| By Jim Bruene on February 12, 1997 10:53 AM | Comments (0) |
Chase Manhattan (New York; $323 billion; 3.5 million ATM cards) will provide auto loans for Auto-By-Tel Corporation <www.autobytel.com>, a leading Internet-based car broker providing dealer referrals to consumers all across North America. Auto-By-Tel was launched in March 1995 and has grown to 80 employees. The company recently made history as the first Web-only product advertised during the Super Bowl. Volume has grown from 5,500 purchase requests in Sept. 1995 to 35,000 a year later. Cumulative volume to date is 400,000 purchase requests.
Purchase requests, which are free to users, are forwarded to one of 1,500 participating dealers who are obligated to make a “no-haggle” offer within 48 hours. Auto insurance is available through American International Group (AIG) which also has an equity position in privately held Auto-By-Tel. Car leasing will soon be provided by GE Capital Services, another Auto-By-Tel investor.
Major automotive information companies, including Microsoft CarPoint, Kelley Blue Book, AutoSite, and Edmund’s Car Buying Guide, all forward users to Auto-By-Tel to complete the automobile purchase. Auto-By-Tel is also available on Prodigy and CompuServe. At ABT in Irvine, CA, Peter Ellis is CEO, Mike Lowell is COO. Ron Braco heads Chase’s online efforts, 212.552.2222.
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