AutoTrader.com Surpasses One Million Views on its YouTube Channel

ATLANTA, GA – May 30, 2012 – (Motor Sports Newswire) – AutoTrader.com, the ultimate automotive marketplace, hit another major milestone in May: the one millionth view on the brand’s YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/autotrader). Launched in December 2010, the AutoTrader.com YouTube channel currently houses over 225 videos that are aimed at mainstream car shoppers, rather than car enthusiasts. The one-millionth view occurred on Sunday, May 13, 2012.

“We know that video is an important part of the car shopping process, as the convergence of sight, sound and motion helps create emotional connections between shoppers and vehicles,” said Scott Markle, senior manager of content strategy at AutoTrader.com. “With these videos, we aim to bring vehicles to life in a way that engages shoppers, talk about topics that are important to those shoppers and educate them on subjects with which they might not be very familiar.”

The majority of the videos are developed by AutoTrader.com’s expert editorial team. Videos range from new car reviews, used car reviews, coverage of major auto shows, “5 reasons to buy” and educational content such as “Real SUV Off-Road Features” and “What is a Plug-In Hybrid.” Sprinkled throughout are also some fun videos, such as the recent auto cross excursion with AutoTrader.com’s long-term Mini Cooper test car and the new AutoTrader.com Dream Machine.

“We’re always looking for ways that we can reach more car shoppers, and we know that a lot of younger buyers are already very video centric,” added Brian Moody, site editor at AutoTrader.com. “Leveraging our YouTube channel to house videos has been a great way to further showcase the value of how we at AutoTrader.com can help them find the car that’s right for them.”

Certainly one unique video offering on the AutoTrader.com channel are the used car reviews. Unlike most other used car reviews that are simply repurposed new car reviews, AutoTrader.com’s editorial team reviews actual used vehicles, gets feedback from current owners, discusses the differences in the model years and provides key information surrounding known issues and any recalls for those vehicles.

A few additional noteworthy stats:

• Video views on the channel are growing an average of nine percent per month so far in 2012.
• 20 percent of the video views from the channel are occurring on mobile devices, which supports the rising use of mobile devices during the car shopping process.
• Nine percent of traffic is coming from embedded players on other sites, which range from OEM sites, dealer sites and car forums).
• People aged 25-54 make up the majority of the viewers on the channel, which also skews 88 percent male.

A look at the most-viewed videos so far in 2012 show that users are engaging with a wide range of content, from recent auto show coverage to reviews and more:

• Syfy’s “Dream Machines” Builds AutoTrader Concept Car
• 5 Reasons to Buy: 2012 Chevrolet Sonic
• Top Luxury Cars: 2012 Detroit Auto Show
• 5 Reasons to Buy: 2012 Subaru Impreza
• 2011 Kia Optima – New Car Review

About AutoTrader.com
Atlanta-based AutoTrader.com, created in 1997, is the Internet’s ultimate automotive marketplace and consumer information website. AutoTrader.com aggregates in a single location millions of new cars, used cars and certified pre-owned cars from thousands of auto dealers and private sellers and is a leading online resource for auto dealers, individuals and manufacturers to advertise and market their vehicles to in-market shoppers. The company also provides a robust suite of software tools for dealers and manufacturers to help them manage and market their vehicle inventory and display advertising on the Internet. AutoTrader.com continues to grow key business metrics, including revenue, profitability and site traffic. Today, AutoTrader.com attracts millions of unique monthly visitors who utilize the site to review descriptions, photos and videos of vehicles for sale; research and compare vehicles; review pricing and specials; and read auto-related content like buying and selling tips and editorial coverage of major auto shows and automotive trends. AutoTrader.com operates one other auto marketing brand, AutoTraderClassics.com. AutoTrader.com also owns used vehicle management software company Auto, Kelley Blue Book (kbb.com), HomeNet Automotive, a leading provider of online inventory management and merchandising solutions for the automotive retail industry and VinSolutions, a leading provider of end-to-end solution platforms for dealers.  AutoTrader.com is a majority-owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises. Providence Equity Partners is a 25 percent owner of the company and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers is also an investor. For more information, please visit www.autotrader.com.

SOURCE: AutoTrader.com

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AutoTrader.com Introduces iPhone® App to Create a More Personalized “PC-to-Pocket” Experience for Car Shoppers

The AutoTrader.com app, available for free in the App Store(SM), enables consumers to search, save and share information throughout the car shopping process

ATLANTA, GA – July 7, 2011 – (Motor Sports Newswire) – AutoTrader.com has released a free app to give iPhone® users a powerful and personalized mobile car shopping experience. Using the iPhone app, shoppers can find cars and dealers near them, utilize location-based features and access everything they need to find the car that their hearts and minds can agree on — right at their fingertips.

“AutoTrader.com has nearly three million listings on our site, making it the number one place shoppers turn to when they’re searching for a car online,” said AutoTrader.com President and CEO, Chip Perry.  ”With this new iPhone app, we are taking the AutoTrader.com mobile experience to the next level, creating a seamless PC-to-pocket experience where shoppers can take their searches on the road without sacrificing functionality.”

Beyond offering a robust set of car shopping features, the AutoTrader.com iPhone app enables users to locate a dealer, access information saved in their MyAutoTrader profiles and scan vehicles’ VIN barcodes to initiate a search.  Additionally, the AutoTrader.com iPhone app has a built-in sharing feature that makes it easy for shoppers to post vehicle listings to their Facebook profiles so their friends and family can provide feedback.

Key Features of the AutoTrader.com iPhone App include:

• Find Your Car: Shoppers can create and refine searches by numerous criteria, including make/model, location, year, price, color, body style and more.  They can also search for New, Used, Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) or All cars — with the All Search being a unique feature to AutoTrader.com.  From the search results page, users can select to view details for a particular vehicle, email or call the seller, view more information about the dealer (including additional inventory), view pictures via an enhanced photo viewer and locate the car using an interactive map feature.  Shoppers can save vehicles to their MyAutoTrader profiles, so they can easily access their favorite cars on the go.

 

• VIN Scanner: The VIN Scanner enables iPhone users who have an auto-focus camera to scan the barcode of a vehicle’s VIN to initiate a search for similar cars.  If the actual vehicle is listed for sale on AutoTrader.com, the user can view the vehicle’s listing page and save the car to their MyAutoTrader profile.

 

• Find Your Dealer: The Find Your Dealer feature enables shoppers to search for dealers that meet their needed criteria. For instance, shoppers can select to locate a dealer that offers a particular make that is also located within a defined distance.  Users can also search by keywords that they define.

 

• MyAutoTrader: Shoppers can save searches as well as individual vehicles to their MyAutoTrader profiles for quick and easy access no matter what device they’re using.  Information saved to MyAutoTrader can be accessed from any device with an Internet connection — via a computer, the AutoTrader.com mobile site on any smart phone or the AutoTrader.com iPhone app, creating a seamless experience between devices.  By saving information, users can quickly see a list of cars they’re interested in or run the same search without having to re-enter their criteria.

 

Mobile functionality available to users of the iPhone app exceeds that of the core mobile site by offering location-based services, an enhanced photo viewer, more search options and integration with the maps feature on the iPhone.

“The AutoTrader.com mobile site attracts over a million unique visitors each month, with nearly 40% of those users accessing the site from an iPhone. By introducing the AutoTrader.com iPhone app, we are able to create a more personalized and robust experience for the largest segment of our mobile audience,” Perry continued.

The AutoTrader.com iPhone app can be downloaded for free from the App Store today. Click here to access the page directly.

About AutoTrader.com

Atlanta-based AutoTrader.com, created in 1997, is the Internet’s ultimate automotive marketplace and consumer information website. AutoTrader.com aggregates in a single location millions of new cars, used cars and certified pre-owned cars from thousands of auto dealers and private sellers and is a leading online resource for auto dealers, individuals and manufacturers to advertise and market their vehicles to in-market shoppers. The company also provides a robust suite of software tools for dealers and manufacturers to help them manage and market their vehicle inventory and display advertising on the Internet. AutoTrader.com continues to grow key business metrics, including revenue, profitability and site traffic. Today, AutoTrader.com attracts more than 15 million unique monthly visitors who utilize the site to review descriptions, photos and videos of vehicles for sale; research and compare vehicles; review pricing and specials; and read auto-related content like buying and selling tips and editorial coverage of major auto shows and automotive trends. AutoTrader.com operates two other auto marketing brands, AutoTraderClassics.com and AutoTraderLatino.com. AutoTrader.com also owns used vehicle management software company vAuto, Kelley Blue Book (Kbb.com), HomeNet Automotive, a leading provider of online inventory management and merchandising solutions for the automotive retail industry and VinSolutions, a leading provider of end-to-end solution platforms for dealers.  AutoTrader.com is a majority-owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises. Providence Equity Partners is a 25 percent owner of the company and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers is also an investor. For more information, please visit www.autotrader.com.

Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE: AutoTrader.com

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AutoTrader.com Announces Closing of VinSolutions Acquisition

ATLANTA, GA – June 16, 2011 – (Motor Sports Newswire) – AutoTrader.com, the Internet’s leading automotive marketplace and consumer information website, announced today the completion of its  acquisition of VinSolutions, a leading provider of end-to-end solution platforms for dealers including Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Internet Lead Management (ILM) , inventory management tools, dealer websites, sales management and desking tools, social media and direct targeted marketing campaign tools.

The finalized agreement, first announced on May 18, makes VinSolutions a subsidiary of AutoTrader.com.  AutoTrader.com is majority owned by Cox Enterprises, Inc. with additional ownership stakes held by the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and the private equity firm Providence Equity Partners.

About AutoTrader.com

Atlanta-based AutoTrader.com, created in 1997, is the Internet’s ultimate automotive marketplace and consumer information website. AutoTrader.com aggregates in a single location millions of new cars, used cars and certified pre-owned cars from thousands of auto dealers and private sellers and is a leading online resource for auto dealers, individuals and manufacturers to advertise and market their vehicles to in-market shoppers. The company also provides a robust suite of software tools for dealers and manufacturers to help them manage and market their vehicle inventory and display advertising on the Internet. AutoTrader.com continues to grow key business metrics, including revenue, profitability and site traffic. Today, AutoTrader.com attracts more than 15 million unique monthly visitors who utilize the site to review descriptions, photos and videos of vehicles for sale; research and compare vehicles; review pricing and specials; and read auto-related content like buying and selling tips and editorial coverage of major auto shows and automotive trends. AutoTrader.com operates two other auto marketing brands, AutoTraderClassics.com and AutoTraderLatino.com. AutoTrader.com also owns used vehicle management software company vAuto, Kelley Blue Book (Kbb.com) and HomeNet Automotive, a leading provider of online inventory management and merchandising solutions for the automotive retail industry.  AutoTrader.com is a majority-owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises. Providence Equity Partners is a 25 percent owner of the company and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers is also an investor. For more information, please visit www.autotrader.com.

About VinSolutions (www.vinsolutions.com)

VinSolutions has the leading “Dealership Marketing System” that helps retailers attract, sell and retain more customers profitably. VinSolutions.com was recognized as the 33rd fastest growing software company on the Inc 500 and the company has received multiple accolades in the industry including the Automotive Website Award for best digital marketing platform and the Driving Sales Innovation Cup.  VinSolutions’ “all-in-one” sales and service marketing system includes digital marketing, search marketing, online advertising, social media marketing tools, mobile marketing, websites, internet lead management, CRM (Customer Relationship Management), Sales force automation, Sales Management and Desking, Appraisal, Finance, Used Vehicle Marketing and Market Pricing, Inventory Management and Distribution, Hand held inventory marketing tools, window stickers, automated video tours, Loyalty Management and Targeted marketing with email, text, direct mail and telemarketing services. VinSolutions Dealership Marketing System is installed by their strategic consulting team who specializes in retail strategy and process training for large dealer groups and individual dealerships. For more information visit www.VinSolutions.com

SOURCE: AutoTrader.com

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Searching for Your Next Car Is a Snap With autoTRADER Mobile App

New iPhone App puts the power of autoTRADER.ca right in the palm of your hand

TORONTO, ONTARIO – May 18, 2010 – (Motor Sports Newswire) – Finding a used car for sale on the go has never been easier with the new automotive iPhone App, recently launched by autoTRADER. Consumers now have access to one of the largest online automotive inventories in Canada – anytime, anywhere. In the first 4 days on the App store, the autoTRADER App became one of the top 10 Free Lifestyle App in Canada.

“We are proud to be the first Canadian automotive media to launch an iPhone App that makes it easy for our mobile users, 85% of whom already use iPhone or iPod Touch to browse autoTRADER.ca,” says Geneviève LeBrun, Vice President of Marketing, TRADER Corporation. “With this new App, we have put over 200,000 vehicles in the palm of the consumer’s hand, and introduced another option to browse for vehicles in addition of searching in print and online.”

The autoTRADER.ca mobile App is free to download both in English and French. The user-friendly mobile App also provides:

• Fast and simple browse by makes and models, easy search by keyword, and sort by location, price and most recent content
• View all commercial and private-owner listings, including photos, based on your location
• Dealer locator by postal code or local proximity-based search using GPS
• Quick save feature to go back to user’s favorites
• Contact the seller in one touch

This new mobile search application leverages the power of autoTRADER.ca listings and helps connect dealers with their potential on-the-go buyers.

The application can be downloaded directly to an iPhone from the Apple iTunes App Store™.

About TRADER Corporation

TRADER Corporation (Trader) is a leader in print and digital vertical media and offers a broad set of services such as inventory management, web solutions, optimization of media spend and lead-generation campaigns. TRADER caters to the automotive, real estate and generalist verticals. Its main print brands include autoTRADER (.ca)™, autoHEBDO (.net)™, Buy&Sell (.com)™, and LesPAC.com. TRADER Corporation is owned by Yellow Media Inc., a subsidiary of Yellow Pages Income Fund (TSX:YLO.UN). For more information about TRADER Corporation, visit www.TraderCorporation.com or for recent news on autoTRADER, follow us on Twitter at autoTRADER_ca or on Facebook at autoTRADER Canada.

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