Vehicle shoppers have access to a wealth of cost-related information online.  For the most critical data, multiple sites offer their own variations (e.g. Edmunds TMV vs. Kbb New Car Value vs. Cars.com Smart Target Price) in an effort to lure and keep these consumers on their sites.  Other useful information such ... Read More »

It’s no surprise that people are beginning to watch their favorite television shows online.  Missed an episode, forgot to set the DVR, or just killing time on your laptop somewhere?  In just moments you can be streaming full episodes via hulu, tv.com, or abc.com just to name a few.  In fact, 14% of the ... Read More »

At our last Internet Roundtable (IRT) and here, we discussed sites where marketers can find high concentrations of new-vehicle buyers, and continue to be efficient with online ad spending, by utilizing such sites. We presented a comparison from the J.D. Power and Associates / Compete, Inc. Prospects Current Behavior tool, ... Read More »

I recently looked at Hyundai’s and Volkswagen’s efforts to sell luxury vehicles.  The core issue isn’t the product – rather, the real difficulty is convincing buyers to consider a premium product from a non-premium manufacturer.  This kind of image issue occurs frequently in the automotive ... Read More »

Last year, I asked “Why would I follow a dealer on Twitter?”   My premise was that people will follow someone on Twitter if they can get something out of it.  Too often, dealers were just pushing specials and not giving people a reason to follow them.  As a counter example, Courtesy Hyundai of ... Read More »

Line up expansion has been a major automotive theme for the past two decades.  At one point, it seemed as if every manufacturer was launching an SUV, while more recently crossover and compact vehicle announcements and launches have been prominent.   Several OEMs have also put their premium aspirations on ... Read More »

Kbb recently introduced Blue Book CPO Values, bringing greater price transparency to the CPO process.  From a user perspective, the process follows the same steps as kbb’s standard used-vehicle pricing and the results page is keyed entirely to CPO – value, inventory, CPO program descriptions, etc. So far, ... Read More »

Twitter, as does other social media, provides a means by which automotive manufacturers can connect directly with consumers.  Many have jumped in - some are merely testing the waters, while others have more fully committed.  Prime examples of the latter category include Ford and GM.  Interestingly, both use ... Read More »

I spent some time earlier this year at the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, Turkey - a mammoth marketplace where the price of everything is negotiable.  In other words, pretty much like buying a new car at your local dealer.  To feel good about the price you pay in the Grand Bazaar, market knowledge is critical. Finding ... Read More »

Driving around and looking at the vehicles actually on dealers lots has always been the primary means for shoppers to find their used vehicles.  As recently as 2005, 33% of used-vehicle buyers found the vehicle they purchased by looking at dealer lots vs. 12% utilizing Internet/Online Classifieds (Autotrader, cars.com, ... Read More »