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Autoweb Announces New CFO and Strategy

18 December 2000

         Company Confident in Ability to Reach Profitability in 2001

     New Industry Data Will Drive More Lucrative Supply and Demand Cycle
  For Manufacturers and Retailers; Provide Basis for More Targeted Marketing
                           To Automotive Consumers

    SANTA CLARA, Calif., Dec. 18 Autoweb.com, Inc. , the leading automotive Internet service,
today announced the appointment of Michael Schmidt to the post of CFO.  The
Company also reaffirmed that it expects to become EBIDTA positive in Q2 2001
and fully profitable in the second half of 2001 through cost-savings that are
estimated to total over $30 million and the monetization of untapped
resources.
    In making this announcement, management emphasized the following
compelling company dynamics:

    1) $27.5 million cash position
    2) $30 million in cost reductions
    3) Strong management team and addition of new CFO
    4) Planned rollout of information services

    Mr. Schmidt, who has over 15 years experience in international finance and
operations, will lead Autoweb's drive to profitability.  A cornerstone of this
effort will include unveiling Autoweb's proprietary data about consumer
preferences and buying behavior, as well as automotive manufacturer
information.  Autoweb's Automotive Information Center (AIC), a key provider of
vehicle and manufacturer data and a strong B-to-B brand in the automotive
industry, continues to be a driver of positive results in 2001.
    Autoweb's effort toward driving profitability and cutting costs was
instigated in late November when the company announced a reduction in work
force, which is expected to save the company an estimated $10 million next
year.
    "Schmidt will be invaluable as Autoweb continues to restructure many of
its partnerships, including portal relationships that are instrumental to
Autoweb's reach, and will explore new opportunities to reduce marketing costs.
We expect these cost-cutting steps to result in savings in excess of
$20 million for 2001, bringing the total savings to over $30 million for
2001," said Autoweb's CEO, Jeffrey Schwartz.
    Mr. Schmidt was most recently Chief Operating Officer and
Chief Financial Officer at MizBiz.com.  Prior to this, Mr. Schmidt held
various senior level roles in operations and finance at IMS Health ,
the $1.5 billion worldwide provider of information services. Mr. Schmidt's
roles at IMS Health included Chairman of Amfac-Chemdata where he was
responsible for the integration of this acquisition.  He was also Director of
Financial Analysis where he led IMS Health's worldwide strategic planning,
budgeting and forecasting process.  Mr. Schmidt's later roles at IMS Health
focused on increasing subsidiary operating margins and cash flow through cost
control initiatives and product repositioning.
    "I was drawn to Autoweb by its talented management team, strong cash
position and sound strategy for creating a successful and profitable
business," Schmidt said.  "The company's understanding of the key to success
in the online automotive industry is evident as it begins to announce its many
exciting new developments, the first being the mining of valuable automotive
data that until now has been untapped."
    Autoweb's data will be used by automotive manufacturers to make more sound
marketing and production decisions.  This offering demonstrates Autoweb's
commitment to CRM.
    "As the automotive industry moves toward a build-to-order model, Autoweb
will continue to examine ways to leverage the wealth of information it
currently holds on consumer buying patterns and preferences," said
Nadyne G. Edison, Ph.D. Autoweb's Chief Marketing Officer and Vice President
of Customer Relationship Management.
    Edison continued, "Autoweb is positioned to become a significant provider
of unique knowledge about the automotive shopper.  Regardless of whether a
purchase is made, automotive shoppers who use the Autoweb network provide us
with valuable information about their automotive preferences and their status
in the purchasing cycle.  This information is a goldmine for the multiple
channels in the automotive supply chain, including manufacturers, retailers
and automotive marketers looking to cut costs and proactively target consumers
with the right product at the right time.   First, manufacturers can now
reduce surplus inventory and production costs by mining the consumer data to
produce only the vehicle and component designs that are specifically in
demand.  Second, retailers and marketers will be equipped with the information
for true one-to-one targeting and industry-leading customer relationship
management services."
    In discussing these planned initiatives, management also noted that the
recent restructuring efforts with certain commercial partners, while expected
to accelerate growth and profitability later in 2001, would pressure financial
results for the fourth quarter of 2000.  The company anticipates reporting a
fourth quarter loss per share in the range of $0.37 to $0.40 on revenues of
approximately $10 million.  "Our main strategic focus at the moment is to
drive the organization to profitability through more cost-effective revenue
streams and a streamlined organization, as demonstrated by our restructuring
efforts with certain commercial partners and the recent reduction in force.
Although these efforts are expected to be extremely beneficial for 2001, they
will exert some temporary pressure on revenues as well as result in some
one-time costs in the fourth quarter," said Autoweb's CFO, Michael Schmidt.
For the first quarter of 2001, the company expects to see the benefit of its
efforts and anticipates its revenue growth percentage in the high single
digits and EBIDTA loss to be less than $2.5 million turning slightly positive
in the second quarter of 2001.
    The company plans to provide further guidance on 2001 when fourth quarter
earnings are released in January.

    About Autoweb
    Autoweb.com is the leading automotive Internet service, guiding users
through every stage of vehicle ownership.  Through its direct and referral
commerce channels, Autoweb.com offers consumers a variety of ways to purchase
new and used vehicles in conjunction with vehicle manufacturers, local Member
Dealers and other commerce partners.  The Company's Web site also provides
consumers with a wide range of automotive-related products to support the
complete lifecycle of the vehicle, including finance, insurance and
maintenance.  Autoweb.com features comprehensive, unbiased research from its
Automotive Information Center (AIC) division.
    Autoweb also continues to set the standard in the business-to-business
marketplace by providing Web sites with the most advanced technology to view
automotive information, and the most accurate and reliable automotive data and
content.   Currently, major automobile manufacturers, including BMW,
DaimlerChrysler, Ford, General Motors, Honda and Toyota, use Autoweb's
automotive data to power their sites.  The major consumer portals also use
Autoweb's content and technology, including AOL, Lycos, MSN Carpoint and GO.
AutoSuite is highly configurable for any individual AIC customer, as the
interface can match any look and feel, while vehicles (both target and
competitor) and specific features can be limited to any selection desired.
For more information, please visit http://www.autoweb.com and
http://www.autosite.com .

    Safe Harbor Statement:
    Certain statements in this news release, including statements that include
words such as "expects," "believes" or other future-oriented statements, are
forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from anticipated
results. In particular, factors that could cause Autoweb not to reach
profitability in 2001 include, but are not limited to:  our ability to attract
consumers through existing portal relationships; the combined viability of
current and new car buying process on our site; consumer acceptance of online
car buying and our ability to continue to reduce expenses without comparable
or greater revenue reductions. Other risks and uncertainties include changes
in competitive behavior or market forces, uncertainties regarding response
from the vehicle manufacturers, changes in the legal or regulatory
environment, changes or lack of changes in consumer preferences over time,
technological challenges and an inability to forecast future traffic and
transactions. Further information on risk factors that could affect results is
detailed in Autoweb's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
including its Registration Statement on Form S-1 (No. 333-71177) and its Form
10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2000, filed with the Securities and
Exchanges Commission.