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NADA Survey Shows Dealerships Driving e-Commerce

25 August 2000

Survey Shows Dealers Gaining Internet Sales Expertise

    WASHINGTON - Dealerships with several years of experience using the Web are 
experiencing greater sales from Internet leads, according to a survey from the 
National Automobile Dealers Association.

    According to new statistics, dealerships that have been operating Web
sites since 1995 generate 13 new-vehicle sales a month, while stores that
launched Web sites in 1999 or 2000 generate just five new-vehicle sales a
month from Internet leads. "The more they work at it, the better they get at
it," said NADA chief economist Paul Taylor. "There's a learning curve."

    While NADA has surveyed dealers' use of the Internet since 1997, this is
the first year it has examined sales in relation to how long a dealership has
had a Web presence.

    NADA's survey also found that the share of dealerships with Web sites
jumped nine percentage points in the last year to 83 percent. Ninety-eight
percent of these sites are interactive, allowing the customer to send e-mail,
order online or obtain financing online.

    In addition, the survey revealed that 62 percent of dealers with Web sites
have completed sales directly online. "This shows how dealers are embracing
the Internet as a new means of marketing products and interacting with
customers," said NADA chairman Harold B. Wells, a new-vehicle dealer in
Whiteville, N.C. "Dealers are prepared to serve today's technology-savvy
customers."

    To support dealers' efforts to actively serve Internet customers, NADA has
developed DriversSeat.com, a comprehensive Internet portal that links
consumers directly to dealer Web sites, providing them instant access to more
than 750,000 new and used vehicles. The customer then works directly with the
dealership -- online, by phone or in person -- to get additional information
or to complete the transaction.

    The National Automobile Dealers Association represents 19,300 franchised
new-car and -truck dealers holding nearly 40,000 separate franchises, domestic
and import.