Short Take: Car dealers' Web site to list dealer cost

The National Automobile Dealers Association's new Web sales site for the group's 19,500 members will tell buyers how much dealers pay for vehicles, as the traditional retailers try to attract more Internet shoppers. The site, developed with Cobalt Group, is scheduled to start operating in May. It will link consumers to member dealers and offer information including invoice prices. Auto dealers are battling to preserve their franchises amid the rapid growth of online competitors such as Autobytel.com and CarsDirect.com. Those sites show invoice prices, which dealers have resisted revealing. The Washington-based group's site will give consumers access to information on hundreds of thousands of new and used vehicles, how much the dealer paid and how much a buyer can expect to get for a car or truck being traded in.

The story "Short Take: Car dealers' Web site to list dealer cost" published March 16, 2000 at 2:55 AM is no longer available on CNET News.