Chrome Releases Canadian VIN Data Product; New Version for Canadian Vehicles Provides More Vin-Decode-to-Style Matches, As Well As Richer Vehicle Descriptions.

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Chrome Systems Corporation, the automotive industry's leading provider of vehicle configuration data, configuration technology and commerce solutions, announced today the release of a Canadian version of its popular VIN Search 2.0 product. VIN Search is a must-have tool for auction houses, leasing companies, and finance groups, or any business that depends on the transformation of a VIN to a basic but accurate description of the vehicle. The new version has been modified to support more than 20 vehicle makes available in Canada.

VIN Search is a data source that relates Canadian vehicle identification numbers to specific equipment or option details on any individual vehicle or a small group of vehicles made between 2000 and the current model year. With VIN Search, business customers can transform a VIN to a short, explicit description of the vehicle that includes engine, engine size, transmission type or availability, and a number of additional options.

For customers who need more information, VIN Search also matches the VIN to a Chrome Style ID, a unique and proprietary data value that serves as the link to nearly 80 unique data points on the vehicle. With a dynamic combination of data and logic, the Chrome Style ID can be matched to a data set that normalizes the information across manufacturers. Additionally, matching a VIN to a Chrome Style ID makes these data points searchable and accessible online, facilitating research in both Web sites and enterprise software systems.

"We're especially proud of this release because it marks our first VIN product designed specifically for Canada. And it comes so soon after our introduction of a Canadian version of Chrome Carbook," said Dave Mingle, president of Chrome Systems. "This is an important step in expanding our VIN coverage."

Chrome's experience in Canada spans several years. The company currently sells a Canadian version of its desktop-based vehicle pricing and ordering tool, PC Carbook(R), has provided the data in the Reynolds & Reynolds sales solution for Canadian dealers, and continues to power the GM BuyPower Canada web site. More recently, it announced business deals with Suzuki Canada and Canadian Black Book, as well the availability of a Canadian version of Chrome Carbook(R), the company's consumer-facing vehicle configurator for Web sites.

The Canadian version of VIN Search is available immediately. A USA version of VIN Search 2.0 is currently in use by auction houses, financers, publishers and other auto industry concerns, supporting model year data as far back as 1987.

About Chrome

With more than 13,500 clients, including half of all automotive dealers in the U.S. and Canada, Chrome provides vehicle content, software, technology and services to deliver complete enterprise solutions to all segments of the retail automotive industry. These segments include manufacturers, fleet companies, dealers, Internet sites, and financial institutions. Chrome pioneered the technology behind electronic vehicle configuration with the introduction of PC Carbook(R), and since 1986 has collected, analyzed and enhanced "raw" automotive data from all manufacturers.