Priceline drives car service into new states

Priceline.com said today it is expanding its car buying service to five additional states, hoping to cash in on the high volume of car sales in these regions.

The company, which allows consumers to name their own price for airline tickets, cars, hotel rooms, and home financing products, is expanding its car buying service to include southern California, Florida, Connecticut, New Jersey, and the Philadelphia area. The service had only been available in the New York metro area and in Tampa/St. Petersburg in Florida.

Priceline said its car buying service would be available in the rest of California later in September. The company also said that depending on the market results, it plans to roll out the service to the 48 contiguous states during the first quarter of 2000.

With the five-state expansion, Priceline said its car service will be available in the markets in which more than one-third of all new car buying takes place.

Unlike other car buying services such as Autobytel.com and AutoWeb that connect consumers with dealers who are willing to offer competitive prices, Priceline said it finds dealers who are willing to sell the exact car wanted at the price bid by a consumer.