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Four Net auto sites join forces by Ralph Kisiel Four online automotive enthusiast sites have banded together to form a new company, BVerticals Inc., and are seeking partnerships with online car-buying services, larger dealership groups and the automakers. The sites are rich with potential customers. One of the four, PickupTruck.''com, already struck a deal with CarsDirect.com, an online buying service. That means PickupTruck.''com visitors have a direct link to a co-branded site where they can buy a new vehicle without negotiating with a dealer. The four sites collectively attract 1 million unique visitors a month, said John Gillies, CEO of BVerticals and PickupTruck.com. ``That makes us the size of some of the larger car sites on the Web today,'' Gillies said. ``Our goal is to be at 4 million unique visitors by the end of this year through growth within each of the sites, and through the addition of other enthusiast sites covering large areas of the market.'' REVIEWS AND MORE PickupTruck.com offers vehicle reviews, feature stories, truck news, a chat room and a discussion forum where visitors can post messages. The other three sites are VWvor''tex.''com and AudiWorld.''com - designed for the owners and fans of Volkswagen and Audi vehicles - and FreshAlloy.com, for Nissan enthusiasts. These sites often provide spy shots and information about future products from various automakers. FreshAlloy.com is new, but the other three have been on the Web for about four years, Gillies said. ``This will allow us to compete with large Internet portals by sending informed shoppers - who are ready to buy - to manufacturer, dealer and independent Web sites,'' Gillies said. Each of four sites will remain separate, and any additional sites acquired this year will retain their identity, Gillies said. The four sites are wholly owned subsidiaries of BVerticals. ``We won't integrate all the content into one site,'' he said. ``The sites today really are a testament that people want their own place on the Web. We will just run them on a common back end.'' CarsDirect.com and other online referral and buying services will see value in these enthusiast Web sites, said Chris Denove, senior director of the retail and distribution practice at J.D. Power and Associates. They provide an avenue for the online buying service, such as Autobytel.com, to get new customers, he said. ``The online buying services also have the chance to build some brand equity with those enthusiasts who may not be in the market to buy but repeatedly return to the enthusiast sites,'' Denove said. ``There's a strong correlation between automotive enthusiasts and the likelihood that they are going to use the Internet when it's time to buy a new vehicle.'' Pursuing relationships CarsDirect.com pays PickupTruck.com an undisclosed fee for each sale that results from the link, said Wendy Barbour, a spokeswoman at CarsDirect.com. She would not give the number of sales this year but said the company is pleased with the results. ``We are actively pursuing relationships with sites that can link us with potential car buyers,'' Barbour said. The partnership has worked well since it began in January, Gillies said. On CarsDirect.com, consumers can choose a vehicle, add optional equipment and get a no-haggle price quote. ``In its first night, we had over 500 configurations, and within the first week, we sold a couple of trucks,'' Gillies said. BVerticals wants to offer multiple links to the online referral and direct-buying services on each of its enthusiast sites. ``So people would have the option to shop several of the buying services and see who came up with the best deal,'' Gillies said. BVerticals is talking to other enthusiast Web sites, large dealer groups, NADA and the automakers about links and advertising. ``We're in discussions now with three other sites, and we hope to have seven to 10 enthusiast sites by the end of the year aggregated under BVerticals,'' Gillies said. |
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BVerticals can be reached at info@bverticals.com |
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