Kelley Blue Book history

The company also introduced the Early Model Guide, providing values dating to 1946.

By 1962, the other Kelleys also had left the dealership and sold the price guide to the Cook family of Los Angeles, who then hired the Kelleys to run the business.

Kelley Blue Book began reporting new-car pricing when it published the nation's first New Car Price Manual in 1966.

In 1978, Bob Kelley's son, Mike, joined the company.

In 1992, the company created desktop software for dealers to print Blue Book window stickers, listing used-car mileage, equipment, and suggested retail value compared with the dealer's asking price.

In 1993, the company published a consumer edition of the Blue Book, which quickly became the nation's number-one selling automotive book and made the USA Today bestseller lists.

Consumers had generated more than 1.5 billion pricing reports on the web site since its inception in 1995.

After a six-month experiment in which visitors were charged $3.95 for new-car price reports, Kelley dropped its fees and added 21 years of used Blue Book values in 1996.

In 2001, the company introduced online Decision Guides and New Car Configurator as part of its suite of web-based tools to help better inform car-buying consumers.

By October 2002, after nearly seven years in operation, Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com served its one-billionth pricing report for automotive consumers.

Gunn, Eileen G., "Cranky Consumer: Getting New-Car Quotes Online," Wall Street Journal, August 18, 2005.

In 2013, the company formed an alliance with Bitauto Holdings Ltd. to expand into China.