CODA Automotive Industry Consortium Announces Newest Members; Auto Town and the Paul Gillrie Institute Join List of Founders.

Business Editors/Automotive Writers/High-Tech Writers

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 17, 2003

The Cooperative for Open Dealer Applications (CODA), an automotive industry consortium promoting open technology standards, today announced that Auto Town and the Paul Gillrie Institute have joined as founding members.

These companies join ProMax Online, Who's Calling, California Research Tabulations Inc. and Ocentrix Inc. as founders.

MediaExpress also announced its membership to CODA, which was formed with the mission of accelerating the adoption of standards-based software development serving the retail auto industry.

CODA's role is to unite technology providers, including software and services vendors, as well as dealers, OEMs and trade groups, to address the retail auto industry's historic lack of technology integration. This problem was highlighted in a survey of automotive dealers conducted in 2001 by NADA (DSP Satisfaction Survey), which cited system integration as "the top driver in dealer satisfaction."

"CODA represents an effort that will serve our industry's progress well. In order to provide auto dealers with the best possible services, technology vendors need to cooperate. CODA is building a forum to facilitate these activities," said Kurt Olnhausen, president and CEO of Auto Town, an automotive retail software provider.

Dave Houssian of the Paul Gillrie Institute, an independent consulting firm assisting dealers with IT purchasing, stated, "The open integration that CODA can deliver gives dealers more flexibility in selecting technology solutions that fit their businesses, which ultimately positions them for long term growth. We are excited about working with these types of efforts in the industry in order to provide more choices for auto dealers."

CODA functions as an independent organization in which software vendor members agree to publish an Application Programming Interface (API) that allows any other CODA member to exchange data with their application, should they choose to do so. CODA also leverages existing and newly proposed standards for data exchange, including the STAR organization's XML schema, OAGI protocols and the W3C/OASIS SOAP standard.

"CODA helps bring open systems to dealers for true integration of fundamental business software and services," said Jim Roche, CEO of Ocentrix. "The seamless integration of vendors' technology, such as accounting, sales and inventory, will allow dealers to streamline processes, have better access to information and improve customer service."

For more information on CODA, contact Mark Fiebig, SVP of Corporate Development at Ocentrix, at 206/625-9393 x3018 ([e-mail]) and visit the Web site at www.ocentrix.com/coda.html.