Online used-car shoppers are likely to leave an automobile dealer's Website if they cannot easily find price, mileage, options and accessories, and pictures of used vehicles, according to new research released by Friedman-Swift Associates, a Cincinnati-based market research firm, and The Cobalt Group, a provider of e-business products and services to the automotive industry.

The study indicates that auto dealers risk losing online used-car shoppers in four ways:

* By not listing prices: 85 percent of used-car shoppers say they would leave a dealer's site if prices of used vehicles in inventory were not listed.

* By not identifying mileage of used vehicles: 82 percent would leave if a dealership did not list a used vehicle's mileage.

* By not listing options and accessories: 75 percent would leave if used vehicles' options and accessories were not listed.

* By not showing pictures: 64 percent of used car shoppers would leave if they did not see a picture of a used vehicle they were interested in.

"The supporting price information used-car shoppers want most to see includes Kelley Blue Book prices (74 percent) and N.A.D.A. Official Used Car Guide prices (65 percent)," said Judy George, senior vice president of Friedman-Swift. "If used-car shoppers can find all this information at a dealer's Website, they'll be less likely to shop elsewhere."

Seventy percent of used-car shoppers wanted the ability to get an online price quote from a dealer as well, while 66% expressed interest in special prices for Internet shoppers.

"This research confirms a long held Cobalt belief: By providing detailed vehicle information and posting prices for both new and pre-owned vehicles, automotive dealers minimize the chance of losing customers to another dealership," said John Holt, president and CEO of The Cobalt Group. "Another benefit of this practice is that better informed customers are easier to do business with because they don't start out negotiations with bad price information. A Website is an online extension of a physical dealership. Dealers should provide complete information about vehicles, just as they would in the showroom, to help consumers make their purchase decision," Holt said.

Friedman-Swift's research was based on interviews with 894 online used-car shoppers who visited The Cobalt Group's DealerNet.com car shopping site in June, July and August 2000, and has a margin of error of +/-3.28 percent. Nearly half -- 47 percent -- of the used car shoppers in this study plan to buy a car in the next six months.

About Friedman-Swift Associates

Friedman-Swift Associates, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, is a provider of automotive marketing research to automobile dealers in the United States. Working with auto dealers, manufacturers and advertising agencies since 1979, Friedman-Swift Associates has performed proprietary market research that helps dealers understand the needs of both Internet and traditional automotive shoppers.

More information about the company can be found at www.friedmanswift.com.

About The Cobalt Group

The Cobalt Group(TM), headquartered in Seattle Wash., is a provider of e-business products and services designed to help automotive dealers and manufacturers manage their businesses online. Cobalt's suite of e-business solutions includes Web services, Website hosting, e- commerce applications, Internet-based customer relationship management applications, data management, and best practices training and consulting.

Cobalt operates MotorPlace.com(TM) (www.MotorPlace.com ), a business-to-business information and e-commerce exchange where auto dealers can find news, software applications, parts locating tools and a wholesale vehicle exchange. Cobalt also operates DealerNet(R) (www.dealernet.com ), a consumer automotive information portals. Cobalt owns IntegraLink Corporation, a provider of auto dealer 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 1-800-909-8244.