A number of new and innovative services announced at the first-ever Auto-By-Tel Satellite Summit give consumers the power to perform every aspect of the car-buying process online.

Announcements made via satellite to Auto-By-Tel's Subscribing Dealers included the introduction of low-cost Online Financing through an exclusive Internet relationship with Chase Auto Finance; the formation of a Used Car Cyberstore; and the implementation of a high-tech real-time communications system. These programs give consumers easy access to low-cost new and used car buying and leasing, low-cost financing and low-cost auto insurance through AIG.

"Auto-By-Tel's goal is to ensure that our Subscribing Dealers lead the pack in today's rapidly changing automotive marketplace by providing consumers with low-cost, pain-relieving car buying," said Pete Ellis, Auto-By-Tel's president and CEO. "The programs announced at the Satellite Summit place our dealers firmly on the cutting-edge of the automotive revolution."

Speaker Michael Fuchs, former Chairman and CEO of Home Box Office (HBO), equated Auto-By-Tel's position in the automotive industry to HBO's unprecedented success in cable television. Fuchs declared, "The automobile business is being revolutionized and Auto-By-Tel is the HBO of that revolution."

Addressing that change, James David Power III, founder of J.D. Power and Associates, told the ABT Subscribing Dealers in attendance that the most recent J.D. Power study of new vehicle buyers in the United States found that 68 percent have and use computers. The same study revealed that high-income households account for 55 percent of new vehicle sales, a number that's expected to reach 66 percent in the year 2000. Since high-income households typically own computers, Power concluded, "Auto-By-Tel Dealers have the tiger by the tail."

Auto-By-Tel's success is based on two general principles: (1) giving consumers an easy and painless way to purchase and finance a new or used vehicle at a low cost; and (2) providing ABT Subscribing Dealers with the tools necessary to compete in today's rapidly changing automotive industry by substantially lowering their cost of doing business.

Auto-By-Tel engaged high-tech methods -- a closed-circuit interactive conference beamed to 47 locations across the United States and Canada via satellite -- to discuss its future plans with Subscribing Dealers. Highlights of the new services include:

Auto-By-Tel Acceptance Corp. (ABTAC)

ABTAC, Auto-By-Tel's new financing subsidiary, will introduce online leasing through GE Capital Auto Financial Services as well as online financing through Chase Auto Finance beginning next year. Auto-By-Tel customers will now be able to complete applications for financing online and, ultimately, receive a response within minutes.

Sandy Derickson, president of GE Capital Auto Financial Services, told ABT Dealers: "Today's car buyers are the most informed consumers ever. We believe Auto-By-Tel has designed a powerful marketing system on the Internet that will bring modern car buyers directly to your sales desk."

Chase Auto Finance's automotive online financing is offered exclusively through the Auto-By-Tel website and Auto-By-Tel dealers. Jim Brew, president of Chase Auto Finance, said, "Chase is delighted to have the opportunity to work with ABTAC and its dealers to take the lead in providing Internet-based automotive financial services to this large and fast-growing market."

Used Car Cyberstore to Offer Largest Inventory of Used Vehicles

Auto-By-Tel will implement the largest and most comprehensive online used-car network during the first quarter of 1997. Auto-By-Tel's Used Car Cyberstore will outdistance today's used car superstores, namely CarMax and AutoNation, in terms of volume and number of easily accessible locations. The program will be exclusively available to members of Auto-By-Tel's new-car Subscribing Dealers. "The ABT Subscribing Dealers will form the single largest network of used car centers in the world and will offer hundreds of thousands of certified, quality used vehicles to millions of consumers across the U.S. and Canada," said John Honiotes, National Sales Director.