NYTimes.Com to Join The Fray And Mimic Other Sites By Offering Ubiquitous Auto Dealer Inventory - And We Thought They Were Above All That!
Editors Note: This is yet another example that "Print Guys Don't Get It"... here's how to take a unique property with exclusive content and make it like thousands of other sites. Is Cobalt paying for this privilege?, if this is an advertising deal not an editorial deal..."Never Mind".
NEW YORK & SEATTLE--Oct. 17, 2002--The Cobalt
Group, a leading provider of e-business software and services to the
automotive retail market, today announced a partnership with New York
Times Digital, the digital business unit of The New York Times Company
.
Cobalt is now providing visitors to NYTimes.com's automotive
section (NYTimes.com/autos) with expanded access to new and used
vehicle listings from 650 dealers in New York, Connecticut, New Jersey
and Pennsylvania.
Cobalt will be responsible for the development, hosting and
maintenance of listings pages on NYTimes.com/autos. In addition,
Cobalt will manage the vehicle inventory data from participating auto
dealers and private sellers. Cobalt's technology will also allow for
the incorporation of dealer inventory and newspaper classified
listings onto NYTimes.com.
"We are pleased to partner with The Cobalt Group as we continue to
expand and enhance our automotives channel," said Jeff Moriarty,
director of classified operations for NYTimes.com. "Dealers will now
be able to gain exposure to the affluent, high-quality audience on
NYTimes.com that is shopping for vehicles, and users will benefit from
Cobalt's seamless integration of dealer inventory and classified
listings from The New York Times newspaper."
The site includes "Quick Search" functionality from the section
front of NYTimes.com/autos, as well as tools for advanced searching,
locating dealers, researching vehicles and selling vehicles. Using
these tools, visitors to NYTimes.com/autos can research their dream
car, conduct side-by-side comparisons of different makes and models,
or locate a specific dealership and search its entire inventory.
Dealers will also be able to purchase enhanced, premium packages that
include additional tools such as "Quick Quote."
"This partnership benefits both Cobalt's network of participating
dealers and NYTimes.com's users," said Terry Smail, executive vice
president of global client services for The Cobalt Group. "By
providing dealers with a convenient solution for marketing vehicles to
online buyers, NYTimes.com is driving traffic to dealer Web sites and
potentially increasing vehicle sales. Cobalt's database of nearly
135,000 vehicle listings will also offer a compelling resource to
in-market car shoppers."
In addition to NYTimes.com/autos, Cobalt provides automotive
shopping portals for manufacturers and large dealer groups as well
as private label auto classifieds for media companies such as The
Houston Chronicle (ChronicleCars.com), Palm Beach Post
(PalmBeachClassifieds.com), and Austin American-Statesman
(StatesmanClassifieds.com).
About New York Times Digital
New York Times Digital is the digital business unit of The New
York Times Company and includes market leaders NYTimes.com
and Boston.com, as well as an archive distribution business. NYTD's
mission is to provide a high-quality, worldwide online audience with
trusted editorial content from The New York Times and The Boston
Globe.
About The Cobalt Group
The Cobalt Group works exclusively in the automotive retail market
to help manufacturers and dealers develop integrated e-business
programs by leveraging its industry-leading technology, broad range of
services and deep domain knowledge. As a leader in automotive
e-business, Cobalt is uniquely positioned to help its customers
maximize their overall operating efficiencies and profits.
Cobalt offers a broad range of products and services developed
specifically for the automotive marketplace, including enterprise
software for manufacturers and dealers; customer relationship
management (CRM) software applications; online automotive commerce
applications; the industry's largest OEM parts locating and marketing
service; and dealership e-business best practices training,
consulting, and process compliance analysis.
Cobalt operates a dealer network larger than any other technology
provider in the automotive retail industry, including 12,000
franchised dealers and 72 of the 100 largest dealer groups. Cobalt is
the only software technology provider ever endorsed by 16
manufacturers and the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA).
With headquarters in Seattle, Cobalt has offices in five U.S.
cities, and a field sales and services force in 30 states, including
all major U.S. metropolitan sales areas (MSA).