Banc One Credit Co. and Navidec Inc. entered into an
agreement with 4 Utah ABC-TV in Salt Lake City to launch the “Utah Wheels”
online automotive shopping service in June 1998.
Banc One Credit is a unit of Finance One Corp., the finance company subsidiary of Columbus, OH-based Banc One Corp. Navidec is a provider of
Web-based products and solutions.
Bank One and Englewood, CO-based Navidec recently announced a partnership to
launch Wheels in five or more major U.S. markets. The launch of Wheels in
Utah is the third of the markets, which also include Colorado and Oregon. Banc
One Credit said it has been in the business of financing new and used cars for
more than 40 years.
Wheels is specifically designed to address the demand for shopping and buying
autos online, while meeting the needs of automotive dealers, consumers, media
outlets, and financial institutions, the companies said.
4 Utah ABC’s Utah Wheels solution will allow Web users to obtain information
on thousands of new and pre-owned vehicles from multiple automobile dealers in
Utah. Site visitors will be able to search a dealer’s entire inventory by any
combination of vehicle type, year, mileage, and price range. Dealers can
include digital photos of vehicles in their inventory so consumers can view
the vehicles they have identified.
“Utah Wheels is a strong complement to our growing Internet presence,” said
Peter Mathes, general manager of 4 Utah ABC. “Utah Wheels will provide a
strong new resource and revenue generator for 4 Utah’s automotive dealers who
are among our best television advertisers.”
“Navidec and The Denver Post launched the first regional Wheels solution in Colorado late last year and have since signed 32 separate dealer franchises in the Denver area.
Colorado Wheels is available at www.coloradowheels.com. Navidec, Bank One, and KOIN-TV in Portland will launch Northwest Wheels in late April.
4 Utah ABC is part of the United Television/Chris Craft family of stations.
