February 4, 2008

SEATTLE - The Cobalt Group, Inc., the leading provider of marketing services to the retail automotive industry, today announced that it has appointed Kevin Root to VP of Product and Marketing at its Dealix division in Redwood City, CA. Root is currently the VP of Products and Services in Cobalt's applications group, responsible for product management and strategy.

Kevin Root has worked in the automotive industry for twenty years and has been recognized by J.D. Power and Associates as one of the original automotive internet pioneers.

In his new role, Root will drive Dealix Corporation's product strategy and direct the marketing efforts that support the company's communications with auto dealers. Dealix, celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2008, is the leading provider of consumer requests for quotes to the auto industry, serving over 5000 new and used car leaders.

Since joining Cobalt in 1999, Kevin Root has spearheaded several industry-leading research initiatives, including the 2005 Industry and Dealership eBusiness Performance Study and the recently completed 2007 Dealer eBusiness Performance Study: the New Buying Influences, conducted with Yahoo! and R.L. Polk & Co. Root has also led Cobalt's dealer training and consulting group which in 2005 trained over 4,100 dealerships in all aspects of e-business performance improvement.

Before Cobalt, Root worked at Microsoft as a product planner for CarPoint's Used Car Marketplace and led product strategy and launch of CarPoint's DealerPoint lead management tool, utilizing his industry knowledge to help show dealers the benefits of selling cars online.

Root also has extensive automotive retailing experience. In the early and mid-nineties Kevin served as both Marketing Director and Internet Sales Manager for a large dealer group, where he helped create one of the first dealer websites in the world.

"Kevin has been a key executive at Cobalt for years, and I am delighted he's going to next apply his deep automotive internet experience to our Dealix division," said John Holt, President and CEO of Cobalt. " Helping dealers create and convert opportunities at a high ROI is all that matters to Cobalt and it is the obsession of our Dealix division; Kevin is one of the auto industry's experts when it comes to knowing the ins and outs of Internet marketing."

"Dealix is an innovator in serving both auto buyers and dealers, and in Kevin Root we welcome a leader who understands both audiences very deeply," said Anna Zornosa, Cobalt EVP and General Manager of Dealix. "We will value Kevin's deep consumer orientation, his ability to understand and anticipate directions of the auto industry, and his deep knowledge of Cobalt products as we chart our future course."

"When you look at what is on the horizon in terms of the next chapter of the industry and the evolution of dealership marketing mix, I cannot think of a more exciting place to be than at a market-leader like Dealix," Root said about the move to Dealix.

Kevin is a frequent keynote speaker on automotive e-business and dealer performance improvement at industry and OEM conferences. He has been published in Automotive News, Wards Dealer Business, the J.D. Power Online Automotive Quarterly Review, USA Today, and CNN.

About The Cobalt Group
The Cobalt Group is North America's leading provider of automotive marketing services. For over twelve years, Cobalt's exclusive mission has been to help automobile dealers and manufacturers increase their retailing effectiveness and profits. Cobalt provides marketing services to over forty percent of the automotive dealerships in the United States, as well as automotive dealers in Canada and Mexico. Cobalt is endorsed by two-thirds of the world's major automotive manufacturers. Cobalt is also endorsed by the American International Automobile Dealers Association (AIADA).

Cobalt's Dealix division provides automobile dealerships, large dealer groups, and automotive manufacturers with the most efficient, cost-effective way to acquire customers. Dealix's InvoiceDealers.com is one of the industry's leading automotive portals and the largest source of Internet sales leads, processed through the Dealix Lead Trading PlatformSM, a suite of proprietary technology products and business solutions. Dealix delivers thousands of serious new- and used-vehicle buyers to dealer customers daily, boosting sales while keeping customer acquisition costs low.



Contact Information
Chris Reed
Email: creed@cobaltgroup.com
Phone: 206.219.8166

Amy Hatch
Email: ahatch@cobaltgroup.com
Phone: 206.219.8132