Cars.com Insights

A New Age for Selling New Vehicles: the Role of Dealer Differentiation and Brand

The automotive landscape has changed since 2007, when new-vehicle sales were last near their high point, but consumer shopping behavior has changed as well.

New-Vehicle Sales Projected to Grow• U.S.new-vehiclesalescouldexceed14millionunitsin

2012,1reachingtheirhighestlevelsince2007.

• Thisrepresentsanincreaseof35%sincetheindustry’slowpointin2009,whentheindustrybottomedoutat10.4millionunits.

5

10

15

20

201320122011201020092008200720062005

Total U.S. New Vehicle Unit Sales(in millions)

A business’ reputation has moved into the forefront of the shopping process.

Local consumers like to read as many as 10 reviews before making a decision about which local business to use, and nearly half are more likely to use a local business after reading positive online reviews.2

Mobile devices have changed the way consumers shop, making information available from anywhere – even right on your lot.

Nearly 40% of Cars.com’s total new-vehicle searches come from mobile devices.3

Cars.com Insights

Be visible. BesuretoclaimyourlistingonGooglePlaces,FacebookPlaces,Foursquare,YellowPages.com,Angie’sListandotherbusinesslistingsandreviewsites.

Be accurate. Monitoryouronlinepresenceonbothfreeandpaidsites,andbesurethatallofyourinformationiscorrect.Nothingisworsethananincorrectphonenumber,abrokenURLoranemailaddressthatgoesnowhere!

Be consistent. Communicateanddeliveronyourbrandvaluethroughoutallcustomertouchpoints,fromin-storesignageandleadprocesstoyourwebsite,onlineadvertisingandemailcommunications.

Be trusted.Buildyourbrandbyaskinghappycustomerstowritereviewsabouttheirexperience,andhaveastrategyforrespondingtonegativereviewsthatshowsyourcommitmenttocustomersatisfaction.

A dealership having an online presence is as important as the dealership’s proximity to an online new-car shopper when deciding where to buy.4

Differentiate Your Brand

Understanding Today’s New-Car Shopper

Optimize your presence. Makesureyourdealershipwebsitecanbeseenonalldevices.Youcandoaquickcheckathowtogomo.com.

Tailor the experience. Onyourmobile-optimizedsite,makeiteasyformobileuserstoaccesstheinformationtheywant,includingphotos,features,price/incentivesinformationandinventory.

Don’t forget service. Consideraskingyourservicecustomersiftheywouldprefertoreceiveupdatesontheirvehicleviatext.

Of mobile car shoppers, 57% of recent purchasers said they used their devices on the dealership lot.5

Connect with Shoppers On the Go

Monitor. Assignsomeoneatyourstoretheresponsibilityoflisteningtofeedbackacrosstheinternet.

Respond. Replytofeedback,bothgoodandbad.Acknowledgenegativefeedbackpublicly,buttoavoidapublicdebate,strivetotaketheconversationofflinebyincludingyourcontactinformationandinvitingthecustomertocontactyoudirectly.

Ask.Goodreviewsstartwithagreatexperience,soincorporatereviewsthroughoutyourprocess.Includelinkstoyourreviewsitesinemailcommunications,handout“HowDidWeDo?”cardsinyourservicedepartmentandfollowupwithhappycustomersbytellingthemhowmuchyouwouldappreciatetheirreferralonareviewsite.

Promote. Sharepositivereviewswithyourprospectswithlinksonyourwebsiteandin-storesignage.Also,don’tforgettorewardstaffforgreatreviews!

Cars.com new-car shoppers who read reviews are 7x more likely to contact a dealer.3

Turn Your Customers into Advocates

35% 33% 3%4%25%

68% of Consumers considering purchasing a new vehicle are most or exclusively shopping brand new

Onlyconsiderbrandnewvehicles,sowillnotlookatusedvehicles

Focusonbrandnewvehiclesbutmayconsiderusedvehicles

Considerbothnewandusedfairlyequally

Mostlyconsideringpre-ownedvehiclesbutmaydecideonnewvehicleinstead

Notsureifnextvehiclewillbeneworused

The 411 on Cross-ShoppingNew-car shoppers are open to used, but most are focused on new.

Source: Cars.com/Synovate Online New Car Shopper Study, 2010

Sources:

1 J.D. Power and Associates – 2012 U.S. Auto Sales Forecast

2 BrightLocal annual Local Consumer Review Survey – Harnessing the Power of Online Customer Reviews for Local Business Growth, 2011

3 Cars.com Internal Reporting, 2012

4 Cars.com/Synovate Online New Car Shopper Study, 2010

5 Cars.com: Mobile Web and App Usage for Automotive Shoppers, 2011 (Source: Nielsen)

© 2012 Classified Ventures, LLC™. All rights reserved.

About Cars.comCars.comwasrecentlynamedthe“BestOverallCustomerExperience”byKeynoteSystems,theleaderininternetandmobilecloudmarketing.Cars.comisanonlinedestinationforcarshoppersthatoffersinformationfromconsumersandexpertstohelpbuyersformulateopinionsonwhattobuy,wheretobuyandhowmuchtopayforacar.Withpricelistings,side-by-sidecomparisontools,photogalleries,videos,unbiasededitorialcontentandalargeselectionofnew-andused-carinventory,Cars.computsmillionsofcarbuyersincontroloftheirshoppingprocesswiththeinformationtheyneedtomakeconfidentbuyingdecisions.

LaunchedinJune1998,Cars.comisadivisionofClassifiedVenturesLLC,whichisownedbyleadingmediacompanies,includingBelo(NYSE:BLC),GannettCo.,Inc.(NYSE:GCI),TheMcClatchyCompany(NYSE:MNI),TribuneCompanyandTheWashingtonPostCompany(NYSE:WPO).