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Letter to the Editor

Cobalt Names Jeff Danford Vice President and General Manager of MotorPlace Auto Exchange

SEATTLE -- The Cobalt Group, Inc., a leading provider of e-business products and services to the automotive industry, has announced that Jeff Danford has joined the company as vice president and general manager of MotorPlace Auto Exchange, Cobalt's wholesale used vehicle exchange.

"Cobalt is pleased to welcome Jeff Danford to its management team. Jeff is a highly experienced executive with deep domain knowledge of the auto finance business, having worked for a number of auto companies during the past 15 years," said John Holt, president and CEO of The Cobalt Group. "Jeff is also an experienced entrepreneur, having served in an executive capacity at two successful start-ups. Cobalt is proud to have Jeff at the helm of one of our most important strategic e-business initiatives."

MotorPlace Auto Exchange, available at MotorPlace.com, is an online marketplace operated by Cobalt that allows auto leasing companies to market and sell wholesale used vehicles to automotive dealers before they are shipped to auction. MotorPlace Auto Exchange helps auto manufacturers and lease holders efficiently manage their used car inventory, and gives dealers a compelling way to save time and money by providing them with an alternate buying channel for wholesale vehicles.

Prior to joining Cobalt, Danford served as senior vice president of auto lending at E-LOAN, Inc. where he managed the auto loan business, and achieved record quarterly customer volumes and revenue. Prior to E-LOAN, Danford founded and led giggo.com, a direct to consumer online lending division of DaimlerChrysler, where he served as managing director until January 2000. He also held management positions at American Honda Finance Corp. and Ford Motor Credit Company. Danford holds a B.A. degree from National University and an M.B.A. from Golden Gate University.

The Cobalt Group, headquartered in Seattle, is a leading provider of e-business products and services that 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 6,400 Web services clients, and approximately 10,000 PartsVoice® (http://www.partsvoice.com/) clients. Cobalt's e-business products and services are endorsed by 15 automotive manufacturers and more than 50 of the 100 largest dealer groups in the United States. Cobalt is endorsed by the National Automobile Dealers Association.

Cobalt operates MotorPlace.com(TM) (http://www.motorplace.com/), an online business management and industry information resource for auto dealers. At MotorPlace.com, dealers access Cobalt tools to manage their Web sites, buy wholesale used vehicles, locate and market OEM parts, and access industry information, news, events, and stock quotes. Cobalt also operates DealerNet® (http://www.dealernet.com/), one of the most widely visited consumer automotive information portals on the Web. IntegraLink Corporation, a Cobalt company, is an auto industry provider of automotive data collection and reporting services.

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

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