J.D. Power and Associates and The Cobalt Group announced today an alliance to help automotive manufacturers and dealers maximize their e-commerce investments through "best practices" training programs for Internet-based retailing.

Cobalt is the nation's largest provider of Internet-based solutions to automotive manufacturers, dealers and dealer groups.

J.D. Power and Associates is an industry expert in measuring customer satisfaction and automotive dealer response to e-commerce and has strong brand recognition among automotive customers, manufacturers, distributors and suppliers.

Through this alliance, both companies will leverage their best practices and capabilities to offer in-store, on-site and online training programs to the automotive industry.

"This alliance will ensure that all training efforts provided by J.D. Power and Associates and The Cobalt Group address the day-to-day issues automotive dealers and manufacturers face," said J.D. Power III, chairman of J.D. Power and Associates. "It will result in real-world training to ensure that automotive dealers and manufacturers maximize the full sales potential of automotive e-commerce."

Cobalt is a leading developer of automotive dealer Websites in the United States, managing nearly 6,400 automotive sites. By teaming with J.D. Power and Associates, Cobalt gains the value of customer insights from J.D. Power and Associates research, which can be integrated with effective processes for dealership clients that complement their powerful Internet tools.

By joining forces with Cobalt, J.D. Power and Associates can access the technical infrastructure necessary to leverage its training content and delivery techniques, as well as Cobalt's automotive e-business expertise gained from its work with dealers nationwide.

"We aligned ourselves with J.D. Power and Associates for the same reason we teamed with NADA -- to make sure that all dealers optimize Internet sales opportunities," said John Holt, president and CEO of The Cobalt Group. "We want to ensure that our current and future dealer and manufacturer customers receive maximum benefit from the Internet, and the in-dealership research conducted by J.D. Power and Associates will add significant value to our best practices training programs."

Through this alliance, manufacturers interested in customized e-commerce training for their dealer network to improve e-commerce gross and closing ratios can have a curriculum developed to meet the unique needs of the dealers. Manufacturer-sponsored training for dealers also can be delivered via the Internet in a Web-based training format.

In addition, dealers can attend a two-day eDealership Academy course, which is held in major cities nationwide. The course is designed for both Internet sales managers and Internet sales representatives to teach them skills such as identifying key words in emails and phone calls to pinpoint specific customer needs. Sales approaches can be modified appropriately to create a stronger rapport and potentially lead to increased sales and customer satisfaction.

"Both companies spend a great deal of time creating customized course materials for clients," said Holt. "We do not believe in a one-size-fits-all approach to training. Every dealership is unique. We work with manufacturers and dealership management in determining what will be covered in the courses to ensure we are delivering material that is best suited to reach client goals."

J.D. Power and Associates can be accessed through the Internet at www.jdpa.com.

Nearly one-half of the nation's auto dealers use Cobalt's technology, including nearly 6,400 Web services clients, and more than 10,000 PartsVoice(R) (www.partsvoice.com) clients. Cobalt's e-business products and services are endorsed by 15 automotive manufacturers and more than 50 of the 100 largest dealer groups in the United States.

Cobalt operates MotorPlace.com(TM) (www.MotorPlace.com), a business-to-business information and e-commerce exchange where auto dealers can find the latest news, software applications to improve their business operations, and parts and wholesale vehicle exchanges. Cobalt also operates DealerNet(R) (www.dealernet.com), a widely visited consumer automotive information portal. For more information, visit www.cobaltgroup.com or call 1-800-909-8244.