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Technology Stocks : Autoweb IPO 3/22/99 AWEB -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: grogger who wrote (574)	6/22/1999 12:46:00 PM
From: westpacific	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 696

Auto Nation news release shows the potential!!! AutoNation Sees Growing Internet Sales By Michael Ellis DEARBORN, Mich. (Reuters) - AutoNation Inc., the world's largest auto retailer, expects its Internet vehicle sales to grow to $750 million by the end of this year and to double in each of the next two years, its co-chief executive officer said Tuesday. With the aid of a new Web site, www.AutoNationDirect.com, sales will grow to $1.5 billion in 2000 and $3 billion in 2001, Steve Berrard told reporters at a press conference in Dearborn to launch the new Internet site. ''What's more, AutoNation is making a profit on every vehicle it sells on the Internet. Our online margins are comparable to those we find at retailers,'' he said. To expand the AutoNation brand across the country, Berrard said the company will announce a number of joint ventures and minority stakes in dealerships in regions where it currently has little presence. The new Web site, to be launched initially in Tampa, Fla., before being rolled out across the United States this summer and fall, will combine about 270 Web sites from about 400 dealerships into a single online shopping destination. AutoNation's Internet vehicle sales have grown from practically zero last August to more than $350 million, or more than 15,000 new and used cars and trucks, so far this year, Berrard said. AutoNationDirect.com will combine a large inventory of new and used cars and trucks with a package of Internet automotive shopping tools, the company said. Every vehicle on the Web site will be sold at set prices. ''Consumers will be able to shop, finance, insure and buy their next vehicle at a single Web address,'' Berrard said. The site will include a live question-and-answer chat room with sales representatives; financing and insurance tools; the ability to arrange home delivery; the ability to study and compare independent commentary on all vehicles, as well as for customers to write reviews and schedule test drives. The company, which is based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., has more than 380 franchised auto dealerships in 20 states and 45 AutoNation USA megastores in 13 states. Its vehicle rental businesses include Alamo Rent-A-Car Inc., National Car Rental System Inc. and CarTemps USA.