Internet Car Purchase System Expanding to Scandinavia
Auto-By-Tel Corp., operator of an Internet car buying service, plans to announce a deal this morning to launch a Scandinavian version of its system, the Irvine-based company’s third foreign venture in the past year.
Under the agreement with Swedish automobile retailing giant Bilia AB, Auto-By-Tel will receive $5 million in return for granting Bilia rights to market the Internet car purchasing service’s technology and business concept in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland.
Bilia, which sells Volvo cars, trucks and construction equipment and Renault cars and light trucks in 10 European nations, would have majority ownership of a new company, Auto-By-Tel Nordic, as well as a small stake in Auto-By-Tel Corp.
“Internet usage is well-developed in the Nordic region,” said Peter Ellis, Auto-By-Tel’s president and chief executive. “Partnering with Bilia, a company that has demonstrated Internet expertise and comprehensive experience in automotive distribution, ensures our success.”
In February, Ellis announced the formation of a similar partnership with Inchcape Motors International, which is expected to lead to the launch later this year of an Auto-By-Tel car buying program in Great Britain.
The company formed Auto-By-Tel Canada in May 1996.
Ellis started Auto-By-Tel in 1995 and says that its North American dealer network now includes more than 2,700 new-car dealers representing every major automobile brand sold in the country. The company says it is responsible for an average of $500 million in new-car sales per month.
