Autobytel.com Adds Dealer Wholesale Auction Site

Autobytel.com Inc., which operates a Web site for buying and selling automobiles, added an auction program that lets its dealer members bid for used cars online.

Autobytel.com’s new site, https://Wholesale.autobytel.com, provides a medium for dealers to buy and sell used cars at auction. It isn’t available to consumers, but the Irvine-based company may expand the service to car-rental companies, fleet companies and non-Autobytel.com dealers.

The move comes as non-auto Internet sales sites, such as Priceline.com, test auto-auction services in some areas. Ford Motor Co., the No. 2 auto maker, is also testing a plan in the U.S. to sell used cars directly to customers through the Internet for a fixed price.

Eventually, Autobytel.com plans to extend the auction service to consumers, Chief Operating Officer Ann Marie Delligatta said.

Autobytel.com, which went public in March in a $103.5-million stock offering, generates revenue from 2,700 auto dealerships that pay to belong to its referral service. Its Web site, like those of competitors Autoweb.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp.’s CarPoint, lets customers get information on cars and trucks and shop for vehicles from their personal computer.

The company collects a fee for the auction cars after the sale is completed, Delligatta said. It offers transportation, financing and vehicle-certification services to the dealers through third-party providers, she said.

Autobytel.com shares rose 3 3/4, or 13%, to 32 5/8.