CarsDirect.com Selected as New Online Car Buying Service by 4 AAA Clubs
LOS ANGELES--Oct. 10, 2001--CarsDirect.com, a leading multi-brand online car buying service, today announced its selection as the new online car buying service for four of the leading AAA (American Automobile Association) clubs in the United States. Included in today's announcement are Automobile Club of New York, serving the metropolitan New York area; the California State Automobile Association (CSAA), serving Northern California, Nevada and Utah; AAA Michigan; and AAA Washington, serving central and western Washington state.
"These agreements connect us with four of the largest clubs within one of the nation's best-known and most respected organizations for automobile owners," said Bob Brisco, CEO, CarsDirect.com. "Our partnership with AAA extends CarsDirect.com's reach to a significant new audience of consumers who take car buying and ownership seriously and underscores a shared commitment by both companies to outstanding customer service."
The clubs' combined 9.5 million members can now conduct research and order vehicles from CarsDirect.com in connection with a visit to www.aaa.com. When visitors to www.aaa.com click through to CarsDirect.com, they will experience CarsDirect.com's award-winning customer service as they select, order and finance the vehicle of their choice. AAA members who purchase a vehicle through the CarsDirect.com program will receive a free AAA membership renewal or other member benefit as an added bonus.
"As new services become available, we're committed to delivering them and adding tangible value to AAA membership," said Don Felts, CSAA corporate vice president of eBusiness and Automotive Services. "CarsDirect.com provides this type of value, with guaranteed upfront pricing and an outstanding new way to buy a car directly."
"There's one thing that motivates our company, and that's member service," said Charles Liekweg, AAA Washington president and CEO. "We looked for a partner who could deliver the best experience and value for our members in researching and buying a car, and in CarsDirect.com, we found the strongest player in the field. The commitment of our organizations to superior customer service and technology is parallel, and our members stand to benefit greatly."
"An increasing number of our members are becoming Web savvy and are turning to the Internet to research and buy new cars," said Dennis J. Crossley, executive vice president, Automobile Club of New York. "It was crucial for us to find an online partner to meet our members' high expectations for making the car buying process faster and easier and CarsDirect.com was the logical choice."
"We believe this new service is a major enhancement to the benefit of AAA membership," said Ted Gambill, president and COO of AAA Michigan.
How the Online New Car Buying Program Works
After logging on to www.aaa.com, members of the four AAA clubs simply enter their zip code to get forwarded to their club's Web site. By clicking on the new car buying option on the club's Web site, shoppers have access to CarsDirect.com's comprehensive research center tools to help narrow the search for the right vehicle by manufacturer, price range, and vehicle type. Once a vehicle and factory options have been selected, CarsDirect.com displays its signature no-haggle, upfront price for that car, with useful sample monthly loan and lease payments based on typical financing terms. The CarsDirect.com Price Guarantee ensures that customers can obtain the lowest possible price when purchasing a new car or truck.
After the customer has submitted the vehicle order, a highly trained Vehicle Specialist will confirm the availability of the chosen vehicle and arrange a convenient time frame to take delivery of the new vehicle at one of CarsDirect.com's 3,000 priority auto dealerships. At the dealership, the car buyer simply completes and signs the necessary paperwork.
About CarsDirect.com
Los Angeles-based CarsDirect.com (www.carsdirect.com) is the leading multi-brand online car buying service, providing new automobiles and related products and services, such as loan and lease financing and in-demand aftermarket products including extended warranties. As the pioneer of the direct online car buying model, CarsDirect.com offers upfront pricing to consumers, who can research, price, order, purchase, insure and finance a vehicle online via an intuitive Web site that offers product information for nearly every make, model and style of new automobile available in the United States today.
In February 2001, CarsDirect.com acquired Greenlight.com, bringing four of the nation's largest automotive retailers -- UnitedAuto Group/Penske Automotive, Asbury Automotive, Hendrick Automotive Group, and Sonic Automotive -- under one online brand and increasing the number of priority dealers in CarsDirect.com's network to 3,000. CarsDirect.com also became the exclusive preferred partner for Amazon.com , enhancing the online car buying experience for Amazon's 29 million customers.
