AutoUnite — DealerRefresh Vendor Library

Excellent — I now have strong sourced data. Here is the complete brief: --- ## Company Research — AutoUnite --- ### About AutoUnite AutoUnite is a research-first vehicle-shopping platform designed to help shoppers understand vehicles, trims, comparisons, ownership considerations, pricing context, and local options before deciding whether to contact a dealer. They originally founded AutoUnite in 2015, with a vision to combine automotive industry knowledge, social media, forums, blogs, and an auto research center all into one site. The company is based in Fairfax, Virginia. The platform is currently **pre-launch** — AutoUnite is still in development and being prepared for beta launch, with a stated focus on being intentional about the foundation. It is founder-owned and bootstrapped, with no publicly disclosed funding rounds; company size appears to be very early stage (1–2 people active). --- ### What They Do - **Core Platform:** AutoUnite is being built as a research-first car decision platform that helps shoppers compare vehicles, understand trims, review pricing context, estimate payments, explore local options, and decide with confidence before contacting a dealer. - **Product Concept:** It combines social media, forum blogs, and an auto research center all into one site. - **Dealer Value Prop:** For dealers, AutoUnite creates higher-intent opportunities from shoppers who are further along in the decision process. - **Early Access Program:** AutoUnite is collecting early access registrations, with product updates and potential invitations to experience the platform before public launch, releasing access in stages. - **Market Gap Addressed:** Most lead providers and listing marketplaces are built around showing inventory and collecting contact information — AutoUnite is positioning itself as the pre-lead research layer that sits *before* those touchpoints. - **Notable Customers/Partnerships:** None publicly disclosed yet — pre-revenue, pre-launch stage. - **Recent News:** AutoUnite is currently in development and being prepared for beta launch, focused on building the core experience — better research, better comparisons, better local context, and a cleaner handoff between shoppers and dealerships. --- ### DealerRefresh Audience Fit AutoUnite's entire thesis is about improving the dealer-shopper connection — which means **dealers are the customer**. Kenny Smith is actively courting dealer participation (inventory sources, lead routing, local context). The DealerRefresh audience — GMs, dealer principals, internet directors, BDC managers — are the exact people AutoUnite needs to sign up, pilot, and validate the platform. AutoUnite's stated mission is that dealers deserve higher-intent, better-informed customers who are further along in the decision process. That's a message DealerRefresh readers will immediately understand and debate. **Recommended DealerRefresh products, ranked by fit:** - 🎯 **Sponsored Forum Post** — *Highest priority.* AutoUnite needs industry credibility and SEO presence before launch. A permanent, AI-indexed forum post on DealerRefresh puts the concept in front of the exact dealer operators they need to convert as early participants. It also surfaces in AI search results when dealers research pre-lead tools — critical for a pre-launch brand. - 🎯 **Demo / Review Video (Alex & Jeff)** — *Very strong fit.* A pre-launch brand needs advocates who can explain the "why" to skeptical dealers. Alex and Jeff doing a product deep-dive — "here's what AutoUnite is trying to solve, here's how it works" — distributed as Reels across social media is a credibility-builder money can't easily replicate. Positions Kenny as a dealer-insider building for the industry, not an outside vendor. - 🎯 **Retargeting Pixel** — *Smart buy for a pre-launch.* DealerRefresh visitors who've already seen or clicked on AutoUnite content can be retargeted on Facebook/Instagram. Ideal for building an early access list of dealer decision-makers at very low cost while the product is still in development. - 🎯 **Forum Banners** — *Solid awareness play.* Daily visibility to thousands across the car business keeps AutoUnite top-of-mind during the runway to beta launch. Less targeted than retargeting but good for name recognition with a broad dealer audience. --- ### About Kenny Smith Kenny Smith has spent 20 years in the car business and currently serves as the General Manager of Safford CDJR Sterling, a Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram dealership in Northern Virginia. His focus is split between leading the dealership at a high level every day and building AutoUnite, a platform designed to improve the way consumers and dealers connect before the lead form. He co-founded AutoUnite alongside Jino Song, bringing a combined automotive industry experience of over 25 years. **Budget authority / influence assessment:** Kenny is the **founder** — he controls all spend decisions for AutoUnite. There is no procurement layer, no marketing VP to route through. As a sitting GM at an active dealership, he also understands advertising ROI fluently and will respond to practical, dealer-centric framing — not vendor-speak. He is pre-revenue, so budget is likely lean; lead with ROI, audience specificity, and the credibility angle over raw impressions. The Sponsored Post and Video formats, which have lasting shelf life, will likely resonate more than pure CPM-based buys. **Approach note:** He is a *dealer himself* — he will see through generic pitches instantly. Frame DealerRefresh as the community he's trying to reach and sell *into*, not just