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Kelley Blue Book
Kelley Blue Book (KBB), headquartered in Irvine, California, is the United
States' largest appraiser of automobiles. The company has become so
identified with its services that the trademarked terms blue book and blue
book value have become synonymous with a car's market value.
History
Kelley Blue Book Co., Inc., began as the Kelley Kar Company, a Los
Angeles-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.
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 was edited by Les Kelley's nephew Kelley L. Ross until
1980.[1] His son, Kelley L. Ross, is a Professor of Philosophy at the
Department of Philosophy, Los Angeles Valley College, Van Nuys, California.
Services
The company quotes market value prices for new and used automobiles of all
types, as well as RVs, mobile homes, motorcycles, snowmobiles, and personal
watercrafts. For new automobiles, KBB provides information about a make's
MSRP, dealer invoice price, and expected retail price. For used cars KBB
provides retail value, trade-in value, and private party price. It obtains
retail pricing by collecting information about actual retail sales.[2]
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 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.
Other appraisal services
While the Kelley Blue Book is the largest vehicle appraisal service, others
include NADA's Orange Book, the Black Book, Galves Auto Price List and
Edmunds.com.
References
1. ^ http://www.friesian.com/ross/
2. ^ "Kelley Blue Book reports vehicle values by analyzing actual
transactions in the market." [1]
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