INNOVATION:

Black Book® (www.BlackBookUSA.com) is widely known within the automotive and financial industries for publishing a family of highly respected electronic and printed vehicle valuation guides. For more than 53 years, Black Book’s time-tested methodology has ensured reliable market driven information that is timely, independent, and accurate. Since its very beginning, Black Book has constantly innovated to meet the needs of an evolving automotive marketplace. Recent examples of such innovation include:

• Black Book Daily™ - daily value updates for more timely insight into a rapidly changing market.
• Black Book Finance Advance™ - market driven values for loan origination.
• Black Book FirstValues™ - used vehicle values from day-one (starting at new model launch).
• Black Book Activator™ - sophisticated lead tool technology that drives motivated buyers from website to showroom.
• Handheld, Internet, Data, and Custom Solutions – Black Book values are available for your BlackBerry; PocketPC; Palm; Smart Phone; Micro Browser, and Desktop PC. You can also access our values through our comprehensive Internet Suite of products; by directly licensing our data via user-friendly API and web services; or by utilizing our in-house, customized software development services.

OUR HISTORY:

Established in 1955, Black Book was founded in Gainesville, GA by three businessmen who regularly attended local, dealer-only auto auctions. Realizing that having accurate market values would help them make better buying and selling decisions, the three began writing down and tracking auction prices. When other dealers requested copies, the three started publishing their sheets weekly. Within a few years Black Book went from a hand-written tally of the week’s local auction results to a nationally recognized provider of the most current used vehicle values available.

CURRENT DAY:

We’re still car people. We attend more than 50 auctions nationwide every week gathering the data we use to report the market. While the volume of raw data available to us continues to grow in size, and the tools we use to mine the information have grown in sophistication, we’ve found that there is simply no substitute for being in the lanes. We experience and understand the wholesale market the way our customers do. Our editors have 300 years of professional automotive experience…day in and day out, they do the hard work of getting it right. Today, Black Book provides values for both new and used vehicles, including cars and light trucks produced since 1946, motorcycles, ATVs, snowmobiles, personal watercraft, and heavy duty commercial trucks and trailers. Black Book data is published daily in multiple electronic formats including data feeds, Internet-based applications, hand held PDAs, web enabled cell phones, Pocket PCs, BlackBerry and Palm devices, SmartPhones, Micro Browsers, online trade appraisal services, and in a variety of other custom products. Printed versions are also available on a weekly basis.

Black Book is a division of the Hearst Business Media Corporation, and has offices in Georgia, California, Florida, Michigan, and Maryland.