The Cobalt Group, a provider of e-business products and services to the automotive industry, announced March 29 that experts from its automotive retailing training and consulting division and J.D. Power and Associates will be presenting a session entitled "eDealer Academy" at the upcoming eAutoWorld Detroit Conference.

Cobalt's presentation will be held on April 11, 2001 from 8:30 a.m. to 9:15 a.m. at the Cobo Convention Center in Detroit. The presentation is part of the "Dealer Strategies" track and will teach auto dealers how to increase Internet gross profits and closing ratios.

Featured speakers include Kevin Root, director, and Paul Rogers, senior training manager for Cobalt's Dealer Advisory Services; and Robin Eichleay, director of Design and Development, Education and Training Services for J.D. Power and Associates. The eDealer Academy presentation is based on Cobalt's two-day eDealer Academy training program that was developed in conjunction with J.D. Power and Associates by professional curriculum designers who have deep experience in both dealership and e-business operations.

"The eDealer Academy presentation will address real-world retailing issues and identify proven strategies for dealers to begin using immediately when they return to the dealership to improve their Internet operations," Root said. "Dealers who are looking to boost their online closing ratios and e-business profits won't want to miss this presentation."

About eAutoWorld Detroit

eAutoWorld Detroit is an interactive conference and tradeshow featuring presentations by industry experts that provide automotive industry executives, frontline managers, and dealers with strategies for using Internet technologies to increase return on investment and bottom-line profits.

Conference dates are April 10-12, 2001. For more information about the conference or to register, visit www.eautoworld.com.

About The Cobalt Group

The Cobalt Group™, headquartered in Seattle, Wash., is a provider of e-business products and services designed to help automotive dealers and manufacturers effectively manage their businesses online.

Cobalt's suite of e-business solutions includes Web services, Web site hosting, e-commerce applications, Internet-based customer relationship management applications, data management, and best practices training and consulting.

Nearly half of the nation's auto dealers use Cobalt's technology, including 8,500 Web services clients, and approximately 9,300 PartsVoice® (www.partsvoice.com) clients.

Cobalt's e-business products and services are endorsed by 14 automotive manufacturers and more than 50 of the 100 largest dealer groups in the United States. Cobalt is the only e-business provider endorsed by the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA).

Cobalt operates MotorPlace.com™ (www.MotorPlace.com), an online business management and industry information resource for auto dealers. At MotorPlace.com, dealers utilize Cobalt tools to manage their Web sites, buy wholesale used vehicles through MotorPlace Auto Exchange, locate and market OEM parts, purchase leads through Pick-or-Pass, and access industry information, news, events, and stock quotes.

Cobalt also operates DealerNet® (www.dealernet.com), one of the most widely visited consumer automotive information portals on the Web. IntegraLink Corporation, a Cobalt company, is the auto industry's premier provider of automotive data collection and reporting services.

Cobalt has offices in Seattle, Wash.; Portland, Ore.; Detroit, Mich.; Columbus, Ohio; and Austin, Texas.

For more information, visit www.cobaltgroup.com or call (800) 909-8244.