E Car Shopping... Big In Texas
15 March 1999
Texas Serious About Internet Car Shopping; Texans Active Searchers on Auto Trader(R) OnlineNORFOLK, Va., March 15 -- Auto Trader(R) Online (wwww.traderonline.com), home of the Internet's largest used car database, has identified Texas as one of its highest states in terms of user activity. The website, with over 600,000 used cars and trucks for sale today, has tracked the number of area code searches performed by Texas users. In the 18 area codes comprising Texas, there were over 188,000 used car and truck searches between January 15 and February 28. "We currently have around 43,000 used cars and trucks for sale in the state, and it appears the residents of Texas have recognized and are enjoying our vast selection," said Lynwood Brooks, product manager for Auto Trader Online. The top six Texas metro areas are as follows: Market Area Area Codes Number of Searches Houston 281, 713 49,128 Dallas 972, 214 39,717 Ft. Worth 817 37,964 Austin 512 17,472 Galveston 409 15,398 San Antonio 210 15,377 Auto Trader Online offers users the opportunity to search for cars and trucks through simple parameters they select, as well as place their own vehicle for sale on the site, completely free of charge. Placing an ad takes only a few minutes, and can be done online from any computer with Internet access. Auto Trader Online (http://www.traderonline.com) boasts the largest collection of used cars and trucks for sale on the Internet today, and is also the largest single source of private-party used vehicle classifieds. Ninety-nine percent of the Auto Trader Online inventory is less than three weeks old, making it the largest and freshest database of its kind. Auto Trader Online presents a seller's contact information within his vehicle listings, taking the earliest opportunity to promote the seller to the Internet car buyer. The site, begun in February 1996, has grown exponentially in concert with its print parent, Trader Publishing Company. The publisher produces 335 magazines, promoting the Trader Online Website to over 4 million weekly readers.