It doesn’t seem like TrueCar is going to have such a Merry Christmas this year.

Since Jeff wrote about TrueCar and some of their tatics back in June – Edmunds TMV vs TrueCar – Dealers, wake up! , others are helping to bring this situation to the fore front. It’s great to see our industry come together and express our concerns and opinions around this TrueCar debacle. I can’t recall another time where dealers and industry goo-roos have reached and leverage so many channels of online news and social to not only express their opinions but also help amplify the message.

The automotive industry has been energized and polarized surrounding the TrueCar business model.  Since dealers are for and against the model, it is very important to follow the legal implications of the TrueCar process.

As promised, I told you that various State regulators and Dealer Associations were drafting letters to their constituents and members warning of potential legal concerns.

The Colorado Department of Revenue issued this letter on December 15, 2011 and I expect more similar letters to follow.   The TrueCar discussion is now moving into a legal discussion with dealers facing potential fines for participating on a model that regulators may deem as violating State laws.

Take a peek at this letter and share your thoughts.  I’ll have a few more letters to share in the coming weeks as they are drafted and published.

For a larger version of the letter view it on the Colorado Government site.

Addition by Jeff Kershner…

Another TrueCar UPDATE: Group 1, the nation’s fourth-largest auto retailer, last week ordered all participating stores to cut ties with TrueCar.com – Click here to read the article. I had heard about this last friday and sent out a tweet that received several responses (follow @dealerrefresh on twitter). This apparently was brought to light during a meeting with their local Honda Representatives.

Share the wealth!

Share the wealth!

What’s going over there at Dominion Dealer Solutions?

So many solutions under one umbrella…

• @utoRevenue (email marketing and online service scheduler – I’m a big fan of this service, personally)
• AVV Web Control (one of  our industries robust ILM services)
• Autobase CRM (been around forever)
• Dealerskins and XIGroup (merged earlier this year)
• Prime Response (reputation management software)
• DataOne Software (VIN and Automarket Data)
• SelectQu (DMS data extraction)
• CrossSell (vehicle sales data and reporting)
• Dealer Specialties (window sticker, photo service and inventory management)
• GetAuto.com (3rd party inventory listing site like Cars.com and AutoTrader)

…that’s a long list of product offerings to dealers. What I find in my conversations and travels, is that many dealers are not aware that Dominion is the owner of all these services. As you review the services, it starts to mirror some of the other big players out there…

For several years now they have been under a non-compete with AutoTrader.com with some of their services like GetAuto.com. These non-competes are now coming to an end.

What’s the future holding for Dominion Dealer Solutions??

The press release is after the jump..

Share the wealth!

When was the last time you used a phone book to find ANYTHING?

Do you even know where your phone book is?  I don’t!

The Internet is the most important entrance to your dealership. If your phone rings 100 times a week, the internet was involved in 95 of them.

For a moment, take off your car guy hat, go to Google and go car shopping. Are you visible?  Look at your competitors, are they visible?  Every one of your competitors is gunning for that same spot on page one and competition is fierce. How do you win in this game?  Back in the News Print and Yellow Pages days, all you had to do is spend more to get more.

You need brain power to beat your competitors! Having your 2^nd cousin do it for you may have worked in 2007, but not anymore, those simple days are gone.

Today, we get to chat with Dev Basu, president of Powered by Search, 1 of only 4 global agencies chosen to participate in the prestigious SEOMoz Search Engine Ranking Factors and David Mihm Local Search Ranking Factors study.

http://www.seomoz.org/article/search-ranking-factors

http://www.davidmihm.com/local-search-ranking-factors.shtml

http://www.poweredbysearch.com/

Dev is one of the most brilliant minds in search in North America.  When Dev is not helping our members in the DealerRefresh forums he is working with automotive tier 2 and tier 3 clients including GM, Honda, Chevrolet, KIA, Nissan, Mazda, Suzuki, and Lincoln delivering unparalleled results via Organic SEO, Local SEO, and Online Reputation Management services.

Having been consistently ranked as a TopSEOs Best in Local Search company with press coverage in traditional media such as The Globe and Mail (Canada), CTV News, and ITBusiness Canada as well as SEO industry publications ranging from SEOmoz to SEOBook, combined with frequent speaking on the topics of SEO, Local Search, and Social Media at conferences such as Search Engine Strategies and Search Marketing Expo, Powered by Search is considered to be a thought leader in the Local Search space.

Dev has always been a straight shooter and I wanted to take a moment and interview him. Let’s get started..

Share the wealth!

Since writing Edmunds TMV vs TrueCar – Dealers, wake up! several months ago, it hasn’t taken much time for the BUZZ to build. The industry and dealers are starting to see exactly what is happening and how WE DEALERS have been feeding the beast for years by allowing services like Zag and TrueCar the freedom to obtain our transactional data.

I’ve encouraged dealers to audit their DMS export fields every 6 months.

I urged dealers to NOT allow these companies to have your transactional data.

I brought to light that fact that some of these services are asking dealers to sign a Perpetual Contract

Over in the forums we have asked if TrueCar is using Zag Dealer Data to Create Value? – 4 pages of comments
My original post asking dealers to Wake Up because it’s not only Zag/TrueCat that wants your data – 70+ comments
Jeremy Alicandri’s Death of a salesman? Or dot-com bust: TrueCar.com

Our good friend Jerry has a few words to say (after his TrueCar has his original video removed) …

Then we have Brad Kargui’s video…

TrueCar Jesse Toprak speaking on Transparency and Haggle Free Selling

The list goes on… (if you can add the the list, please do so in the comments)

Who’s going to win the race to the bottom?

Share the wealth!