Just six months after attending Cobalt's eDealer Academy, Park Acura/Honda of Akron, Ohio, is selling an average of 30 cars per month online compared to eight cars per month before training, a 275% increase in online sales, according to Tim Swisher, Internet sales manager at the dealership.

eDealer Academy training provided by The Cobalt Group is designed to help dealers like Park Acura/Honda reap the benefits of the Internet through innovative tools and best practices training.

"Last month, we closed 40 percent of our Internet leads at an average gross profit of $1,751 per car," Swisher said. "Before attending Cobalt's eDealer Academy, we were closing approximately 10 percent of our online leads. We attribute our increased success to the real-world strategies we learned at eDealer Academy."

Swisher notes that support from dealership management is key to his success. "Cobalt's eDealer Academy is invaluable training developed by `car guys' who know auto retailing," said John Ludwig, owner of Park Acura/Honda. "The day Tim returned to the store he began implementing ideas he learned at eDealer Academy and I think the tremendous results speak for themselves."

Cobalt's eDealer Academy is a two-day e-business training program that teaches dealership personnel best practice approaches to improving Internet gross profits and closing ratios. The eDealer Academy curriculum was developed by Cobalt in conjunction with J.D. Power and Associates by professional curriculum designers who have deep experience in both dealership and e-business operations and using information from extensive in-dealership research. The course addresses strategies for exceeding Internet customers' expectations, converting more leads into showroom buyers, and tracking and measuring return on investment.

In addition to training, Cobalt provides Park Acura/Honda with Web site development and hosting, searchable new and used vehicle databases, and online inventory management and traffic reporting tools so they can easily market their vehicles online and measure their sites' effectiveness. Their sites are customized with dealership information, interactive hours and directions, and service and parts request email forms allowing customers to schedule service appointments and order parts online.

To help shoppers with their purchase decision, the sites also include a payment calculator and used car trade-in values from Kelley Blue Book.

Upcoming eDealer Academy Schedule

eDealer Academy will be held in cities throughout the country on the following dates.

April 17-18 Atlanta, Ga.

May 3-4 Washington, D.C.

May 8-9 Dallas, Texas

May 24-25 Boston, Mass.

June 6-7 Chicago, Ill.

June 19-20 Orlando, Fla.

June 26-27 Seattle, Wash.

Dealers interested in attending eDealer Academy should contact Cobalt at das@cobaltgroup.com or 800/909-8244 ext. 8309.

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 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(R) (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(TM) (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(R) (www.dealernet.com), a consumer automotive information portal.

IntegraLink Corporation, a Cobalt company, is the auto industry's premier provider of automotive data collection and reporting

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

For more information, please visit www.cobaltgroup.com or call 800/909-8244.