Company type | Subsidiary of Cox Automotive |
---|---|
Industry | Information services, E-commerce software, Automotive |
Founded | 1918 1926 (as Kelley Blue Book) | (as The Kelley Kar Company)
Founder | Les Kelley |
Headquarters | Irvine, California, U.S. |
Key people | Les Kelley, Founder Buster Kelley Steve Lind, President[1] |
Parent | Cox Automotive[2] |
Website | https://www.kbb.com |
Kelley Blue Book Co., Inc. is a vehicle valuation and automotive research company which is recognized by both consumers and the automotive industry.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9] Based in Irvine, California, the company is owned by the Cox Automotive subsidiary of Cox Enterprises.
The company began as the Kelley Kar Company founded by Les Kelley in 1918.[5][8][10] Kelley started the company with three Model T Fords.[11] His younger brother, Buster, worked with Kelley as a lot boy.[11] By using data collected from the dealership, Kelley published the company’s first Blue Book in 1926, which became a standard guide in automotive trade in determining car value.[8][9][11] Kelley Blue Book was formed in 1926, and the Kelley family continued its dealership business in Southern California for several decades.[5][8][11] By the 1960s, the company moved from a car dealership to a specialty publisher and focused on the production of its automobile price guide.[8] Kelley Blue Book guide became the first publication to use mileage to determine a car's value.[citation needed]
In 1995, Kelley Blue Book created its company website, which contained tips and pricing information from its hardcopy guide.[12]
In December 2010, Kelley Blue Book was purchased by AutoTrader.com.[5][6][13] After its acquisition, the company operated as a subsidiary of AutoTrader.com, Inc.[14]
In 2013, the company formed an alliance with Bitauto Holdings Ltd. to expand into China.[15]
In 2014, Kelley Blue Book signed a two-year agreement with Hendrick Motorsports to be a primary sponsor of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s No. 88 Chevrolet SS NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team.[16][17]
The company reports market value prices for new and used automobiles of all types, as well as motorcycles, snowmobiles and personal watercraft.[18] For both new and used automobiles, Kelley Blue Book provides a fair market range and fair purchase price, based on actual transactions of what others are paying for a vehicle and adjusted regularly as market conditions change.[19][20] For new automobiles, Kelley Blue Book also provides information about a car's MSRP and dealer invoice price.[21] For used cars, Kelley Blue Book provides typical listing price, certified pre-owned price, trade-in value and private party value.[22][23] Kelley Blue Book also offers expert and consumer vehicle reviews and ratings, and 5-year cost to own information for new cars.[24][25]
In 2012–2014, Harris Poll recognized Kelley Blue Book as the Online Auto Shopping Brand of the Year.[26][27] In addition, the company received a WebAward in the automotive category of Outstanding Website for two consecutive years.[28]