Cars.com acquires Dealer Inspire

[Alex Snyder]

... my thoughts are, now a 3rd party that the dealer possibly didn't have an agreement with, now has acquired all of his / her shopper data.

Cox got the same when the acquired VinSolutions and later Dealer.com & Dealertrack. That was waaaaaaaay more than what Cars.com just got. Customer information is a very sensitive topic that all organizations have to take seriously.

Maybe think about what they can do to make inventory more appealing, or reviews integrations, or dealer messaging stronger in the case of this acquisition. Alex Vetter has been pro-dealer and we all know @joechura is, so I can't imagine much "wicked" stuff going on.

 

[Rick Buffkin]

My question is, what if the dealer didn't want his data being acquired by a third party?? Did or do they have a choice or say in this data? We talk about it all time when it involves the DMS companies with it being the dealerships data. Now, it's a diff platform (Website and digital). My question is, does the dealer have a say if he wants the 3rd party having access to the dealerships data.

 

[Alex Snyder]

My question is, what if the dealer didn't want his data being acquired by a third party?? Did or do they have a choice or say in this data? We talk about it all time when it involves the DMS companies with it being the dealerships data. Now, it's a diff platform (Website and digital). My question is, does the dealer have a say if he wants the 3rd party having access to the dealerships data.

It is a good question that should be addressed. I'll give @joechura a day or two to get over the champagne hangover before pointing this thread out to him.

 

[Chris Leslie]

I guess this means we don't get a Dealer Inspire CRM anymore.

@joechura Whatever Cars is paying. It isn't enough in my opinion.

 

[Blake Arbogast]

I just pray Joe stays on for a long time. Dealer Inspires service has always been amazing. I loved that no matter how big they got it still felt like a boutique website company. Only time will tell if the Cars.com corporate structure will ruin a good thing.

 

[Alexander Lau]

I just pray Joe stays on for a long time. Dealer Inspires service has always been amazing. I loved that no matter how big they got it still felt like a boutique website company. Only time will tell if the Cars.com corporate structure will ruin a good thing.

Funny, I posed the same question to my group and thought the same thing. Did Joe sign a non-compete (giddyup with the money, in order to create a similar offering all over) or is he part of the transition?

 

[ed.brooks]

Funny, I posed the same question to my group and thought the same thing. Did Joe sign a non-compete (giddyup with the money, in order to create a similar offering all over) or is he part of the transition?

To be very clear, I'm not a company spokesperson, so I'm just repeating what has been reported publicly. According to the Banks Report, "As part of the deal, the management team is staying in place with Chura continuing as CEO. Greg McGivney, Cars.com’s long time vice president of strategy and business development, will become Dealer Inspire’s chief operating officer. Dealer.com veteran Darren Haygood, who recently joined Cars.com, will also join Dealer Inspire as chief revenue officer." According to the Cars.com / GrowWithCars blog, "The companies will continue to run independently, led by Joe Chura, co-founder and CEO. Greg McGivney and Darren Haygood will transition to Dealer Inspire and Launch Digital Marketing as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Revenue Officer, respectively."

 

[craigh]

Funny, I posed the same question to my group and thought the same thing. Did Joe sign a non-compete (giddyup with the money, in order to create a similar offering all over) or is he part of the transition?

I would love to know how that went down with DealerFire, as I believe DealerInspire had a significant crossover, including co-founder coming from DealerFire.

 

[joe.chura]

My question is, what if the dealer didn't want his data being acquired by a third party?? Did or do they have a choice or say in this data? We talk about it all time when it involves the DMS companies with it being the dealerships data. Now, it's a diff platform (Website and digital). My question is, does the dealer have a say if he wants the 3rd party having access to the dealerships data.

I'm very happy to answer any and all questions and quite frankly I know words mean little, but actions are what count. I woke up this morning energized and excited to start the next phase of Dealer Inspire. To answer the data question. There is NO WAY we would just share data without dealer consent and I wouldn't even approach the topic until we can show value to you. I think in time we could create something of value by using our Roxanne data which focuses on event-based attribution. However, that is not immediately on our radar. I would love to ASK you and the community what if anything would provide value to you. Regardless, I would want and need to get your consent.

 

[joe.chura]

Funny, I posed the same question to my group and thought the same thing. Did Joe sign a non-compete (giddyup with the money, in order to create a similar offering all over) or is he part of the transition?

Buddy- I am not going anywhere. In fact, I was in bed last night at 9pm (pretty sad but it was a long day). To be honest this is what I love. This transaction gives me more support to build what I've wanted to for years. @Chris Leslie that INCLUDES a CRM. I already have things in the works with this. I also have other product plans that tie in our messaging AI. Chris, I will be reaching out soon to discuss CRM.