iMotors.com, acquired in summer of 2001 by Next Phase Media after a three-month hiatus, announced May 22 it has replaced its former business model and overhead with a new focus on maintaining a simple, efficient marketplace for people to buy and sell new and used cars. Online automobile industry veteran Payam Zamani will head the new iMotors service.

"The iMotors brand was originally built to the tune of over 100 million dollars. It's very well established and the awareness is tremendous. It was, however, a sophisticated system and the overhead to run it prevented it from becoming a sustainable business," says Zamani, CEO of iMotors' parent company Next Phase Media, Inc. "Our approach to the service is simple. We've taken iMotors back to the basics of profitability and are maintaining a singular focus by helping qualified buyers and sellers get what they want -- simply and efficiently. By focusing on customer service and expanding dealer relationships through lead generation, we believe that iMotors will be the leading service in the online automotive space."

According to the company, the iMotors service offers automobile consumers the benefit of its relationships with automobile dealerships and manufacturers. Through the service consumers can research, price and even configure their next new car, as well as compare vehicles side-by-side. To help simplify the car buying process even further, iMotors offers a free buying service through a national network of automotive franchises committed to offering hassle-free competitive prices on new vehicles.

The company says the prospective buyer fills out an online form with his/her desired make, model and feature set, and within 24 hours s/he is contacted with a firm price quote that matches the selection. The consumer can then arrange to buy or lease the car if it matches his or her expectation. The buying service does not obligate the consumer to purchase the car.

Consumers searching for a used vehicle can utilize iMotors nationwide interactive database of used cars through dealers or individual owners. In addition, iMotors directs consumers to other automobile sites if the car they are interested in is not within the iMotors' inventory.

To provide consumers a complete range of basic automotive needs in just one stop, iMotors says it also offers warranty, insurance and finance services through partnerships with other service providers.

According to the company, when the service relaunched last October, it drew about 300,000 unique visitors -- mainly due to brand awareness. Now, six months later, traffic data for April, 2002 indicates that iMotors is on track to attract more than three million unique visitors over the 30-day period.

Zamani says parent company Next Phase Media plans to enhance the iMotors service with other top automobile related sites, such as CarClub.com (formerly JD Powers CarClub), which iMotors recently acquired and will relaunch later this spring.

iMotors is a division of Next Phase Media, Inc., an online referral source for qualified business services, leads and professionals. Founded in 2001, Next Phase Media develops and maintains a network of interactive online marketplaces connecting buyers and sellers. The privately-held company is headquartered in Walnut Creek.