Kelley Blue Book Announces Joint Venture With Bitauto And China Automobile Dealers Association

KBB.com's Trusted Used-Vehicle Values Will be Offered to China Market

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Nov 07, 2013, 05:00 ET

IRVINE, Calif., Nov. 7, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Kelley Blue Book www.kbb.com, The Trusted Resource^® and leading provider of new and used car information today announced a joint venture with Bitauto Holdings Limited (NYSE: BITA), leading provider of Internet content and marketing services for China's fast-growing automotive industry, and China Automobile Dealers Association (CADA).

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"Through our strategic partnership with Bitauto and the China Automobile Dealers Association, and in recognition of the rapidly growing, emerging China automotive market, Kelley Blue Book will leverage its 87-year history of trusted, vehicle values and automotive expertise to provide vehicle valuation and pricing information to the China market," said Jared Rowe, president of Kelley Blue Book. "These values will help Chinese consumers feel confident they are making well informed decisions with values leveraging KBB.com's expertise in values and fair pricing."

The new joint venture will operate as a Web-based and mobile product in China, providing comprehensive, up-to-date used-vehicle values for consumers, auto manufacturers, car dealers, finance and insurance companies, and other automotive-related companies. KBB.com's venerable used-car values expertise will be integrated with Bitauto's deep local Chinese market understanding and solid used-car customer base, and CADA's authoritative position and its exclusive access to extensive data on China's used-car market. With this joint venture, Kelley Blue Book can now extend its relationships with automakers onto a more global platform.

"Bitauto is delighted to partner with Kelley Blue Book and the China Automobile Dealers Association to bring innovative vehicle valuations to China's used-car market," said William Bin Li, chairman and chief executive officer of Bitauto. "We are confident these values will become the starting point for consumers and dealers seeking used-vehicle pricing information."

"We wanted to provide greater transparency and confidence for consumers and the valuation products that are being jointly developed will deliver on this," said Mr. Jinjun Shen, executive vice president and general secretary from CADA. "These innovative new products will provide comprehensive vehicle valuations to meet the needs of a wide range of Chinese auto buyers and sellers."

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About Kelley Blue Book (www.kbb.com)
Founded in 1926, Kelley Blue Book, The Trusted Resource®, is the only vehicle valuation and information source trusted and relied upon by both consumers and the automotive industry. Each week the company provides the most market-reflective values in the industry on its top-rated website KBB.com, including its famous Blue Book® Trade-In and Suggested Retail Values, and Fair Purchase Price, which reports what others are paying for new cars this week. The company also provides vehicle pricing and values through various products and services available to car dealers, auto manufacturers, finance and insurance companies, and governmental agencies. For two years running, Kelley Blue Book's KBB.com ranked highest in its category for brand equity and was named Online Auto Shopping Brand of the Year in the 2012 and 2013 Harris Poll EquiTrend^® study. Kelley Blue Book Co., Inc. is a subsidiary of AutoTrader Group, which includes AutoTrader.com, vAuto, VinSolutions and HomeNet Automotive. AutoTrader Group is a majority-owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises.

About Bitauto Holdings Limited
Bitauto Holdings Limited (NYSE: BITA) is a leading provider of Internet content and marketing services for China's fast-growing automotive industry. Bitauto manages its businesses in four segments: the bitauto.com advertising business, the EP platform business, the taoche.com business, and the digital marketing solutions business.

The Company's bitauto.com advertising business offers automakers and dealers a variety of advertising services through its bitauto.com website, which provides consumers with up-to-date new automobile pricing and promotional information, specifications, reviews and consumer feedback. The Company's EP platform business provides web-based integrated digital marketing and customer relationship management (CRM) applications to new automobile dealers in China. The platform enables dealer subscribers to create their own online showrooms, list pricing and promotional information, provide dealer contact information, place advertisements and manage customer relationships to help them effectively market their automobiles to consumers. The Company's taoche.com business provides listing services to used automobile dealers that enable them to display used automobile inventory information on the taoche.com website and partner websites. The Company provides advertising services to used automobile dealers and automakers with certified pre-owned automobile programs on its taoche.com website. The Company's digital marketing solutions business provides automakers with one-stop digital marketing solutions, including website creation and maintenance, online public relations, online marketing campaigns and advertising agent services.

For more information, please visit ir.bitauto.com.

About China Automobile Dealers Association
China Automobile Dealers Association (CADA) is the only national organization representing China's automotive transaction industry. The organization comprises automotive (including used car) companies, multinational automotive companies in China and automotive trading enterprises. Headquartered in Beijing, the organization was founded in 1990 and is registered under the Ministry of Civil Affairs. The main goals of CADA are to support the development of China's automotive transaction industry, provide comprehensive and personalized services to its members and serve as a bridge between government and enterprises.

Safe Harbor Statement
This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "confident" and similar statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Bitauto does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable law. All information provided in this press release is as of the date of this press release, and Bitauto undertakes no duty to update such information, except as required under applicable law.

SOURCE Kelley Blue Book