Kelley Blue Book
Encyclopedia
Kelley Blue Book, headquartered in Irvine
, California
, is the United States' largest automotive vehicle valuation company. The company's website is a source for new and used vehicle pricing and information. The company has become so identified with its services that the trademark
ed terms blue book and blue book value have become a genericized trademark
with a car's market value.
-based car dealership
, in 1918. The dealership was founded by Les Kelley, an Arkansas
-born businessman who started the dealership with three used Model T Fords and one employee, his 13-year-old brother Buster.
In order to obtain inventory, he began circulating lists of cars he wanted to acquire along with the price he was willing to pay for them. The price lists quickly became a trusted standard among Los Angeles area banks and car dealers.
In 1926, he published his first Kelley Blue Book, a guide to used car values. The service was primarily regional until the 1940s. In the years immediately following World War II
, a large number of returning serviceman and the pent-up demand caused by four years of wartime rationing
caused a huge spike in the demand for cars. Since most car companies had yet to retool from wartime production, the price of used cars skyrocketed. During this time, Kelley Blue Book expanded to become a nationwide automobile appraisal guide. The book remained with the Kelley family until 1980.
Kelley Blue Book steadily expanded its scope over the years. New-car appraisals were added in 1966. In the years following, recreational vehicles, motorcycles, and mobile home
appraisal guides were added to company's list of services.
Kelley Blue Book guides were primarily trade publications until 1993 when a consumer edition of Kelley Blue Book was launched. The company began its website service in 1995 and has become one of the most visited automobile related sites in the Internet. Kelley Blue Book does not provide its methodology and sales data used to generate pricing valuations.
In late 2010, it was announced that Kelley Blue Book was being sold to AutoTrader.com
for an estimated $500 million.
AutoTrader is owned by privately held Cox Enterprises
and investment firm Providence Equity Partners
.
s, and personal watercrafts. For new automobiles, KBB provides information about a make's MSRP
, dealer invoice
price, and a vehicle's New Car Blue Book Value; what others are paying for a new car this week. For used cars KBB provides retail value, trade-in value, and private party value. It obtains retail pricing by collecting information about actual retail sales.
The Kelley Blue Book Company has registered "Blue Book" as a trademark
in the United States and Canada. The company admonishes against the use of term in a generic way, so that it does not lose its trademark rights by having the terms become a genericized trademark
or fall into the public domain
.
Irvine, California
Irvine is a suburban incorporated city in Orange County, California, United States. It is a planned city, mainly developed by the Irvine Company since the 1960s. Formally incorporated on December 28, 1971, the city has a population of 212,375 as of the 2010 census. However, the California...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, is the United States' largest automotive vehicle valuation company. The company's website is a source for new and used vehicle pricing and information. The company has become so identified with its services that the trademark
Trademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
ed terms blue book and blue book value have become a genericized trademark
Genericized trademark
A genericized trademark is a trademark or brand name that has become the colloquial or generic description for, or synonymous with, a general class of product or service, rather than as an indicator of source or affiliation as intended by the trademark's holder...
with a car's market value.
History
Kelley Blue Book Co., Inc., began as the Kelley Kar Company, a Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
-based car dealership
Car dealership
A car dealership or vehicle local distribution is a business that sells new or used cars at the retail level, based on a dealership contract with an automaker or its sales subsidiary. It employs automobile salespeople to do the selling...
, in 1918. The dealership was founded by Les Kelley, an Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
-born businessman who started the dealership with three used Model T Fords and one employee, his 13-year-old brother Buster.
In order to obtain inventory, he began circulating lists of cars he wanted to acquire along with the price he was willing to pay for them. The price lists quickly became a trusted standard among Los Angeles area banks and car dealers.
In 1926, he published his first Kelley Blue Book, a guide to used car values. The service was primarily regional until the 1940s. In the years immediately following World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, a large number of returning serviceman and the pent-up demand caused by four years of wartime rationing
Rationing
Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, or services. Rationing controls the size of the ration, one's allotted portion of the resources being distributed on a particular day or at a particular time.- In economics :...
caused a huge spike in the demand for cars. Since most car companies had yet to retool from wartime production, the price of used cars skyrocketed. During this time, Kelley Blue Book expanded to become a nationwide automobile appraisal guide. The book remained with the Kelley family until 1980.
Kelley Blue Book steadily expanded its scope over the years. New-car appraisals were added in 1966. In the years following, recreational vehicles, motorcycles, and mobile home
Mobile home
Mobile homes or static caravans are prefabricated homes built in factories, rather than on site, and then taken to the place where they will be occupied...
appraisal guides were added to company's list of services.
Kelley Blue Book guides were primarily trade publications until 1993 when a consumer edition of Kelley Blue Book was launched. The company began its website service in 1995 and has become one of the most visited automobile related sites in the Internet. Kelley Blue Book does not provide its methodology and sales data used to generate pricing valuations.
In late 2010, it was announced that Kelley Blue Book was being sold to AutoTrader.com
AutoTrader.com
AutoTrader.com is an American automotive classified Web site operated by AutoTrader.com L.L.C.; Cox Enterprises owns 75% of the company, Providence Equity Partners owns the rest. It was founded in August of 1997 and is the largest classified automotive site in the United States...
for an estimated $500 million.
AutoTrader is owned by privately held Cox Enterprises
Cox Enterprises
Cox Enterprises is the successor to the publishing company founded in Dayton, Ohio, United States, by James Middleton Cox, who began with the Dayton Daily News. He was the Democratic candidate for the President of the United States in the election of 1920...
and investment firm Providence Equity Partners
Providence Equity Partners
Providence Equity Partners is a global private equity investment firm focused on media, entertainment, communications and information investments...
.
Services
The company reports market value prices for new and used automobiles of all types, as well as RVs, motorcycles, snowmobileSnowmobile
A snowmobile, also known in some places as a snowmachine, or sled,is a land vehicle for winter travel on snow. Designed to be operated on snow and ice, they require no road or trail. Design variations enable some machines to operate in deep snow or forests; most are used on open terrain, including...
s, and personal watercrafts. For new automobiles, KBB provides information about a make's MSRP
Suggested retail price
The manufacturer's suggested retail price , list price or recommended retail price of a product is the price which the manufacturer recommends that the retailer sell the product. The intention was to help to standardise prices among locations...
, dealer invoice
Invoice
An invoice or bill is a commercial document issued by a seller to the buyer, indicating the products, quantities, and agreed prices for products or services the seller has provided the buyer. An invoice indicates the buyer must pay the seller, according to the payment terms...
price, and a vehicle's New Car Blue Book Value; what others are paying for a new car this week. For used cars KBB provides retail value, trade-in value, and private party value. It obtains retail pricing by collecting information about actual retail sales.
Trademark issues
While published price guidebooks or "blue books," as the term is generically used, exist for everything from coins to guitars, the success of the Kelley Blue Book brand of automobile values has led to the term blue book and blue book value in the automotive context evolving from a generic term to a term associated specifically with the Kelley Blue Book company's products.The Kelley Blue Book Company has registered "Blue Book" as a trademark
Trademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
in the United States and Canada. The company admonishes against the use of term in a generic way, so that it does not lose its trademark rights by having the terms become a genericized trademark
Genericized trademark
A genericized trademark is a trademark or brand name that has become the colloquial or generic description for, or synonymous with, a general class of product or service, rather than as an indicator of source or affiliation as intended by the trademark's holder...
or fall into the public domain
Public domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
.