Internet
Autotrader.com has announced a partnership with Who's Calling.com, a leading provider of innovative call measurement and monitoring services. Under the new partnership, AutoTrader.com will provide its more than 5,500 partner auto dealers with the opportunity to incorporate Who's Calling.com's proprietary, patent-pending technology to help their business maximize the sales and revenue-generating potential of the telephone. Now, auto dealers who advertise on AutoTrader.com can uncover valuable information about who is calling their dealership, while their customers have the added benefits of toll-free calling. According to Who's Calling's research, in a typical auto purchase, there is only about 64 hours between the "idea" of buying a new vehicle and the actual "purchase." In order to close the sale, a dealer can't afford to miss any calls. Through this alliance, dealers who post listings on AutoTrader.com will be able to subscribe to Who's Calling.com's services in order to capture valuable contact information for every incoming call to their business, including who is calling, when they are calling, how long they are on the line, and which advertisement prompted them to call. Customizable, real-time tracking reports from Who's Calling.com capture all of the information to allow dealers to track responses to their ad programs, identify peak sales/calling times and provide valuable contact information to ensure they never miss a call from a potential sales lead. There is no additional cost to dealers for the service.
AutoTrader.com, has announced an exclusive partnership with Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc. (IBS: www.ibsys.com), the convergence of local television and the Internet, to bring AutoTrader.com's content to users of IBS' Web channels in four major U.S. markets.
Automobile dealers, having first embraced the Internet as a virtual "welcome mat" for consumers, are increasingly going online to find and purchase used vehicle inventory, a new study reveals. According to a survey recently commissioned by Autodaq Corporation (www.autodaq.com), Q2 Brand Intelligence of Seattle found that 94 percent of automobile dealers report having a Web site for consumers and 78 percent report using the Internet for business operations. The survey of 250 dealer principals, general managers, used car managers, and buyers also found that when using the Internet to purchase vehicles, the challenge of finding quality used vehicles to sell (15 percent) now ranks a close second to the perennial challenge of maintaining great customer service through the recruitment and retention of solid employees (17 percent). To help address inventory issues, 31 percent of dealers are turning to the Internet to locate quality inventory and 12 percent are purchasing vehicles at Internet auctions. 73 percent of dealers want notification when vehicles they prefer become available, 72 percent want a database of available vehicles that is "totally searchable," 66 percent want a fast and easy way to find specific vehicles for their customers, 60 percent want to lower the purchasing and time costs associated with traditional physical auctions, and 46 percent want online bidding 24 hours per day.
Autodaq commissions surveys quarterly to gain further insight into the evolving impact of the Internet on participants in the wholesale automotive market, and uses that insight to rapidly develop and deploy improved products and services for its customers. "Through consistent market research and other feedback methods, we keep our fingers on the pulse of the industry and stay connected with our customers in order to quickly determine and address their needs," Autodaq vice president of marketing Ellen Taverner said. "Once we've defined a new market need, we're able to rapidly implement a solution on our Internet auction sites within just six to eight weeks."
Chrome Data Corporation, the automotive provider of data and configuration technology and software, has announced that Yahoo! Inc. has added a new vehicle research and configuration tool based on Chrome Carbook to Yahoo! Autos (http://autos.yahoo.com). Using Chrome's data and configurator, Yahoo! Autos consumers can research pricing and equipment options for more than 41 makes and models of cars and light- and medium-duty trucks. Consumers can also save their desired car profile for later reference, significantly enhancing their research capabilities. In a recent independent study CNW Marketing/Research compared the pricing data of the major online automotive data sources by configuring 86 different vehicles at eight different Web sites. Chrome ranked first in MSRP pricing accuracy, at 99.64% and first in invoice pricing accuracy at 99.95%.
CarsDirect.com, a direct online automotive provider, today introduced a new ironclad Price Protection Guarantee, underscoring the company's confidence in its convenient and efficient online car-buying process. The Price Guarantee ensures that Cars Direct.com customers can obtain the lowest possible price when purchasing a new car or truck, and is now accessible on the CarsDirect.com site (www.carsdirect.com). The Cars Direct.com Price Guarantee works as follows: if within three days after purchasing a new vehicle at the CarsDirect.com site, a customer finds a lower purchase price for the same vehicle identically equipped, Cars Direct.com will refund the difference between the price paid to Cars Direct.com and the lower price advertised or offered in writing by another dealer.
The Reynolds and Reynolds Company and J.D. Power Clubs today announced that Reynolds and Reynolds has become an investor, acquiring an equity position in J.D. Power Clubs. Reynolds will provide technology, development, support and retailer training for J.D. Power Clubs' carclub.com. Financial terms were not disclosed.
IBM announced today an expansion of its automotive business-to-business (B2B) service offering, IBMPlaces.ihost.com to enable the more than 50,000 auto dealers worldwide to lease or "e-source" business applications quickly, easily, cost-effectively, and on demand over the Internet.
Initially, the service will target the 22,000 U.S. dealers.
Ford Motor Company is making it possible for customers to personalize their vehicles online with an interactive visual accessorization tool from EyeVelocity, Inc.
AutoNation, Inc. and MSN Carpoint have announced an agreement that makes AutoNation the primary distributor of Carpoint customer sales leads. The agreement dramatically expands Carpoint's national dealer coverage to ensure that online car buyers can easily find the car they want at a nearby dealer. Carpoint has also signed an agreement with American Isuzu Motors Inc. to license DealerPoint, its customer relationship management tool to Isuzu's nationwide network of dealers. Through this relationship, Carpoint will provide a private-label version of its comprehensive lead-management tool called Isuzu Dealer Link to Isuzu dealers, giving them the Web-based tools and technology.
Autofusion Corporation, a provider of auto-related e-commerce technology, and Selectica(tm), Inc. (Nasdaq: SLTC), a provider of Internet Selling Systems (ISS) for e-business, today announced that J.D. Power Clubs (www.jdpower.com) has launched Select-A-Car as its online "let me build a vehicle" solution.
By taking up the Inbox Challenge, dealerships can find out if their online investment is fulfilling its potential. The Inbox Challenge will give dealerships valuable insight into their customers' online experience. Participating dealerships will be tested with realistic online requests, then graded on response timeliness and quality from the customer's point of view. Top 15 dealerships will get to choose from a great selection of prizes (http://emailsync.com/prizes). All participants will receive a valuable, detailed performance report. To view a sample report, please visit http:// emailsync.com/core/report.htm. This report will track responses by author and delivery time, making it a great quality-control tool for a dealerships' online communications. Entry is free, please e-mail challenge@emailsync .com to register. The Inbox Challenge is administered via e-mail SYNC's CORE Testing System. Digital Dealer magazine reported on emailSYNC's testing application in its January/February 2001 premier issue (page 40), when they were still doing business as autoSYNC.
Parts and Service
Parts.com, Inc., a marketplace and software solutions provider for the automotive parts industry, announced the addition of 411 new dealerships, raising the total dealership distribution atop 2,000 and continues a remarkable ramp-up of distribution points.
Bell & Howell's Publishing Services unit, an electronic catalog management company for Original Equipment (OE) automotive parts, announced today the development of the first Internet EPC (Electronics Parts Catalog) for Ford franchise dealerships.
Sales and CRM
TeleTech Holdings, Inc., has announced it has closed its acquisition of Newgen Results Corporation for approximately $160 million in a stock-for-stock exchange accounted for as a pooling of interests. The acquisition strengthens TeleTech's existing database management capabilities and further enhances TeleTech's end-to-end CRM solution with the addition of an enterprise channel management offering.
CRS Customer Retention Software has announced that it has added Group E-mail to their customer retention software. With Group E-mail, dealers can create a query to send an e-mail to a select group of customers (like all customers who haven't been in the service department during the past year) and even specify an attached coupon file. CRS is written in Microsoft Access and works with ADP, R+R, EDS, and PBS systems. www.crsauto.com
Used Vehicles
AutoTrader.com, and America Online, Inc., have announced an expanded multi-year alliance under which AutoTrader.com will become the exclusive provider of used car classified listings and search capability across several key America Online brands, including the AOL service. This alliance brings together the country's largest online auto classifieds marketplace with the largest consumer audience in cyberspace.
Under the new three-year agreement, AutoTrader.com will power the Used Car area of the Autos Channel across AOL, AOL.COM, CompuServe, and Netscape.com and provide used car listings for AOL Digital City. Users of these America Online brands who are looking for a used car will have direct access to a co-branded AutoTrader.com site, offering the Internet's largest inventory of more than 1.5 million used vehicles, AutoTrader.com's proprietary Find a Car and Sell a Car search features, as well as Decision Guides and Reviews & Information.
In addition, AutoTrader.com will be promoted in other areas across the America Online brands, bringing AutoTrader.com's wide selection of inventory, services and tools to AOL and CompuServe's more than 30 million members and the tens of millions of additional users of America Online's Web-based brands. These promotions will also allow private sellers and dealers who have inventory to sell to generate potentially quicker sales. America Online's Autos Channel, announced previously, offers users a wealth of reliable, accurate information, services, and tools for car shopping, buying, and maintenance throughout the ownership cycle.
The recently released IRS Revenue Procedure 2001-23, which describes the Used Vehicle Alternative LIFO (Last-In, First-Out) method of accounting, provides a great tax planning opportunity for auto dealers. This new procedure allows auto dealerships valuing their used vehicle inventories under the LIFO method to lock in their past LIFO benefits and protect themselves against audit risk. Crowe, Chizek and Co., LLP, one of the largest providers of audit and consulting services to the auto dealer industry, has long stressed the concepts underlying this procedure as appropriate and essential for Used LIFO. "The new procedure is a great way to come into compliance with the IRS requirements, with the added bonus of protecting the current LIFO reserve," said Robert C. Zwiers, national dealership tax executive at Crowe, Chizek and Co., LLP.
F&I
A strategic alliance between Driveitaway.com (www.driveitaway.com), the first Web site to focus on dealer-to-consumer used car auctions, and eCarCredit.com (www.ecarcredit.com), the Web's leading online sub-prime finance site, now makes it easy to find a high-quality used car and to finance the purchase online.
Lease Marketing Ltd., developers of LeaseLink, a provider of Lease decisioning software to the automotive industry with over 4500 dealership customers, has announced the addition of Wizard Finance Systems to its growing family of companies. Wizard Finance Systems, a Microsoft Certified Solution Provider, is the premier provider of secondary finance decisioning and inventory management software marketed today. Though terms of the deal were not disclosed, Wizard Finance Systems will continue to operate out of Orlando, Florida, with Robert Steenbergh staying on as president. He has also accepted a position on the Executive Committee of Lease Marketing, Ltd.
Automotive Finance Corporation, a subsidiary of ALLETE and CarBiz.com Inc., a provider of software and Internet solutions to the North American automotive industry, have announced their intention to form a strategic alliance. Their goal is to expand services to 15,000 certified AFC dealers and the 6,000-member CarBiz.com dealer base.
Credit Online, Inc., has announced that Autofusion Corporation, will become an authorized reseller of Credit Online's technology, including its CreditConnection dealership tools and WebFinance module for Internet financing capability. Dealer Marketing Services, Inc., will also utilize their technology and network of lenders to provide their dealer customers with faster decisions on vehicle loans.
The Reynolds and Reynolds Company has announced it has acquired a 10 percent equity position in Networkcar and exclusive distribution rights for North American automotive retailers.
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