the web."
"With more than 250 Chicago area auto dealers signed up at launch, we have
exceeded the benchmark set by other automotive web sites," said Giarratana.
"As we continue to grow, we won't be satisfied until we bring every new car
dealer in the market to DriveChicago.com consumers."
The scope of services and features available on DriveChicago.com include:
Research tools cover everything a buyer needs to know. Test Drive Reviews
offer the latest vehicle ratings and performance overviews. Car Values gives
accurate price ranges based on the latest blue book values. The Compare
Vehicles feature offers a side-by-side comparison of the users top vehicle
choices. And finally, the Payment Calculator gives the buyer an idea of
monthly payments and affordability of the vehicle they have chosen.
Find Your New Car features an extensive inventory of new cars from
hundreds of Chicago area auto dealers. Here users can choose a variety of
vehicle options such as trim, engine size, and color with the help of the
Build Your Car feature. For those looking for a dealer in their area, the
Locate Dealers feature allows users to search dealers and inventory by zip
code. Finally, Value Your Trade gives the consumers an accurate estimate of
what they can expect to get from their trade-in vehicle based on Kelly Blue
Book values.
Find Your Used Car features an extensive inventory of used vehicles with
from area auto dealers and the classified ads from several of Chicago's top
newspapers including the Chicago Sun-Times, Daily Herald and Daily Southtown.
My DriveChicago.com enables users to personalize the site. Here, site
users can customize their experience with access to traffic reports specific
to their personal routes and the latest local news and weather on demand.
Win a Nissan Xterra! As an added incentive and thank you for trying the
new site, DriveChicago.com will give away a 2001 Nissan Xterra on November 16,
2000. Now through November 15, 2000, visitors to DriveChicago.com can
register for a chance to win. Complete details are available at online at
http://www.DriveChicago.com .
"DriveChicago.com truly is a one-stop automotive super-store for
Chicagoland," said Giarratana. "With the scope of our inventory and the depth
and variety of our automotive news, we give Chicagoans everything they need to
make well-informed automotive decisions."
Partnerships Key to Success
Beyond the features and quality content of the site, partnerships are a
valuable component to the expected success of DriveChicago.com. Each partner
brings valuable assets to the mix that will clearly differentiate the site
from the competition.
"The Internet, which was once viewed as a vehicle to take local products
global, is becoming more and more local," said Giarratana. "Increasingly
businesses see that the Internet is an effective way to reach their customers
locally, especially in the automotive sector."
"Our local focus, clearly sets us apart from the competition," said
Douglas K. Ray, Daily Herald president. "All three DriveChicago.com partners,
offer local expertise and experience that will provide Chicagoans with the
tools they need to put themselves in the driver's seat of online car
shopping."
"With more than 650 Chicagoland auto dealers, the Chicago Automobile Trade
Association represents a significant portion of the area's new and used car
inventory," said Art Kelly, owner of Kelly Nissan in Oak Lawn and a CATA
director. "Our partnership in DriveChicago.com is a cost-effective way to
reach thousands of local consumers and provide them the best car prices
around."
"Credible, reliable content is a cornerstone of the news business," said
Kenneth J. DePaola, associate publisher of the Sun-Times. "We will maintain
this integrity online by providing DriveChicago.com consumers the highest-
quality automotive news content to help them make solid, well-informed
decisions."
About the Partners
Founded in 1904, CATA has blossomed to more than 800 members, making it
the country's oldest and largest metropolitan dealer organization. The CATA's
membership includes 650 new car dealers that employ more than 38,000 and
generate $16 billion in new car sales and total revenue of more than $28
billion.
The Daily Herald is a family-owned institution located in the epicenter of
the affluent suburban Chicago market. It is the third largest newspaper in
Illinois and fifth fastest-growing in the country. The marketing position of
"Big Picture. Local Focus" emphasizes the Daily Herald's signature of
providing complete national and international coverage with intensely local
news in 27 zoned editions everyday.
The Chicago Sun-Times is the most widely read newspaper in the Midwest and
ranks 4th among the nations top 50 markets according to the latest Scarborough
Report. The Sun-Times is owned by Hollinger International, Inc.