Edmunds.com to Unveil Certified Developer Network at SXSW®

SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Edmunds.com, the premier resource for car shopping and automotive information, will unveil the industry’s first Certified Developer Network at the upcoming South by Southwest® (SXSW®) conference taking place in Austin this weekend.

“This is an incredible opportunity for qualified developers to quickly establish a reputation and a client base”

“This is an incredible opportunity for qualified developers to quickly establish a reputation and a client base,” stated Ismail Elshareef, Edmunds.com’s Senior Director of Open Platform Initiatives, who will be on site at SXSW to meet interested developers. “Our partners will get business-building solutions for their Web sites, and the developers in our network will have the opportunity to provide their services to those partners.”

Developers who show proficiency using the Edmunds.com API – which includes access to most of Edmunds.com’s automotive data sets, including vehicle specifications and pricing, car reviews and photos, incentives and rebates, other editorial content of interest to car shoppers, car dealer information, car dealer ratings and reviews, maintenance information for every mainstream car model on the road today, a VIN decoder, and widgets that employ all this data for “plug ‘n’ play” deployment – will be considered for inclusion in Edmunds’ Certified Developer Network.

Members of Edmunds’ Certified Developer Network will be celebrated on developer.edmunds.com and in other places where the API and its applications are promoted.

Nexteppe is the first developer that has been named to Edmunds’ Certified Developer Network. Nexteppe used Edmunds.com’s API to create a trade-in pricing tool that helps engage car shoppers on car dealer Web sites. Nexteppe has 300 clients, but through Edmunds’ Network the company has exposure to thousands of car dealers who can also use its services. Thanks to Edmunds.com’s promotion of Nexteppe’s capabilities, the company has been able to serve a better product to both dealer clients and the end user.

“It is just what John Hagel of Deloitte means when he talks about the power of ‘capability leverage—the ability to access and mobilize the resources of other companies to add more value,’” notes Edmunds.com Chief Information Officer Philip Potloff. “We believe that this is the future of commerce, and developer partnerships through our API program are an excellent way to demonstrate this approach.”

Edmunds.com launched its API in September 2011 and has over 1600 registered users. In the automotive industry it is unusual for such valuable data to be offered at no charge, but making it available is consistent with Edmunds.com’s ongoing commitment to the transparency of information for car shoppers.

To access the Edmunds.com API, visit developer.edmunds.com or email [e-mail]. Anyone who gets an API key can click on the API console, an interactive tool, to experiment with it without having to write any code.

Developers who build with the API and demonstrate their efforts to the Edmunds.com representatives at SXSW will be entered to win an iPad mini and will be considered for Edmunds’ Certified Developer Network.

The Edmunds.com team will be housed in Mashery’s Circus Mashimus Lounge (#cmlounge) with other significant API providers Active.com, Aetna and ESPN.

About Edmunds.com, Inc.

At Edmunds.com, we’re committed to helping people find the car that meets their every need. Almost 18 million visitors use our research, shopping and buying tools every month to make an easy and informed decision on their next new or used car. Whether you’re at the dealership or on the go, we’re always by your side with our Five Star Edmunds.com iPhone and iPad apps and our Edmunds.com Android App. Our comprehensive car reviews, shopping tips, photos, videos and feature stories offer a friendly and authentic approach to the automotive world. We’re based in Santa Monica, Calif., but you can connect with us from anywhere by following @Edmunds on Twitter or by becoming a fan of Edmunds.com on Facebook.