Another high-profile executive leaves troubled Priceline.com

NORWALK, Conn. - The head of Priceline.com's auto-services business left the troubled name-your-own-price Internet company on the same day its chief financial officer quit.

But Priceline didn't announce Maryann Keller's departure last week when it said CFO Heidi Miller was leaving.

Keller's departure was first reported by The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. The former auto analyst told the newspaper she thinks the experiment of selling cars online has failed.

''For car buying, the Internet is an idea whose time has not yet come and may never,'' she said.

Keller said she left after she was asked to lay off half of her 23-person staff. Priceline said last week it was cutting 16 percent of its 535-member work force.

A Priceline spokesman confirmed Keller's departure but said it ''has absolutely no effect on our auto business.'' The division is being run by Pamela Caputo, vice president of automotive sales.

Priceline, which began offering name-your-own price airline tickets two years ago, has faced increased competition for its core business from other Internet travel sites and airlines themselves. The company's efforts to develop other markets have also faltered.

Last month Priceline's grocery and gasoline licensee, WebHouse Club, announced it was shutting down. The same day, Perfect Yardsale Inc., which offered used merchandise through Priceline, also said it was going out of business.

Priceline's stock plunged 38 percent as a result of those announcements, and it dropped further after the company warned last week that its fourth-quarter revenue would drop because of slowing demand for its airline ticket service.

It was the same story on Wednesday. Priceline stock fell 24 percent to close at $3.25, well off the 52-week high of $104.25.