Ed, I value vAuto as a great tool for used cars and we use it in one store and am pushing to have it in the other. I understand that vAuto's focus is on used vehicles.
The eCommerce Director for a large group told me that display advertising didn't work for new vehicles. She said it was a waste of time and money. This has not been my experience.
I've been watching Sonic Automotive for nearly two years since I noticed a change in their marketing on third party sites. Before venturing in the internet, I was a Used Car Manager in one of their stores. Three years ago, many of their former employees were writting them off. Being public, their financials are easily obtained. One of the latest press releases said:
New vehicle retail volume up 15% in Q4; Exceeds industry growth of 10%
Used vehicle volume up 11% for the quarter; Up 14% for full year; Record annual sales volume
So what? Check out any of their stores on third party sites. Doesn't matter which one because they all are consistant. Low days to market, good pictures, good descriptions, good placement. They refer to it as their "new car playbook". They haven't sent me a copy but their internet presence is the only change that I see. Having friends in the organization, they use the velocity approach and turn their inventories fast. When I became too nosey, they clam up. They have become very profitable and are obviously strong believers in display advertising for new and used vehicles.
