New Service Automates VIN-Specific Decoding and Vehicle Options Adjustments

Black Book, a division of Hearst that provides industry-leading used vehicle valuation and residual value forecast solutions, announced today the integration of its vehicle valuation data with Autodata Solutions, powered by ChromeData, a leading provider of automotive technology solutions and data licensed to industry professionals. The two companies are now the first to offer an automated As-Built Valuation Service for automotive industry professionals including lenders, dealers, insurance companies and auctions.

Black Book has partnered with Autodata Solutions to integrate an As-Built Valuation Service, a webservice harnessing ChromeData’s vehicle catalog data, OEM build data and any user-entered feature descriptions to describe used vehicles. Mapped to Black Book add/deducts, As-Built Valuation Service automatically returns a more thorough and precise vehicle value for any VIN compatible with the service.

“The integrated offering automates the process of VIN-specific decoding and adjustments on vehicle options, trims, and add/deducts,” said Jared Kalfus, executive vice president of revenue for Black Book. “The ability to automate this process saves significant time for the user, ensuring even greater accuracy during the valuation process.”

The service works either from a call with a single VIN or via batch processing for large volumes of vehicles. The VIN batch processing system is a fast and easy way to process all VINs with minimal effort. All that’s required is a single VIN. Users simply upload a list of VINs with equipment descriptions (when available), then download a single result file. As-Built Valuation Service helps vehicle lenders, auctions, fleet management companies, consumer trade-in websites, inventory appraisal applications, individual dealers, rental companies and used vehicle merchandisers to automatically calculate as-built vehicle valuations, as well as the most precise lease, finance portfolio, auction and used vehicle merchandising values.

ChromeData, an Autodata Solutions brand best known for providing the most accurate and complete vehicle and OEM build data, provides access to over 30 years of data and high-quality VIN and new car, light truck and motorcycle information.

“The integration of Black Book and Autodata Solutions represents a game-changing opportunity for the industry,” said Craig Jennings, president of Autodata Solutions. “Industry professionals have had access to this data manually, but with the automation now possible through our integration, we expect to see significant benefits to valuation and profit potential.”

When processing a representative portfolio sample of 180K vehicles with As-Built Valuation Service and its utilization of OEM Build Data, ranging from multiple brands and model years, results show an adjustment of $36.4MM to the portfolio. Some examples of specific valuation adjustments in the portfolio are as follows:

• All Chevrolet Models: $11.12MM Net Value Adjustment, $436.24 Average Net Value Adjustment per Chevrolet vehicle.

• All Infiniti Models: $1.2MM Net Value Adjustment, $709.58 Average Net Value Adjustment per Infiniti vehicle.

• All Jeep Models: $5.88MM Net Value Adjustment, $620.91 Average Net Value Adjustment per Jeep vehicle.

• All Ram Models: $5.45MM Net Value Adjustment, $1,053.36 Average Net Value Adjustment per Ram vehicle.

About Autodata Solutions

Autodata Solutions is the industry-leading provider of vehicle data and content, technology and inventory merchandising solutions that power the digital automotive ecosystem. Transforming complex data into marketing and sales solutions, Autodata Solutions’ technologies enable industry partners to optimally support and promote the sale of vehicles, parts and services. For three decades, Autodata Solutions has been a trusted and proven partner to the automotive industry — providing a broad suite of solutions for OEMs, dealerships, online portals, finance/insurance companies and fleet management organizations. For more information about Autodata Solutions and its brands visit www.Autodatasolutions.com.

About Black Book

Black Book® is best known in the automotive industry for providing timely, independent and precise vehicle pricing information, and is available to industry-qualified users through online subscription products, mobile applications and licensing agreements. Since 1955 Black Book has continuously evolved to ensure that it achieves its goal of delivering mission-critical information to its customers, along with the insight necessary to successfully buy, sell, and lend. Black Book data is published daily by National Auto Research, a division of HEARST, and the company maintains offices in Georgia, Florida, and Maryland as well as the Canadian Black Book in Toronto. For more information, please visit BlackBook.com or call 855-371-7532.