SEATTLE--Aug. 23, 2000--Leading online retailer Amazon.com (www.amazon.com) today announced that it will launch a new-car buying service Thursday, providing customers with a superior car-buying experience backed by service and support from an expansive network of premier auto dealers affiliated with Amazon partner Greenlight.com.
This innovative partnership takes the hassle out of buying a new car by offering Amazon.com shoppers access to Greenlight.com's proven services, including up-front, no-haggle pricing; one-stop shopping for convenient financing and trade-in options; a personal account manager for each customer; and top quality local dealers for delivery, after-purchase support and service. Car buyers can browse and search by make or model, or compare two cars side by side in Greenlight's Showroom. Consumers can also specify the precise options they want and configure their car online.
Customers can access the New Cars area at Amazon.com via links from the Welcome page or throughout the site or directly via www.amazon.com/newcars.
The Amazon.com/Greenlight.com service is available in 27 markets, representing over 70 percent of the e-commerce population in the U.S., including such major markets as Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
"We're excited to be involved in this emerging industry online," said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. "Greenlight combines the interests of all parties -- the customers, the dealers and the manufacturers -- producing a simple and fast buying experience for customers."
"I've focused my 20 year career -- from Saturn to Saab to Greenlight -- on improving the car-buying experience," said Joel Manby, CEO of Greenlight.com. "I am thrilled to introduce Amazon.com's 23 million experienced online shoppers to the best car buying experience available. By combining our local dealer network with a simple and convenient online buying site, consumers will be able to feel great about buying a car through Amazon's exclusive new cars partner, Greenlight.com."
To best support a growing customer base, Greenlight.com continues to build its network by recruiting the most Internet-savvy, customer service-oriented dealers across the United States.
Other markets served by Greenlight and Amazon.com are Buffalo, Greensboro, Jacksonville, Louisville, Memphis, Miami, Nashville, New Orleans, Orlando, Portland, Providence, Raleigh, Rochester, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Diego, Seattle, St. Louis and West Palm Beach.
About Greenlight.com
Greenlight.com was founded in 1999 to bring to new car buying the same convenience, confidence and simplicity that online shopping has brought to other consumer goods. Greenlight.com has developed a true click and mortar model -- combining an online buying experience with the nation's strongest network of local dealers. Greenlight.com simplifies the buying process by giving consumers low, upfront pricing, the ability to get the exact car they want, a dedicated live account manager, and support from Greenlight's network of local dealers where and when it is needed.
Greenlight.com is backed by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, a leading Silicon Valley venture capital firm, and Asbury Automotive, an automotive retail industry leader. Greenlight.com has also received a strategic investment from Amazon.com (Nasdaq:AMZN) and is Amazon.com's exclusive partner in the new car market. To shop for a car or to get more information about Greenlight.com, visit the company on the web at http://www.greenlight.com.
About Amazon.com
Amazon.com (Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries) is the Internet's No. 1 music, No. 1 DVD and video, and No. 1 book retailer. Amazon.com (Nasdaq:AMZN) opened its virtual doors on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth's Biggest Selection, along with online auctions and free electronic greeting cards. Amazon.com seeks to be the world's most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online. Amazon.com lists more than 18 million unique items in categories including books, CDs, toys, electronics, videos, DVDs, tools and hardware, lawn and patio items, kitchen products, software, and video games. Through Amazon.com zShops, any business or individual can sell virtually anything to Amazon.com's more than 23 million customers, and with Amazon.com Payments, sellers can accept credit card transactions, avoiding the hassles of offline payments. The company also participates in sothebys.amazon.com, the leading auction site for guaranteed art, jewelry and collectibles, at www.sothebys.amazon.com.
Amazon.com operates two international Web sites: www.amazon.co.uk and www.amazon.de. It also operates the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com), the Web's comprehensive and authoritative source of information on more than 220,000 movies and entertainment programs and 800,000 cast and crew members dating from the birth of film in 1892 to 2003.
Amazon Anywhere is the leader in mobile e-commerce, providing access from anywhere in the world to Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.de on personal digital assistants (PDAs) and through handheld wireless Internet devices that use HDML or the Wireless Application Protocol. Amazon.com has invested in leading Internet retailers that are improving the lives of customers by making shopping easier and more convenient: Greenlight.com, the only company that offers car buyers the control of auto purchasing online with ongoing service and support from local dealerships, at www.greenlight.com; drugstore.com, an online retail and information source for health, beauty, wellness, personal care and pharmacy, at www.drugstore.com; Pets.com, the online leader for pet products, expert information, and services, at www.pets.com; HomeGrocer.com, the first fully integrated Internet grocery-shopping and home-delivery service -- with operations in Seattle; Portland, Oregon; and Southern California -- at www.homegrocer.com; Gear.com, which offers brand-name sporting goods at prices from 20 to 90 percent off retail, at www.gear.com; Ashford.com, the leading Internet retailer of luxury and premium products and the Web's No. 1 retailer of watches and jewelry, at www.ashford.com; Audible, Inc., the leader in Internet-delivered spoken audio for PC-based listening or playback on AudibleReady portable digital audio devices, at www.audible.com; and eZiba.com, a leading online retailer of handcrafted products from around the world, at www.eziba.com.
Amazon.com also has a minority interest in WeddingChannel.com, which brings together leading retailers with gift registry, expert advice and personalized gift suggestions to help everyone give and receive the right wedding gifts, at www.weddingchannel.com; NextCard, Inc., considered the industry's leading issuer of consumer credit on the Internet, at www.nextcard.com; and Kozmo.com, the world's leading "e-mmediate" Internet-to-door delivery service, at www.kozmo.com.
This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, Amazon.com's limited operating history, anticipated losses, significant amount of indebtedness, unpredictability of future revenues, potential fluctuations in quarterly operating results, seasonality, consumer trends, competition, risk of distribution center expansion, risks related to fourth quarter performance, risks of system interruption, management of potential growth, inventory risks, risks related to auction and zShops services, risks related to fraud and Amazon.com Payments, and risks of new business areas, international expansion, business combinations, strategic alliances and the Amazon.com Commerce Network. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1999, and its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2000, and June 30, 2000.