From...

September 22, 1999
Web posted at: 3:20 p.m. EDT (1920 GMT)

by Alexandra Krasne

(IDG) -- Putting you in the driver's seat instead of the back seat to buy a car, Microsoft's MSN CarPoint and Ford will offer a build-to-order system that lets you state what car you want and let the seller contact you.

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Car gadgets of the near future

Of course, you still have to go to the dealership to get the car and haggle over price, but at least you'll have the color and features you want, note the three executives who made the announcement Monday.

The new site is scheduled to go live in the first quarter of next year, and it builds on the MSN CarPoint site launched in 1995.

Buying cars: The next generation

"This is the next generation of the Internet," says Steve Ballmer, Microsoft president. He called it "a marketplace where dealers, suppliers, and consumers can interact," and notes, "the nature of that interaction has yet to be exploited."

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By pairing with CarPoint, Ford gives buyers a direct link to manufacturers. Currently, car shoppers must choose cars from dealers' preselected stock.

The way CarPoint now works, you select a manufacturer, such as Ford. Then you pick a car and its features, such as manual transmission or air conditioning.

When you make a request, local dealers get contact information and call you when they have the vehicle.

But starting next year, you'll be able to configure your dream car and find out if it's being put together at the manufacturing plant, or if it's at a nearby dealer.

By watching customers' wish lists, Ford will see which features are in greatest demand and will adjust its manufacturing to meet consumer preferences.

Honda plans to offer the service on MSN CarPoint as well, Ballmer says.

"Ford shared this vision," Ballmer says. "We are inviting more players to join in."

Dealers not left in the dust

Car dealers will still play an integral role in your car-buying experience, the executives say.

"We want the consumer to connect with the virtual world and with the physical world" and continue to work with dealers, says Jac Nasser, Ford's chief executive officer. "The impact customers will have on product design is huge. This will change the way we conduct business."

One thing that will change: Instead of dealers ordering for you, you get to configure your car, says Lindsay Sparks, CEO of CarPoint.

"The key here is to drive high value for dealer and consumer," Sparks says.

CarPoint will indeed change the way S & C Ford in San Francisco does business, says Andre Teixeira, manager of Internet Fleet Sales.

S & C Ford is also hooked into another online auto buying service, Autoweb. But the current system gives consumers more opportunity to affect the stock at dealerships, Teixeira says.

"Until now there wasn't much input from customers," Teixeira says.

Now, car dealerships decide how many makes and models they receive and what features to get. Usually one person orders the cars, and a wrong decision causes lost revenue, Teixeira says.

"Volume hasn't gone up much yet from online sales," he says, "but there's great potential."