Carfax now competing with Cars.com & AutoTrader.com?

[Jeff Kershner]

Last week I posted Carfax Introduces "New" Used Car Listing Consumer Portal - over on the blog. I was surprised to see no comments.

I thought it was big news to see Carfax jump into the vehicle listings landscape, while going up against the likes of AutoTrader.com, Cars.com to compete for traffic and consumers searching for their next Used Car. Considering Carfax (and POLK) is now owned by IHS and could potentially take advantage of a wealth of data to help power and offer a different online shopping experience for the consumer.

Carfax has been somewhat quiet with a soft launch of the new listing website and service. However, when I asked how they planned to get the message out about their new listing portal then answered with... "We’re rolling out a national ad campaign in the coming months to help consumers find the right car with the right history for sale from dealers on Carfax Used Car Listings."

Is this big news or an I over exaggerating here?
Does Carfax have a chance here to stir up the market?

Could they become a real competitor to the other used car listing website?

Speak Up!!

 

[csabatka1]

I want this to succeed so badly, but I have my doubts. The national rep I talked to basically said this was a result of their fallout from AutoTrader.com and they wanted to stick it to them. Anything that can take from AutoTrader has my support.

I was told their major national ad campaign was coming during the NCAA Tourney... that didn't happen. We are on it free for 30 days, which ends at the end of March, but was just told they're leaving us on it at no charge for an indefinite amount of time until all bugs are worked out. I'm viewing this more of a sloppy rollout than a soft rollout. The regional and local rep stopped in unannounced one day and basically said we have this used car listings product that is rolling out and we want you to get on it for free. They basically had an ipad with screenshots of it with zero information and who to contact. It took about 2 weeks to get our feed right and just yesterday finally got our correct ADF/XML email added. I think they're in over their heads a bit and were a little rushed to get it out.

 

[danoneil]

I find the news interesting.

Jeff asked "Does Carfax have a chance here to stir up the market?" YES

"Could they become a real competitor to the other used car listing website?"



When you think about buying a car, "show me the carfax" has been a marketing success with consumers.

In my opinion, having their own consumer portal will be a good (low risk) vertical.

 

[ryan.leslie]

I agree Dan, it makes a lot of sense for them to try to stir up the market if they are no longer the exclusive provider of history reports to the classified sites. How hard they stir will come down to the execution and consumer experience on the site.

If you'd have asked what company has the opportunity to get into the classified listing space successfully, I'd think they would've been in the top 3 for most of us. "What the Fox say" definitely has the consumer's ear.

 

[DennisGalbraith]

After talking to a Carfax spokesperson this afternoon, I think their approach is brilliant. They have enough inventory to be a good consumer experience in most markets. They already have a financial relationship with dealers, yet they started with a free model and are going into the paid version giving dealers a free taste.

They learned from the mistakes of others and are not doing the things dealers have criticized other listings providers about. They must be reading DealerRefresh.
1) There is no advertising on the VDP and no way for another dealer to buy into a chance to take shoppers from another dealer's VDP. Once the shopper is on the VDP, its all about that vehicle from that store.
2) There is no way for one dealer to buy their way above another dealer in the search results. The listings are based entirely on relevance.
3) The link to the dealer's website is prominent. Wherever possible, the link to the dealer's site goes directly to that vehicles VDP on the dealer's site. The place with the most information on a given vehicle should always be the dealer's website, and Carfax seems to get that.

The marketing push starts April 7. They are not showing their cards, but I'd bet it has something to do with the ability to search for vehicles with the confidence they all have a Carfax report available.

However, Jeff's core question was whether they will stir up the market. Frankly, the Carfax relationship with the other listings providers could be worth more than the additional net profit they can obtain as a listings service. I doubt they will go at this market with a shark-like attitude. More likely, they will use their additional power to force other listings services to play on their terms. If Cars.com, AutoTrader.com, and Edmunds.com are smart, they will find a way to play nice with Carfax. If they approach it another way, they could find out how strong Carfax can really be. For dealers, increased competition for their business is good news either way.

There is one area of preparation where dealers should take note. The importance of VDPs on the dealer's website just went up. Carfax will use them as landing pages, much as good SEM providers do for long-tail searches.

 

[Manny Luna]

Only time will tell, Show me the right price...$139,995.00

 

[joe.pistell]

...Show me the right price...$139,995.00

Manny,

Your a vendor, you should know how the inventory distribution system works. That's a feed problem.

 

[ddavis]

If they approach it another way, they could find out how strong Carfax can really be.

Or not.

 

[Manny Luna]

Yes Joe it is, I would love to see them succeed.

 

[kevinfrye]

Has anyone been using the CarFax Used Car listings with success?