Black Book and Veretech Announce the Launch of Black Book(R) Online

New service will generate sales leads while providing dealer Web sites with vehicle trade-in appraisals by industry leading price expert

BOCA RATON, Fla. and ATLANTA, Sept. 20 -- Black Book and Veretech have joined together to offer a new service that will give car dealers the ability to identify and contact more customers who come to dealers' Web sites. Black Book Online is designed to be a "dealer friendly" alternative to other online trade valuation sources.

Black Book, one of the industry's premier providers of vehicle valuation data, currently has thousands of dealers using its pricing information in their daily used vehicle operations. Previously, Black Book has not made its trade-in pricing data available for use by consumers on dealer Web sites on a national level. A recent national survey of Black Book customers showed a significant percentage were likely to use Black Book trade-in values on their dealer Web sites, if it were made available. "Black Book is such a highly respected name in the automotive retailing industry, it's no surprise that our dealers are asking for Black Book trade-in values on their Web sites," said Bob Burnett, president of National Auto Research, which publishes Black Book. "Dealers have come to realize that a high percentage of auto shoppers will research the value of their trade-in. Our studies show that the time is right for a product that provides realistic values that match what the Used Car Manager will be able to offer."

Black Book(R) Online is placed on the dealer's Web site as a link. Customers who click on that link are prompted to enter their contact information and take a "virtual walk around" of their vehicle to accurately assess its condition. The trade-in value is then instantly presented as a price range, which allows the dealer to fine tune an offer to match the actual value of the vehicle. Local market conditions are also factored into the range. The consumer is alerted to potential sales tax savings where applicable. The sales lead is then forwarded electronically to the originating dealer for follow-up with the consumer.

About National Auto Research

National Auto Research (NAR), the publisher of the popular Black Book family of vehicle appraisal guides, is a Division of Hearst Business Media, an operating group of the Hearst Corporation. The Hearst Corporation (http://www.hearst.com/ ) is one of the nation's largest diversified communications companies. Its major interests include magazine, newspaper and business publishing, cable networks, television and radio broadcasting, Internet businesses, newspaper features distribution and real estate.

About Veretech, Inc.

Founded in 2000, Veretech is a privately funded technology company based in Boca Raton, Florida. The company is the creator of an online vehicle trade-in process that improves dealer closing rates and customer satisfaction. Currently, nearly 700 automotive retailing Web sites, manufacturer Web sites and Web portals use Veretech services.