With the current turmoil around CarFax, major challenges it faces, and being sued by dealers, it’s quite possible they could be loosing some of their exclusivity on popular vehicle classified websites.
AutoTrader.com announced their partnership to start including CarFax’s competitor AutoCheck Vehicle History Reports.
This is great news for dealers using AutoCheck and Experian, the company behind AutoCheck.
Will we see more dealers and classified sites partner with Experian AutoCheck in the coming year?
Follow the jump for the full Press Release..
Announcement is part of strategy to provide dealers with a choice as to which vehicle history report provider they utilize in merchandising their inventory on the AutoTrader.com site.
ATLANTA, May 23, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — Today, AutoTrader.com® announced that it has entered into an agreement with Experian Automotive which will enable dealers to utilize AutoCheck® vehicle history reports when merchandising their inventory on AutoTrader.com. Beginning in September, dealers who subscribe to Experian Automotive’s AutoCheck product will have the option of utilizing those vehicle history reports on the AutoTrader.com site. This non-exclusive partnership is a step designed to facilitate choice for AutoTrader.com’s dealer customers and allow other vehicle history report providers to work with AutoTrader.com in a similar manner.
“We are listening to our customers and strive to evaluate our products and services based on their feedback,” saidAlan Smith, chief operating officer at AutoTrader.com. “Our dealer customers have clearly expressed a desire to have more freedom in deciding which vehicle history reports they would like to use to merchandise their inventory on our site, and our goal with this partnership is to make that choice a reality.”
As the largest automotive marketplace, AutoTrader.com has the most listings and the highest number of unique visitors each month. Additionally, the company also has a large and diverse customer base, with nearly 20,000 dealerships. Through listening to customer feedback, AutoTrader.com recognized that there was a growing need among its dealer customers to select which vehicle history report service they wish to utilize on the AutoTrader.com site. By entering into a non-exclusive relationship with one of those providers, AutoTrader.com is moving toward empowering dealer customers with more choice in this important aspect of merchandising their listings, thereby continuing to deliver on its mission of making car buying and selling easier.
“We believe this is good for both consumers and dealers, to have a choice of which vehicle history report provider to use with their listings on our site, and we have worked with Experian over the last several months to make this partnership a reality,” Smith continued. “With this new offering, we are pleased to be setting the standard for dealer and consumer choice in vehicle history report providers.”
About AutoTrader.com
Created in 1997, Atlanta-based AutoTrader.com is the Internet’s ultimate automotive marketplace. As a leading resource for car shoppers and sellers, AutoTrader.com aggregates millions of new, used and certified pre-owned cars from thousands of dealers and private sellers and provides expert articles and reviews. AutoTrader.com, which also operates the AutoTraderClassics.com auto marketing brand, is wholly owned by AutoTrader Group. Additionally, AutoTrader Group owns Kelley Blue Book (KBB.com®) as well as four other companies that provide a full suite of software tools that help dealers and manufacturers manage their inventory and advertising online: vAuto®, HomeNet Automotive®, VinSolutions® and Automotive Information Systems (AIS). AutoTrader Group is a majority-owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises. Providence Equity Partners is a 25 percent owner of the company andKleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers is also an investor. For more information, please visit http://press.autotrader.com.
