Cars.com Gains Share in New Car Lead Business with 2,000 Dealer Franchises

CHICAGO, July 27 -- Cars.com announced today a significant milestone in the growth of its lead generation business. Two thousand dealer franchises now use NewLeadsPlus, the new car lead generation product Cars.com launched in August 2005.

"In just one year since launching our service, we have gained substantial market share," said Mitch Golub, president of Cars.com. "Dealer response to NewLeadsPlus has been overwhelming, affirming the market's need for a new kind of lead provider."

Unlike others in the business who aggregate leads from myriad sources, Cars.com generates all of its own leads directly through the top search engines and delivers them directly to the dealership. Dealers receive the leads within 7 minutes of submission, allowing them, in many cases, to follow-up with prospects while they are still online.

"Our success in launching NewLeadsPlus speaks directly to the quality and caliber of leads we generate," continued Golub. "Cars.com captures leads from the 88 percent of new car shoppers who use a search engine in their online research process. All of our lead senders are hand raisers who are actively searching for a specific make and model, and dealers recognize that quality."

Cars.com made its move into the new car lead generation business with its acquisition of Califonia-based NewCars.com in July of 2005.