The Cobalt Group, a Seattle-based provider of Internet-based business-to-business services to the automotive industry, recently announced the launch of buyatoyota.com. The site will be a pilot program that partners Cobalt’s Internet technology with Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. and 19 dealerships from the Western Washington Toyota Dealers Association.
Some of the key features of Buyatoyota.com include real-time availability status on new and used vehicles throughout the 19 Toyota dealers in western Washington, complete new vehicle pricing, online dealer finance application and online help chat. A “saved search” function that allows customers to save new vehicle searches and track availability updates is also available.
According to the Cobalt Group’s President and CEO John Holt, Cobalt’s franchised system integration and coordination technology that is used on the buyatoyota.com site, can be applied to other industries as well that are franchised-based. However, considering that the auto industry in the U.S. alone consists of $1.3 trillion – he sees the company remaining busy with their current niche. The company, however, is ready for global rollout and already has some projects lined up in Canada.
