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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Mike DeVilling
John Bailey & Associates Inc.
(248) 362-4200
mdevilling@baileypr.com
AUTOMOTIVE ENTHUSIAST WEB SITES JOIN FORCES TO FORM BVERTICALS INC.
"e-co/op" Provides Technology, Marketing Economies of Scale
Corte Madera, Calif., April 17, 2000 -- PickupTruck.com, VWVortex.com
and AudiWorld.com, four top automotive enthusiast Web sites, have joined
forces to form BVerticals, the Internet's first "e-co/op."
An e-co/op is a group of grass roots, vertical enthusiast Web sites
with existing traffic and communities. The sites team together to dominate
a particular niche -- such as automobiles -- and leverage economies
of scale across personnel and information technology requirements. As
the e-co/op grows, partnering with other existing enthusiast Web sites,
each new member's Web site is plugged into a common back-end infrastructure
yet retains its original look, feel and URL. Most importantly, each
new partner brings a loyal consumer following to the partnership.
BVerticals provides the technology and business infrastructure, allowing
its partners to do what they do best -- develop content that meets the
needs of their highly targeted niche audiences. BVerticals is currently
in negotiations with other popular best-of-breed enthusiast Web sites
as it seeks to add partners with loyal automotive enthusiast audiences.
John Gillies, currently CEO at PickupTruck.com, will also serve as CEO
of BVerticals.
"BVerticals will revolutionize the way enthusiast sites provide
service to their online communities," said Gillies. "At the same time,
we will bring together a large audience that is fiercely loyal to the
member Web sites of our 'e-co/op.' 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."
PickupTruck.com, VWVortex.com and AudiWorld.com attract more than 800,000
enthusiasts and new visitors each month. The sites, because of their
frequently updated and original content, attract high levels of repeat
traffic with most visitors returning every eight days or sooner. BVerticals'
Web sites will function as vertical portals, funneling sales leads to
manufacturer Web sites, large dealer group Web sites, third party lead
generation Web sites and direct sales Web sites. PickupTruck.com, for
example, has an agreement with CarsDirect.com, allowing their community
members to order, finance and arrange for delivery of a new car or truck
over the Web.
Tom Stallkamp, former vice chairman at Daimler-Chrysler and current
vice-chairman and CEO of MSX International, is a PickupTruck.com board
member. He also will hold a seat on the BVerticals board.
"Aggregating these enthusiast sites to gain economies and to increase
the consumer value in this marketplace makes sense," Stallkamp said.
"The Internet started with a business-to-consumer focus as the promise
of an interactive media took shape. Business-to-business was the next
logical step. Now it's clear that the Internet should be used for highly
targeted interactions, either with enthusiasts, consumers, or businesses,
to maximize the delivery of relevant and timely information."
About BVerticals Inc.
BVerticals, an "e-co/op," is a growing partnership of grass roots
enthusiast Web sites. It provides economies of scale in technology,
marketing and business services, and provides outstanding content to
attract loyal, repeat audiences. By aggregating other enthusiast Web
sites, BVerticals promises to have one of the largest, most loyal audiences
in the automotive Web site industry.
 About VWVortex.com
(http://www.vwvortex.com)
For more than three years, the VWVortex World Wide Web site has
been the definitive and progressive online source for the latest information
on Volkswagen brands. With more than 10 million hits each month, from
more than 200,000 unique visitors, VWVortex is uniquely positioned to
offer the next generation in automobile enthusiast media. It combines
the best in design and publication with the technology and up-to-the-minute
capabilities of the Internet. The site is devoted to enthusiasts of
Volkswagen, Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini, Seat and Skoda.
 About PickupTruck.com (http://www.pickuptruck.com)
PickupTruck.com is the premier online community for pickup truck
enthusiasts. First launched in 1995, PickupTruck.com provides everything
"pickup" to the online community, including information, news, dialog
and products. The site includes information about all types of pickup
trucks, coverage of major truck shows, discussion groups, and e-commerce
capabilities.
 About AudiWorld.com
(http://www.audiworld.com)
AudiWorld.com got its roots in 1996 as a website called A4.Org devoted
to the Audi A4 enthusiast. As Audi continued setting record sales increases,
A4.Org expanded its coverage to include the full range of Audi products
and was renamed AudiWorld.com. Today AudiWorld provides tremendous content
and community to an extremely loyal Audi enthusiast readership that exceeds
over 300,000 people each month.
What They're Saying
About BVerticals, Inc.
Tom Stallkamp, CEO of MSX International and a BVerticals Board member:
"Aggregating these enthusiast sites to gain economies and to increase
the consumer value in this marketplace makes sense. The Internet started
with a business-to-consumer focus as the promise of an interactive media
took shape. Business-to-business was the next logical step. Now it's clear
that the Internet should be used for highly targeted interactions, either
with enthusiasts, consumers, or businesses, to maximize the delivery of
relevant and timely information."
Michael Levine, Founder and President, PickupTruck.com
"The e-co/op concept will provide an even better product for the automotive
enthusiasts that are loyal to the BVerticals' Web sites. Each partner
provides outstanding editorial content and other features that are popular
with our information hungry community members. With a central resource
for behind-the-scenes business functions, each site can focus energy on
creating even better enthusiast Web sites."
Jamie VonDruska, Founder of VWVortex.com
"The partnership will allow PickupTruck.com, VWVortex.com, AudiWorld.com
and other niche sites to provide our online enthusiasts with more of
what they love -- great information about their favorite vehicles. Sharing
talent and technology with other 'e-co/op' members will help all of
us grow and prosper."
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