Shift and Lithia Motors Partnering On Data

SAN FRANCISCO, March 27, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Shift and Lithia Motors Inc. (NYSE:LAD) announced today that they will continue their ongoing partnership by launching a data-sharing collaboration that will improve decision-making capabilities for both companies.

The data-sharing process will consist of pooling Lithia's transactional data and Shift's data analytics to better anticipate market demand, set pricing and manage inventory. Shift's proprietary pricing algorithms gather tens of thousands of data points and then use machine learning to provide fast and accurate quotes that improve over time. While car list prices are publicly available actual transaction prices are difficult to obtain.

"Having access to Lithia's nationwide data set will allow us to improve the accuracy of our pricing algorithm in a way that would be impossible otherwise. We intend to use the information to supplement our existing sources and improve our buy and sell prices as we expand to new markets," said Andrew Carman, Shift's first engineer who runs the company's pricing team.

Shift and Lithia began their strategic partnership in 2018. Lithia Motors is one of the largest automotive retailers in the U.S., buying, selling, and servicing vehicles digitally and through their 182 dealership locations. Lithia is also among the fastest growing companies in the Fortune 500. Data-sharing represents the third stage of the collaboration between the two companies; the first two stages involved Lithia assisting Shift in securing a floor plan financing facility and the shared use of Lithia facilities for car reconditioning and storage.

"This next level in our partnership creates an opportunity to leverage Lithia's rich sales data to build technology capabilities around pricing that have not existed in the industry previously," said Toby Russell, co-CEO of Shift. "This creates unique abilities for Shift and Lithia to provide customers with a great experience using the power of machine learning."

"We are pleased that our partnership with Shift continues to strengthen," said Bryan DeBoer, President and CEO of Lithia Motors. "We look forward to realizing even more synergies as we expand our collaboration."

About Shift
Shift is bringing trust and simplicity to the used car market. Shift's innovative platform provides consumers a digital purchase and selling experience without visiting a dealership-utilizing a concierge to pick up and deliver vehicles wherever and whenever consumers choose.

Website:
www.shift.com 

Shift on Social Media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shiftcars/ 
Twitter: @driveshift  

SOURCE Shift

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