Amazon.com officially launched its Automotive Parts and Accessories Store, which features over 1 million new, used and remanufactured parts. Amazon said a key feature of its auto parts store is the Part Finder feature that allows users to look up approximately 10,000 different American car and truck models to find the parts that fit those vehicles. Part Finder enables third-party data providers and retailers to share part and vehicle information.

In addition to Amazon.com's own inventory, 250 independent retailers list hundreds of thousands of items on the Amazon auto store site, including HoursepowerFreaks, Midway Auto Supply and Summit Racing Equipment. Some of those third-party sellers also sell on eBay, such as Auto Barn, which operates an eBay Store (http://stores.ebay.com/AutoBarn-Auctions). eBay also claims to have one million items in its Auto Parts & Accessories area on eBay Motors.

An Amazon.com spokesperson said Amazon Marketplace sellers are allowed to sell in the Automotive Parts category. "The costs can very depending on what type of seller you are and depending on the categories. This is handled similarly to any other category at Amazon.com."

In other news, IBM issued a press release on Monday announcing it has filed two patent infringement lawsuits against Amazon.com for unspecified damages.

Amazon.com is releasing third-quarter 2006 earnings today (October 24, 2006) and will webcast an earnings conference call at 5 pm Eastern.

http://www.amazon.com/auto