Cars.com Celebrates its Fourth Birthday

    CHICAGO--Aug. 6, 2002--Cars.com, a leading automotive consumer Web site, celebrates its fourth birthday this summer by continuing to separate itself from the crowded online automotive space. Despite the challenging economic times, the year 2002 has been the best in cars.com history as the company has experienced record growth in consumer traffic, dealer customers, new investors and market launches.
    Key initiatives in 2002 have been driven by the company's mission to be the leading provider of online automotive content and tools that enable consumers to make informed car-buying decisions and connect with local dealers and manufacturer advertisers. Highlights included re-engineered used-car and new-car search functionality that enables consumers to find the car they are looking for in the most efficient manner and enhancements to the best dealer advertising products in the industry, including a phone contact program to easily and immediately connect qualified consumers to dealers. Cars.com's unique business model provides the platform for these initiatives by attracting leading numbers of in-market consumers and providing its advertisers with online exposure that is unmatched in the industry.
    "Since our launch in June 1998, cars.com's focus has remained the same - to connect consumers with the best local car dealers, " said Mitch Golub, general manager of cars.com. "The success we have seen over the past four years is largely due to maintaining this focus, as well as our commitment to providing both consumers, dealers and the manufacturers with the leading automotive tools and resources in the industry."

    Cars.com also launched a Manufacturer Certified Vehicle Program (MCPO) with Audi of America Inc. designed to spotlight dealers' valuable used car inventories and connect them with educated consumers looking to purchase certified pre-owned (CPO) vehicles. Additionally, the company added a new investor to its affiliate network, Belo Corp., further exemplifying the strength of its business model.

Significant milestones include:

-   Year-over-year traffic increases - Traffic is up nearly 26%
    overall in 2002 vs. 2001

-   Growth of dealer network - More than 3,000 dealers in the network,
    a 15% growth from 2001.

-   Driving value to dealers - Cars.com connects a consumer with a
    dealer once every 20 seconds. E-mail and phone contacts are up 18%
    in 2002. More than 22,000 vehicles are sold each month because of
    cars.com.

-   Helping consumers sell their cars - The number of consumers
    placing a "Sell It Yourself" online ad on cars.com has grown by
    67% this year.

-   The local online marketplace - 250,000 localized used vehicle
    searches are performed on cars.com each day.

-   Historical statistics - More than 188 million visits have been
    made to cars.com in the Web site's history. On that note, nearly
    72 million unique visitors have gone to cars.com.

-   Coming to a neighborhood near you - 10 new investor affiliate
    markets in 2002 (Belo Corp. owns and operates television stations
    and newspapers in the following markets: Austin, Dallas, Houston,
    New Orleans, Portland, Providence, Riverside, Calif.,
    Seattle/Tacoma, St. Louis and Spokane, Wash.), as well as other
    non-investor affiliate markets. The cars.com affiliate network has
    grown to 170 affiliate newspapers and television stations.

Competitive Advantages

-   Local market focus - Only cars.com is partnered with the most
    popular metro newspapers and TV stations - more than 170
    nationwide. Cars.com has affiliates in 24 of the top 25 markets.

-   Best decision-making tools - Nearly 6,000 car reviews dating to
    1983 of almost every model imaginable have been produced for
    consumers by the nation's leading car experts.

-   Leading dealer and manufacturer CRM products in the industry -
    Cars.com provides the eCRM platform for BMW and Subaru owners'
    sites. The new Toyota Owners site will be launched later this
    year.

-   Exclusive online partner and host to the popular nationally
    syndicated National Public Radio show, Car Talk(TM).

    About cars.com

    Cars.com is a comprehensive online resource for buying, selling and owning a vehicle. Cars.com pulls vehicle listings from thousands of dealer inventories and classified ads nationwide to offer consumers the best selection of new and used cars. Cars.com combines powerful used-car search and new-car configuration with pricing information, photo galleries, buying guides, side-by-side comparison tools, original editorial content, and reviews to help more than three million consumers research cars and connect with local sellers each month. Cars.com maintains a relationship with consumers throughout the vehicle ownership experience, providing expert maintenance advice from public radio's Click and Clack, recall information, service reminders, industry news and resale assistance.

    Launched in June 1998, cars.com is a division of Classified Ventures, LLC, (http://www.classifiedventures.com/), which is owned by seven leading media companies. For more information, visit www.cars.com.