Coronavirus Dealer Relief - TrueCar just cut our rates by half for April. Who's next?

[Dan Sayer]

I'm sure many of you received the email yesterday regarding TrueCar's move to offer some relief to dealers during this uncertain time. This was the core message from CEO Mike Darrow:

At TrueCar, we recognize the hardship that the COVID-19 disruption is imposing on our valued Dealer partners. We want to help your Dealership mitigate that hardship by offering a proactive value-of-service adjustment for April, and therefore we will be reducing your April invoice by 50%. You don’t need to do anything to get this adjustment.

I would hope others follow with a similar offer or even pause billing altogether for those stores that have closed their Sales departments.
Has anyone received a similar message from their vendor or agencies?

 

[Dan Sayer]

Oops, Cargurus also sent this yesterday. Was in Spam:


Whatever your situation is, we're committed to trying to give you the support you need to reach your best possible results during this challenging time. To that end:

• We are giving you 50% off of your fees for listings and display services provided in April. You don't need to ask - we'll apply this reduction to all dealers in the US. If you have additional questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact your account manager.
• Your subscription will still be active, your contract with us will remain effective, and you will continue to receive leads, but as buyer activity has slowed, we expect significantly lower volumes.

 

[Dan Sayer]

Edmunds just followed suit:

As a valued partner, we will be implementing a 50% discount for the month of April. Your subscription services will remain active and fully supported by our team, but we anticipate some decline in exposure during this period.

 

[mikesayre]

Wow that's a nice move, very much appreciated!

Truecar, Autotrader, Cargurus, Edmunds.. we have numerous important local partners also making consolidations with us!

Anyone keeping track?

 

[Alexander Lau]

Ian Isch on LinkedIn: Our dealers are our business. Proud to work for Edmunds today. 50%…

Our dealers are our business. Proud to work for Edmunds today. 50% relief for our dealer partners for April. Please reach out to your local rep or myself, if…

www.linkedin.com

@Ian Isch

"Our dealers are our business. Proud to work for Edmunds today. 50% relief for our dealer partners for April. Please reach out to your local rep or myself, if you have any questions. "

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Part of me thinks, "well, you're going to have to do something to keep any business, because I see a lot of dealers wanting to dump all their marketing, but good on Edmunds."

 

[Dan Sayer]

@mikesayre what did AutoTrader offer? BTW, you misspelled your last name

 

[mikesayre]

@mikesayre what did AutoTrader offer? BTW, you misspelled your last name

Not sure yet, being told ATC is a split over march-april but comparable to the others.

Haha yeah I thought you misspelled your's

 

[Karen Ann]

@mikesayre what did AutoTrader offer?

Hahaha. I'll take this back now. Thank you to both Trader and vAuto for the reduction in billing.

 

[Ian Isch]

This was a big decision for us, at Edmunds. The goal is allowing our dealers to stay connected with our shoppers and to take advantage of the pent up demand on the other side of these uncertain times.

 

[Jeff Kershner]

I've seen several vendors offer more of their services and products for FREE vs giving a discount. Basically a Free Trial Period.

What's going to be more useful - Free Trial Period OR Cash Relief??