Direct online automotive provider CarsDirect.com has signed a multi-year agreement to incorporate LiquidCredit(TM), a broker engine from Fair, Isaac and Company, Inc., into its technology platform.

CarsDirect.com will use LiquidCredit's decision technology to instantly evaluate customers' applications for financing and match those scored applications with lending partner criteria -- presenting financing options to online customers within seconds.

"Using LiquidCredit will not only help us pre-qualify more auto shoppers for the appropriate financing package more quickly, it will also help us turn these shoppers into buyers by offering them real-time purchasing power," said Gene Schutt, CEO of CarsDirect.com's CD1 Financial.com unit.

"CarsDirect.com is a great example of how Fair, Isaac's decision technology can boost leading and emerging e-businesses," said Raffi Kassarjian, general manager of Fair, Isaac's LiquidCredit business unit. "LiquidCredit delivers the infrastructure and intelligence that optimizes CarsDirect.com's Web-based automotive financing application process."

LiquidCredit offers a Web-based decision engine, credit reporting agency interface, associated transaction management tools and the ability for businesses to design their own decision criteria and strategies, according to Kassarjian.

Forrester Research estimates that by 2005, 1.1 million U.S. households will buy cars online, with an estimated total of $33 billion in direct online auto sales.