Profile:
Autobytel focuses on the online selling of new and pre-owned cars. You can easily compare prices and the site will give you the cheapest car dealer-- as long as he is a member, of course. The dealership has to pay Autobytel to be on the list of car dealers. This is also the biggest part of Autobytel's revenue. They also have a website for the British and Scandinavian market. We like the little services they offer: the garage, the information about insurance and financing. But what we DO want to know isn't there: With which car can you pick up the hottest chicks?

Management: Mark W. Lorimer is President and CEO of Autobytel.com. He doesn't look like a car salesman to us, but well, you never can tell these things. He studied law and gave courses in security transactions. He must have thought that running an Internet business is a better way of living, who can blame him for that?

Started: Do you know? We don't
IPO: March 26, 1999

Autobytel.com on the Web:
main page: http://www.autobytel.com
investor relations: click here
current stock price: click here

Competitors:

• Microsoft Carpoint

• Autoweb

Propus personal view:
We don't like the idea that you are restricted to only Autobytel's member dealers when in search of a car. What will happen when car sales go more directly from the factory to the consumer? Ford, for example, is going this way more and more, degrading or upgrading -depends on how you see it- their car dealers to car service shops. We do like their international expansions though and the website is more appealing than Autoweb's.