SEATTLE—The Cobalt Group Inc. and its Dealix division, the leader in automotive Internet sales leads, has announced the re-launch of UsedCars.com, the automotive industry's first portal dedicated solely to used cars. Established in 1994, the UsedCars.com brand is one of the highest-ranked automotive portals in organic search results on leading Internet search engines.

"Dealix is the auto industry's premier provider of new car sales leads," said John Holt, CEO and president of The Cobalt Group. "Now we're applying everything we know about generating and delivering high quality new car sales opportunities to our used car advertising and leads service. The winning combination of UsedCars.com's well-known brand, plus our ability to provide dealers and used car buyers with best-in-class tools to enable efficient and convenient transactions, will drive success for both parties."

Since acquiring UsedCars.com, Cobalt's Dealix division has redesigned the Web site to enhance consumer usability and vehicle merchandising, and has rapidly increased the volume of dealers' pre-owned inventory. UsedCars.com is attracting a growing number of used car buyers, resulting from Cobalt's expertise in search engine marketing, affiliate and other online partnerships, and word-of-mouth awareness among car buyers.

According to J.D. Power and Associates' 2006 Used Auto Shopper Study, this year, more than twice as many late-model used vehicle buyers found the vehicle they purchased through the Internet, rather than through newspaper or magazine classified ads. And, independent Web sites continue to garner the highest visitation rates among used vehicle buyers at 90 percent.