And the battle of automotive CRM heats up, with Indianapolis-based (points there!) Autobase, Inc., a provider of marketing and sales products for auto dealers, announcing its ranking on the Inc. 500 as one of the fastest growing private companies in the country.

Appearing on the list for the second year in a row at number 493 -- but hey, they're on it -- Autobase officials report a three-year growth of 307 percent. Autobase is also proud to announce its ranking of Number 363 on Deloitte’s 2006 Technology Fast 500, with five-year percentage growth of 348 percent.

Founded in 1988, Autobase has sold PC-based customer relationship management (CRM) to auto dealers for almost 20 years. Nowadays they provide a host of marketing and sales products to auto retail clients. This current offering includes products for business development centers, Internet lead management and digital marketing.