REDMOND, Wash. — March 8, 2007 — Today, as an estimated 700,000 auto fans from around the world descend upon Geneva for the 77th Geneva International Motor Show, the millions of enthusiasts who couldn’t attend the show now have an exciting new resource — MSN® Autos announced the launch of Auto Show Central, a new center within the MSN Autos site dedicated to the coverage of major auto shows and events across the globe.
Located at http://autos.msn.com, Auto Show Central features articles, photo galleries, streaming video and 360-degree looks at some of the world’s finest and most cutting-edge automobiles. With an international team of editors, Auto Show Central offers much of the same great content in Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Swedish, enabling automotive fans around the world to enjoy this season’s premier automobile events at the click of a button.
“With coverage from the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit drawing more than 150 million page views to MSN Autos, clearly this is the kind of coverage that consumers are looking for, and we’re giving it to them,” said Scott Ehlers, general manager of MSN Autos. “Auto Show Central brings together the most exciting auto show content from around the world into one place.”
Auto Show Central already contains a wealth of coverage for the 2007 season, with comprehensive looks at January’s NAIAS in Detroit, the famous 24 hours of Daytona automobile race, and last month’s Chicago Auto Show, as well as extensive coverage of shows that took place over the past several years. Coverage of the Detroit event alone offers auto enthusiasts a comprehensive collection of 48 original articles, 28 photo galleries with hundreds of photos, 45 exclusive streaming videos and 33 360-degree videos. Following this week’s show in Geneva, the site will host a full slate of auto events in 2007, including the shows in New York in April, Pebble Beach in August and the Frankfurt and Tokyo motor shows next fall.
With MSN Autos, consumers will find powerful top-notch technology and rich content brought together to deliver valuable comprehensive tools and information for researching, buying, owning and selling cars. They also can find the lowest gas prices in their area; compare detailed car specs and photos side by side; identify local dealers; receive help with financing, insurance and maintenance; and get trusted advice from Consumer Reports and Kelley Blue Book (http://www.kbb.com).
About MSN and Windows Live
MSN attracts more than 465 million unique users worldwide per month. With localized versions available globally in 42 markets and 21 languages, MSN is a world leader in delivering compelling programmed content experiences to consumers and online advertising opportunities to businesses worldwide. Windows Live, a comprehensive set of personal Internet services and software, is designed to bring together in one place all the relationships, information and interests people care about most, with enhanced safety and security features across their PC, devices and the Web. MSN and Windows Live will be offered alongside each other as complementary services. Some Windows Live services entered an early beta phase on Nov. 1, 2005; these and future beta updates can be found at http://ideas.live.com. Windows Live is available at http://www.live.com. MSN is located on the Web at http://www.msn.com. MSN worldwide sites are located at http://www.msn.com/worldwide.ashx.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
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