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OpenAuto.com Launches Breakthrough Used Car Service; Delivers The Exact Used
Car of Choice To Today’s Buyers
New Service Ends the Frustration of Searching for Used Cars on the Web
Walnut Creek, Calif., Jan. 31, 2004 –
Next Phase Media, Inc., the world’s premier online referral source, and its
subsidiary OpenAuto.com, today announced a new online used car service that
breaks through traditional web- based sales models, dramatically improving the
efficiency of matching a buyer with their perfect pre-owned vehicle. With
OpenAuto, consumers merely enter their “dream” used car parameters online and
the vehicle request is instantly transmitted to hundreds of local dealers.
Dealers can choose to purchase leads based on their used car inventory, enabling
sales to be finalized more quickly than ever.
“Instead of making the buyer do the work, OpenAuto leverages the power of the
Internet to find the consumer the exact used vehicle they want,” said Payam
Zamani, CEO and president of Next Phase Media. “ Eliminating the constant need
to update online inventory, OpenAuto also dramatically simplifies the online
used car sales business for dealers, enabling them to concentrate on their real
value – providing the sales and services needed to please today’s discriminating
consumer.”
Until now, dealers have been unable and unwilling to devote the time needed to
refresh and update online used car inventories because they change so rapidly.
In fact, dealers typically list only 10 percent of their inventory online, and only one
in four of those vehicles actually sell. Even on eBay Motors, 40 percent of the
used car dealers using the service object to the time and attention required by
the online auction format. As a result, the online selection for used cars is
abysmal and doesn’t come close to reflecting the 43 million used cars sold in the
United States annually, a far greater number than the 17 million new cars sold
yearly.
The patent-pending OpenAuto.com model removes this obstacle by flipping the
business model for online used car sales on its head. As a result of
OpenAuto.com’s unique business model, it is much easier to find unique or
popular pre-owned cars online and days of searching and haggling are
leapfrogged, significantly improving the online sales experience. Instead of
having to click through hundreds of online ads, consumers only need to enter
their request and let OpenAuto do the rest of the work. Interested dealers can
purchase the leads based on their in-house inventory, and proactively contact the
consumer.
OpenAuto dealers can view all vehicle requests at no charge, including location
of customer, distance from dealership, and the specifics of the desired vehicle.
When a request does match the dealer’s inventory, the dealer can pay for the
lead based on its own criteria, including in-stock inventory, location of customer
and the gross margin of the prospective sale. Once the lead is purchased, the
dealer receives the customer’s contact information to present their used car
offering to the potential buyer.
About Next Phase Media
OpenAuto.com connects car buyers with local auto dealers who have the right
vehicle to meet their needs. Only OpenAuto.com allows dealers to select which
leads they want to buy and pay only for those they choose. Dealers are allowed
to review all leads and accept or reject them based on their own criteria. The
result is a new service model that promises to dramatically increase the ratio of
actual sales to referrals.
Media Contacts:
Tonya Hayes
Reply!
925.947.2166 x 283
media@reply.com
Cedric Vanhaver
Neale-May & Partners
650.328.5555 x 125
cvanhaver@nealemay.com
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