AutoTrader.com Pricing???

[Alex Snyder (blog)]

I don't think you're posting BS when you say Autotrader.com is raising rates again....No sir - I totally believe you on that one!

 

[Mike W.]

Google is in the process of buying new technology that allows all information from a vehicle's description to be made "Google Readable." Once this is complete and the new technology is in place, ATC is done! Imagine entering the description of the vehicle you are interested in and Google immediately finds the most relevant vehicle within the closest geograhpical area. There will no longer be a need for ATC "advertising." Get those resumes together. What Google wants, it usually gets and they want to own the auto biz!

 

[Ian]

I just heard that AutoTrader was going to a common renewal date for all dealer on March 1st and rates were going up 8%. Even if a dealer just signed up or renewed their contract last week, they’re about to see another price hike.

 

[Jeff Kershner]

I just got off the phone with my friend over at the Mercedes dealer I used to work for. Their rep is trying to get another $1000.00 on top of the new contract with nothing extra added to the package. That's way more then a 8% increase over what they are currently paying. My suggestion was to drop'm unless they keep the price the same.

 

[Lightnup (blog)]

Ian - Why don't you just say, "Hey, look at what I just copied and pasted from the Monday DearlerRefresh thread without verifying whether it's accurate or not." Unless, of course, you are the one that posted the same inaccurate message on the other thread.

Again, as was posted on THAT thread, if a dealer just signed up, or renewed their contract last week, they are NOT about to see another price hike. Why is that, you might ask. Because if they just signed up, or renewed their contract last week, they would have done so at Autotrader's '08 pricing since this is, um, '08. Those dealers are not about to see another price hike as Ian and Anonymous have both posted erroneously.

But those dealers are still going to be asked to pay more money for their Internet advertising soon, since the word has spread that cars.com is going up 20% across the board in March. (Apparently a rising tide does lift all boats.) Perhaps Ruby or one of the other enthusiastic cars.com employees who have posted here could confirm or deny whether that is true.

 

[McCoy Wood]

Lightnup-

Cars.com is owned by Classified Ventures, which is a joint venture between Belo Corporation, Gannett Company, The McClatchy Company, Tribune Company, and The Washington Post Company. Each market that Cars.com participates in is unique and managed primarily by the media partner(affiliate) located in that region, with the exception of a few markets that are managed directly by Cars.com. That being said, each market controls its own pricing and strategies for their Cars.com business. If a rate increase were to occur it is solely up to the local market/affiliate managing the relationship with the dealer. I have been working in Hampton Roads, VA for Cars.com/Tribune for 4.5 years and we have been very fair to our dealers when it comes to pricing. We are partners. If we were to introduce a price increase in 2008, and yes we are considering it, it would be fair and I doubt it will be close to 20%. I also doubt that Cars.com will receive backlash from the dealers for this, especially those in Hampton Roads,VA.

Hope this helps.

Lightnup, what market do you work in, or are you in AutoTrader.com corporate office in Atlanta?

 

[Brian Grundig]

Facts:

If you've signed with AutoTrader.com within the last 12 months as new business for them they will be seeking upwards of a 30% increase from you by 3/31/08. If you are a "legacy" account with them for longer than 12 months they will be seeking a "Legacy" renewal increase of 8% from you by 3/31/08.

Cars.com will be seeking a 20% increase in most markets also by 3/31/08

As sales in most markets for either imports or domestic brands have flattened and the customer activity from either brand of interned classified companies has flattened, it will be interesting to see which of these companies sustains the larger churn rate of unsatisfied dealer customers in 2008 as more & more dealerships place a larger slice of their advertising budget towards meaningful/trackable results from SEO & SEM.

Should be an interesting year for both AutoTrader.com & Cars.com

 

[Simon (blog)]

How can either of these companies seek to squeeze more out of us as I've been reading on this board and experienced first hand, receiving much less customer activity from either companies products for the past 18 months? I'm not sure how others feel but the strongest ROI for our dealership the past year has been our manuf's efforts in increasing their search engine display advertising and driving internet customers to us from it. We maintained our top tiered products w/both autotrader and cars.com last year but when we have sit downs with both of them in the coming months it will be to completely re-evaluate our positions with them. It's costing us more and contributing less & less, month after month. Both of them are crazy if you ask me, especially in this economic climate. In speaking with dealers in our immediate area, we all have experienced pretty much the same, I don't think this is a unique situation at least not in our area of biz.

 

[Lightnup (blog)]

Brian - What you posted as a "fact" is TOTALLY inaccurate and not at all factual. EVERY dealer on a regular monthly rate with AT as of the date that '08 rates became available are "Legacy dealers", as you call them, subject to the "Legacy" rates. Only dealers who were NOT AT customers on that date are considered New business.

What is a fact is that AT reps told their non-signed-dealers that they could get the "Legacy" rate, as you call it, IF they signed up before X date. Those dealers that chose not to are subject to the New dealer rate when they sign up. It couldn't be any clearer or fairer than that.

 

[Blanco]

"Their rep is trying to get another $1000.00 on top of the new contract with nothing extra added to the package. That's way more then a 8% increase over what they are currently paying" We haven't seen a rep from autotrader in about 5 months, can't wait to entertain the next one that decides to show up for a renewal discussion.