Latest activity

Dec 26, 2008

This is all very Nice, just how much increase in monthly subscription fee will this be?
How many times can you repackage the same product and try to get more money for it?

bpulseadmin · Nov 23, 2008

New car shoppers and car enthusiasts looking for the most up-to-date information on new models could ... subscribe to every auto magazine, blog and enthusiast publication; attend every auto show; stalk the new-car manager at every dealership in town; and sign up for email alerts at each manufacturer site ... Or, he or she could just visit AutoTrader.com's New Model Showcase. ATLANTA, Nov. 21 /PRNewswire/

AutoTrader.com's New Model Showcase will be a comprehensive, one-stop shop for car buyers and enthusiasts. From detailed information about new models just released to first looks at new models coming down the pike, buyers and enthusiasts now have one place to see pictures, get specifications and pricing, see inventory for sale and more.

"For car buyers and enthusiasts who are bombarded with thousands of marketing messages every day, we wanted to create the definitive resource for learning about and keeping track of the dozens of new models or major model redesigns that come out every year," said AutoTrader.com President and CEO Chip Perry. "By harnessing the power and functionality of the web and the market insight of AutoTrader.com, the No. 1 on-line source connecting car buyers and sellers, we've created a tool that can really help simplify the process of learning about, finding, comparing and finally purchasing that perfect new car."

Autos highlighted on the New Model Showcase are split into two categories, "Coming Soon" and "Now Available." Each model in the "Now Available" showcase is represented by a photo thumbnail and the new model's name and manufacturer. By clicking on the model name, visitors are brought to a detail page with additional photos, specifications, examples of available inventory and other information about the model.

In the "Coming Soon" section of the New Model Showcase, all new cars will be represented in text by model name, manufacturer and estimated release date. When more information or details are available, there will be a link to a vehicle detail where that information will be available. Vehicles will be represented by a thumbnail, in addition to model name and manufacturer, if they are sponsored by the manufacturer. Depending on information available, various details about the car will be listed.

Visitors to the showcase detail page can request additional information from the manufacturer, send an email about the model to a friend or family member, read reviews about the vehicle, view inventory of the model if it's available or, for models not yet available, set an email alert to remind them when the model does hit showroom floors.

The New Model Showcase is updated regularly as manufacturers release new information and data about the vehicles.

The New Model Showcase will be located in AutoTrader.com's "Research & Compare" area, which is one of the fastest growing parts of the site as auto buyers continue to flock to the internet to research both new and used cars.

"We're excited to offer auto shoppers and enthusiasts this free resource for keeping up with all the exciting new models the auto industry offers up every year," said Perry. "The internet has become the most important marketing avenue for people to research, compare and finally decide on which car they will buy. By bringing information about every new model and major model redesign into this New Model Showcase, we've literally put this information at people's fingertips in a one-stop destination."

About AutoTrader.com
AutoTrader.com, created in 1997 and headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., is the Internet's leading auto classifieds marketplace and consumer information website. AutoTrader.com aggregates in a single location about 4 million new, used and certified pre-owned vehicle listings from 40,000 dealers and 250,000 private owners and the site attracts about 14 million unique monthly visitors. Through innovative merchandising functionality such as multiple photos, videos, detailed descriptions and comprehensive research and compare tools, AutoTrader.com unites new and used car buyers and sellers online to improving the way people research, locate and advertise vehicles. AutoTrader.com is a majority-owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises. The venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers is also an investor. For more information, please visit www.autotrader.com.

Gerald · Nov 24, 2008

You're right about that, Rob. We ARE in this together. The more we can share ideas and sharpen our skills the better we ALL will do. It is written in the good book, "as iron shapes iron, man shapes man".

In other words, we may all be individually strong, but we can always make each other better.

Nov 22, 2008

Thank you for the kind words Gerald and not to worry. I too have learned that we never have all the answers...and just when we think we do there are so many more questions. I'm thankful to have so many people and resources to continually learn from and a chance to spread the message. I've said it before and truly mean it. We're all in this together and it's great to have forums like Digital Dealer and Dealer Refresh to share ideas and learn from each other.

DigitalRalph.com · Nov 21, 2008

It seems like there is a lot missing from Gerald's article... Where's the rest of it?

Nov 21, 2008

Having 3 sessions at once to pick from does make it difficult... but I think they released a lot of them digitally afterwards

Nov 29, 2008

This is one of those stories that certainly shows that this business is a great business. The key to keeping a great reputation such as the one we just viewed is to always give back to the community and to do the right thing by your customers at all times. I think this video certainly helped this dealership with reputation management. This is no different then a famous celebrity that donates to charity to help make the world a better place.

-Stan

Nov 23, 2008

Hi,

This is definitely a tough time for all the dealers. Those with a good reputation too are suffering.It shouldn't take much time to have good times back for the dealers.

-Nancy

Nov 22, 2008

I'm curious how a lot of you feel regarding this but I've heard a tremendous number of comments from the general public AND dealers saying that many of the dealers are going out of business due to bad business practices. Reasons are various but customer relationship and legal issues are brought up often.

While I agree that losing any businesses of the size many of these dealerships are in smaller towns and cities is a loss for the communities they contribute to but how many of you think that in the long run this could be a good thing?

From a business standpoint, for me, the more dealers the better off I am. Have to say I'm a bit torn on this one. While some of these dealerships are merely having bad luck at a bad time, I have to believe that some of those comments re bad business I'm hearing are right.

As a dealer that practices good business, excluding just the competition factor, do you feel the automotive business as a whole will be better off without some of these dealers?

DigitalRalph.com · Nov 21, 2008

This is one of those moments in history, where if we, as the American people, let our auto industry implode, 10 years from now, when we are a second tier economy, we will all be saying to each other "what were we thinking?", "How could we have let the auto industry collapse?". The bottom line is that the automotive manufacturing business single-handedly created the American Middle Class which is what has fueled US economic development for the last 90 years. Look, I am all for laissez faire politics, and throwing boys in the deep-end to learn how to swim... But, when the bubble start coming up from the bottom of the pool, you gotta jump in, go to the bottom and drag that kid up for air!!!! The USA economy is not as invincible as so many people seem to think it is, just look at the last 6 months... If we let the car business go belly up, we are signing our own economic death certificates.

Nov 21, 2008

It's truly sad to watch all these dealers across the country go OOB.
Dealers that have been solid contributors to their community, and overall good people.
It amazes me that there isn't more local support for these dealers.
I guess in this economy there isn't a safety zone, or shining knight around.
All dealerships are liable, and on their own without a bailout.

Nov 21, 2008

In my area two Ford Dealers have closed in the last couple of weeks. Both were in small towns so I am wondering how big of an effect it will have on their local economies and the giving.

Nov 21, 2008

Jeff, maybe better, a LinkedIn directory page on Dealer Refresh. I think it would look great showing a couple of hundred profile badges with title info.

Oscar Vanderkooij · Nov 21, 2008

Here is another article on their sister website about a brewery being started by consumers:

http://www.springwise.com/food_beverage/crowdfunded_breweries/

Have fun on these websites, they are a great way to think outside the box!!!

Oscar Vanderkooij · Nov 21, 2008

Pete,

My uncle used to own some Opel dealerships in Holland that he gave to the employees. It was set up in a trust and the employees cannot sell their share of the dealership to guarantee existance forever in theory. My dad and brother are GMs at the stores, but the dealerships are owned by the employees. Visit www.opeldealer.net

Since then my uncle has passed away and the dealer group has expanded from 2 to 6 locations. This way you never have to worry about drastic management changes or sale to corporate party.

I think it is a great idea and inline with what you see happening online. Many websites offer ways to their clients to decide what happens with a business (e.g. design you own shirt you can sell on their website, etc)

Here is a great website for market trends that talks about this idea of customer involvement:

TrendWatching | Previous Trend Briefings

Dive into all of our free trend briefings from 2018 - 2024

trendwatching.com

How would you feel as a customer if you were a part owner of the dealership where you service based on the cars you own and how often you service?

Nov 21, 2008

Mike,
Thanks. That is a great example for pre-owned. It's time to structure some new car dealers in the same way. It will take time though because some dealers don't want to admit that the franchise is now worth $0.
So wait till the smoke clears...it truly is a new economy that is emerging.

Nov 20, 2008

Pete,

In response to your last comment. I used to be a regional manager for Auto Extra.com. I flew into Tennessee one week and one of the reps took me to a dealership www.cityauto.com The people that work there are all partners. Different owners and sales people who are also owners that sell their inventory together. Check it out it might be what you are talking about here.

Nov 20, 2008

Jeff, it's time for the innovative to take charge. What I would like to see is employee purchased dealerships and even factories. It's not a new model but has proven in the past to be a success. If from every level, sales to production had a stake in what was in the best interest in totality of how to operate a company what do you think would happen?

Nov 20, 2008

Don't blame the news media for not providing positive stories about car dealers and the industry in the past ... the industry has never invested resources into building positive reputation and recruiting independent third-party advocates to speak on its behalf. Positive stories don't happen randomly ... they are driven by positive messaging. This is classic public relations that most other large industries routinely embrace. Think about the pharmaceutical industry and how it has a big push on its programs to provide free or low-cost prescriptions to the needy. I've never understood why the auto industry, both from the manufucturer's standpoint and the retail standpoint, never invested in a consistent public relations program. In the past, there has been no shortage of resources to craft such a program and it would have required just a fraction of what the industry spends on advertising. It's ironic, given that we all know that car dealers tend to be the largest contributors to charity in their communities, as this video highlights. The industry is paying the price now, which you can see in the virulent public sentiment against the heads of the big three "begging for a bailout." Will the crisis cause the industry to reinvent itself from a PR standpoint?

andwrig · Nov 20, 2008

It's nice to see some good news about car dealers. Unfortunately it had to come at a time like this. Macroeconomics are dictating now and it is going to change the landscape in dealer world. I'm optimistic though that we will come out of this stronger, leaner and more efficient.

Nov 20, 2008

I think this is a reflection of global economics reaching down to the auto industry. Each dealership must become more efficient and cost effective to continue to compete and grow, and those who do not are ruthlessly driven out. Similar to what we have seen with how the imports are faring against the domestics, especially in the smaller, fuel-efficient vehicles where the imports have a significantly lower labor cost (read: efficiency). Remember when "Buy American" was the motto? With a global economy, that is now becoming a thing of the past. "Local" dealers now are competing with dealerships hundreds of miles away, and the consumer is willing to travel to where they perceive/find the better deal. Sad? Perhaps - but inevitable... Hope I didn't contribute to your tears Jeff - Kevin Frye/eCommerce Director/Jeff Wyler Automotive Family

Nov 20, 2008

It is hard to think of all the charity causes that will take a hit through this mess. One thing most of us have more of now is time. It is amazing what little you can give in time to help a charity. You'd be amazed what kinds of things each charity group needs - there is probably something you can help them with in a matter of minutes.

Nov 28, 2008

Slide Show videos are cool if you don't have that Cheeezy Computer Voice that cheapens it all.

A useless DR tidbit:
The slide show videos have an industry term, it's called the "Ken Burns Effect". Named after a producer that tried to give life to a Civil War documentary, using pan, zoom to give life to the still pics. He won a ton of awards for his innovation.

Nov 25, 2008

Alex and Jeff,

"what Jeff mentioned might be true. The average shopper probably doesn’t know or care about the difference between a slideshow"

I stand corrected. I reply sometimes without explaining the angle of thought I have in mind.

Again, I like the slide shows and feel that they are great marketing but just do not believe that they truly qualify as the information that customers are seeking. What does it really tell me about the vehicle visually? That its silver and four doors?

Personally slide shows do not work for me. It's an upsell is all it is from the vendors. They keep pitching automation and ease, but for whom?

I'd rather see about 8-10 fast loading with ease of use, scrolling navigation or flip book style with high resolution photos at 800x600 or better of vehicle. Keep the sizzle and show me the steak.

I will even say that if a website is 2 years old or more, I would stop trying to improve it and build a new one. It shouldn't take more than 2-3 clicks to get the info sought and in less that 1 minute. I am probably the only person I know of that has created a focus group that has timed transitional inter-links after entering a site, to search for vehicle, find-view, contact and exit. Not just overall time spent at the site.

Improving human interaction albeit through virtual means is what I feel should be the highest focal point now.

Stew-"The vendors out there that provide the automatic bulk slideshow style video vehicle presentations should definitely look onward, of course this presentation style won’t last forever."

Amen! look onward. Mobile marketing(Check out 1-800-2ChaCha), voice to text im chat replies, business/social blogging with employees as members that can share articles, car vids with car care tips and post their customer testimonials or even CSI survey comments to their page walls.

Oh? sorry all, I get on a roll sometimes.

Have a great Thanksgiving-Pete

Nov 24, 2008

Pete, yeah I saw the CNN election broadcast. I stood up in the living room and said OMG? The video production cost on that has to be $500k easy! My wife and kids started laughing at me.Then my kids asked me for a Batman hologram for Xmas for their rooms.

I had to explain to them in this economy they'll be lucky to get a color 8x10 printout of a Batman Hologram.

Then I showed the kids MS Photosynth, told them to upload all their Batman pics there, and call Alex for a demo

Merry Xmas kids!

Seriously tho, we should look at it from the shoppers perspective.

Slideshows aren't real videos, but what Jeff mentioned might be true. The average shopper probably doesn't know or care about the difference between a slideshow, or a real video of the vehicle.
They want to know if it's a vehicle THEY want to buy.

Which confirms Pete's point about gaining the shoppers interest about the vehicle, that's really what it's all about.

Pete I like your thinking on the "here's my credit card" thing too. That could certainly apply to NEW vehicles since they're similar - just take your pick Mr/Mrs Shopper.
The vendors out there that provide the automatic bulk slideshow style video vehicle presentations should definetely look onward, of course this presentation style won't last forever.

Latest activity

Latest activity

Filter