Auto Mart Magazine Launches AutoMart.com; Used-car Marketplace Has 800,000 Cars Available

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va., Oct. 4, 2004 -- Can you believe the way car dealers are acting to get rid of their excess inventory? Their offers have never been better! So you're thinking, right now is the time to head down the road to your nearest dealership in search of your next used car ... or is it? You don't have to go anywhere! There is an exciting, new pre-owned car lot with 800,000 cars open that allows you to shop from home or anywhere. Auto Mart Magazine, the nation's largest print resource for car buyers has entered the Internet marketplace.

AutoMart.com launched today in a very aggressive move to take car dealers and their collective inventories to the consumer masses with the nation's first effort of creating an online marketplace exclusively for pre-owned vehicle dealers.

The move to the Internet marketplace comes at no small cost to Auto Mart Magazine. "We have spent millions creating a web-based marketplace that will give our current print advertisers something for free as a nationwide entree to car buyers looking to make a vehicle purchase," said Bill Rieth, Senior Vice-President of Auto Mart Magazine.

More than 800,000 cars from 12,000 dealers nationwide were available online when the company powered up the data-rich mega site today. For the first time, AutoMart.com shows an entire showroom of a used car dealership featuring multiple, full-color photos, pricing and other options.

"This is the same way of doing business that made us the largest publisher of auto dealer magazines in the nation," according to Skip Dowd, Regional Manager of Auto Mart Magazine. "It was important that we built AutoMart.com as a place where shoppers can find as much data as possible about a car or truck so they are armed with all the information they need when they contact the seller and we have accomplished that."

Auto Mart Magazine boasts it is the best in the business of publishing as much data as possible, and with an entrance into the Internet the new site offers even more information to buyers since there is no limit to the amount of information that can be posted to a web site, according to Rieth. Recent J.D. Power surveys point out that almost 58% of potential car buyers are beginning their search on the Internet.

Although it seems as though Auto Mart Magazine is taking a bold step into establishing an Internet marketplace, company officials are quick to point out this step is a natural succession of their highly successful publication. "This is simply an obvious extension of our magazine brand," said Dowd.

There is no need to worry that the print publication might go away. Auto Mart Magazine will be available to the many car buyers who have come to trust the publication over the past twelve years. "We're confident there will be a lot of people looking for cars on AutoMart.com., after picking up the Auto Mart Magazine," said Rieth. "The magazine is distributed at more than 117,000 locations."

About AutoMart.com

AutoMart.com is the Internet's largest automotive website featuring used car listings exclusively from dealers. With the second largest database of searchable cars for sale on the web, AutoMart.com showcases listings provided by Auto Mart Magazine and other automotive publications from Trader Publishing Company. AutoMart.com is owned and operated by United Advertising Media and Trader Electronic Media, both divisions of Trader Publishing Company.