Picard to foster collaborative relationships with NAAA, NIADA, IARA and others to influence
the future of automotive remarketing

ATLANTA, Ga. (Nov 12, 2019) – Building on its leadership within the industry and bold actions that are paving the way for clients to thrive, Manheim has named Julie Picard to the new role of vice president of Industry Partnerships. She will be responsible for providing leadership and strategic direction for all automotive industry groups, including the National Auto Auction Association (NAAA) where she is currently the president-elect and will serve as NAAA president in 2021. In addition, she will work with Cox Automotive’s Government Affairs and Industry Relations teams to address key issues facing its partners and the industry.  

“Julie’s reputation as a leader with high integrity and a clear vision for the future – combined with her strong relationships and influence in the industry – make her the ideal choice for this important role,” said Patrick Brennan, senior vice president of Manheim Marketplace. “Her knowledge of the economic, commercial and political environment will help others in the industry understand our vision for the future while driving our company, our industry and our clients toward innovative solutions.”

Throughout her 28-year career with Manheim, Picard has held a variety of roles of increasing responsibility, starting with controller and manager of finance and administration for Manheim Seattle in 1992. Most recently, she served as west region vice president, developing and implementing strategies for 14 auctions designed to drive business growth, market share and profitability. Before that, her leadership positions included vice president and general manager of Manheim Pennsylvania where she oversaw the world’s largest auto auction and market vice president.

“Julie’s experience in the industry, business skills and leadership abilities made her an excellent choice to serve on our board,” said NAAA Chief Executive Officer Frank Hackett. “She values team engagement, collaboration, talent development and strategic planning, all of which are important for the advancement of our association and the vehicle remarketing industry.”

Picard is a graduate of the University of Montana with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and an alumnus of the Cox Executive Leadership Program. She has been honored for her industry leadership as one of Auto Remarketing’s “2013 Women in Remarketing” and with the prestigious 2013 Laurie Dobberphul Top Achiever Award, presented by GE Remarketing.

About Manheim (www.manheim.com)

Manheim® is North America's leading provider of end-to-end wholesale solutions that help dealer and commercial clients increase profits in their used vehicle operations. Through its physical, mobile and digital sales network, Manheim offers services for inventory management, buying and selling, floor planning, logistics, assurance and reconditioning. With its omni-channel approach, Manheim Marketplace enables wholesale vehicle clients more efficient ways to connect and transact business how and when they want. Approximately 17,000 team members help Manheim offer 7 million used vehicles annually, facilitating transactions representing nearly $61 billion in value. Headquartered in Atlanta, Manheim North America is a Cox Automotive™ brand. For more information, visit http://press.manheim.com.

# # #

New Strategic Partnership Brings Dealertrack Accelerated Title to the Total Loss Market 

NORTH HILLS, N.Y. & WESTCHESTER, Ill.--Dealertrack announces a new integration with IAA Inc. (NYSE: IAA), a leading global marketplace connecting vehicle buyers and sellers. Bringing together two industry leading technology solutions — IAA Loan Payoff™ and Dealertrack Accelerated Title®—will help mitigate the time-consuming process of managing a total loss claim requiring loan payoff and title release. Combined, this integration now offers lenders and insurers one cohesive digital solution that delivers positive and negative equity functionality, real-time payoff quotes, letters of guarantee, access to title vaults, and direct connection and ACH payments to lenders.

Based on internal analysis and interactions with multiple insurance providers, IAA estimates that there are more than 5 million cars declared a total loss each year and approximately 60 to 70% have loans that need to be paid off.1 The historically manual workflow of the total loss process typically takes 45 to 90 days to complete end-to-end.2 Based on the average price for cars declared total losses, this can tie up billions of dollars and slow consumers from returning to the auto retail market to purchase their next vehicle. This can negatively impact the customer experience and impede the productivity and profitability of lenders, insurers and the salvage auctions.

Integrating Dealertrack Accelerated Title and IAA Loan Payoff expands access to vehicle titles for all parties – lenders, insurers and salvage auctions. It creates a more digital, automated workflow that speeds up the loan payoff and title release process, lowering operational costs and easing friction between all parties.

“Time is money and lenders and insurers today cannot afford to get bogged down by the lengthy total loss settlement and lien payoff process,” said Kaitlin Gavin, vice president and general manager of Dealertrack Registration and Title Solutions. “Dealertrack Accelerated Title is a solution that no one else in the auto industry offers. Since inception, we have helped dealers efficiently submit more than $4 billion dollars in loan payoffs and receive expedited titles to ensure they can turn their inventory effectively.3 Partnering with IAA allows us to offer similar benefits to the total loss market, enabling insurers and lenders to seamlessly navigate total loss claims with negative equity that require a letter of guarantee from the lender.”

“We are pleased to be partnering with Dealertrack to address some of the most crucial pain points in the total loss claims process,” said Tim O’Day, president of U.S. operations for IAA. “By linking our strong insurer partner base with Dealertrack’s robust network of lenders, we’re building an unprecedented digital connection to ensure titles can be processed and claims can be closed faster than ever.”

Dealertrack sources auto loans from more than 7,400 lender partners and manages over 52 million paper and electronic titles, making them the largest automotive title management company in the U.S.4 Its Accelerated Title solution reduces the time it takes to process vehicle payoff and title release by up to 70%, creating cost savings for dealers accepting trade-ins.5 IAA Loan Payoff enables digital connectivity between insurance companies and auto lenders to address negative equity liens and a letter of guarantee resulting in a faster total loss settlement and lien payoff process.

The joint solution is currently in alpha pilot testing and will enter beta pilot testing in December 2019.

1, 2 IAA 2019 Data
3Dealertrack system data, September 30, 2019.
4 Dealertrack 2019 Data
5 Based on average industry timeframe for vehicle title release and vehicle payoff process of 18+ days, as determined by Dealertrack data.

About Dealertrack
Dealertrack provides industry-leading software solutions that give dealerships, lenders, and partners the confidence to thrive in an ever-changing automotive market. The company’s integrated suite of powerful easy-to-use products and services helps dealerships and their lending partners grow by increasing efficiency and improving decision-making. Dealertrack is part of the Cox Automotive family, a company that is transforming the way the world buys, sells, owns and uses cars. Dealertrack—along with its unmatched network of dealership and lending partners—is improving the car buying experience by embracing the technologies that will shape the future of automotive retail. For more information about Dealertrack, visit www.dealertrack.com.

About IAA
IAA, Inc. (NYSE: IAA) is a leading global marketplace connecting vehicle buyers and sellers. Leveraging leading-edge technology and focusing on innovation, IAA’s unique multi-channel platform processes approximately 2.5 million total-loss, damaged and low-value vehicles annually. Headquartered near Chicago in Westchester, Illinois, IAA has over 3,600 talented employees and over 190 facilities throughout the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom. IAA serves a global buyer base and a full spectrum of sellers, including insurers, dealerships, fleet lease, rental car companies, and charitable organizations. IAA offers customers a comprehensive suite of services aimed at maximizing vehicle value, reducing administrative costs, shortening selling cycle time and delivering customers the highest economic returns. Buyers have access to industry leading, innovative vehicle evaluation and bidding tools, enhancing the overall purchasing experience. For more information visit www.iaai.com.

ATLANTA (November 7, 2019) –  It’s often said that for every car there is a buyer, however, the key to making the sale is giving buyers confidence in their purchases. For older and high mileage cars, certifications can give buyers the confidence they need to purchase vehicles faster, while giving sellers a competitive edge and stronger profits.

Research from a recent white paper from Manheim Consulting, “Certification Impact on Low Grade & High Mileage Units,” found certified wholesale vehicles sell faster and at rates four to eight percent higher than their uncertified counterparts. In fact, the benefits and returns only rise as mileage surpasses 75,000, signaling buyers are willing to pay a premium for the guarantee of a mechanically sound unit, even at a lower grade or higher mileage.

“Manheim’s goal is to build trust and confidence between buyers and sellers within the wholesale market,” said Brett Woods, vice president of Assurance at Cox Automotive. “While this data reinforces that vehicles with Certifications are at an advantage, we’re also reminded that giving buyers assurance before the sale is the best way to create a positive experience and earn loyalty.”

Manheim launched its own certification program, Manheim Certified, to improve profit margins for the seller and protect the interests of all parties involved. It provides buyers a 7-day, 300-mile guarantee, giving them more confidence to do business. If something does happen with the vehicle, Manheim will either repair the vehicle in-house, cover the costs of the repair or in periodic cases, take the vehicle back. In any case, sellers of Manheim Certified units are removed from the post-sale claims process, so they don’t have to worry about arbitration.

Further benefits and competitive advantages of certifications are:

- 4 to 8 percent greater returns per vehicle sale

- One third fewer arbitrations

- 6.6 percent more Simulcast sales

- 48 percent wider Simulcast audience reach and more bids per vehicle

Manheim Certified is currently available to all sellers in the Manheim marketplace. Vehicles must be under 125,000 miles, have an InSight Condition Report and be on-site to qualify. To learn more about how certifications help dealers sell inventory faster and increase buyer confidence when purchasing on the wholesale market, please visit www.manheim.com.

About Manheim (www.manheim.com)
Manheim® is North America's leading provider of end-to-end wholesale solutions that help dealer and commercial clients increase profits in their used vehicle operations. Through its physical, mobile and digital sales network, Manheim offers services for inventory management, buying and selling, floor planning, logistics, assurance and reconditioning. With its omni-channel approach, Manheim Marketplace enables wholesale vehicle clients more efficient ways to connect and transact business how and when they want. Approximately 17,000 team members help Manheim offer 7 million used vehicles annually, facilitating transactions representing nearly $61 billion in value. Headquartered in Atlanta, Manheim North America is a Cox Automotive™ brand. For more information, visit http://press.manheim.com.

Increased Real-time Access to Key Client Information Streamlines the Car Buying Process 

MISSION, KANSAS, November 7, 2019 — VinSolutions and INFINITI announce  the integration between INFINITI’s ICAR-X Sales app and VinSolutions Connect CRM, combining the two databases to give retailers unabridged access to key customer information from one centralized source. Through this integration INFINITI retailers now have the enhanced ability to offer a seamless online to in-store experience that clients prefer, giving INFINITI retailers a competitive edge and signaling an important milestone for the CRM as a platform pioneering the digital showroom experience. 

“INFINITI retailers know utilizing comprehensive data takes the guesswork out of creating a successful client experience, but want a convenient single-source collection process that complements the efficiency they’re trying to achieve with their clients,” said Lori Wittman, general manager of VinSolutions and senior vice president of Dealer Software Solutions at Cox Automotive. “With this communication between databases, ICAR-X is greater than the sum of its parts, and delivers on its promise to improve the showroom sales and data delivery processes to enhance INFINTI client interactions.”

Until now, INFINITI retailers seeking to leverage data to improve their sales strategy had to use the two independent databases, VinSolutions Connect CRM and INFINITI ICAR-X Sales, to collect key client information. This double process made for a less than optimal user and client experience.

With the enhanced INFINITI ICAR-X Sales patented app-based platform, retailer staff have access to both VinSolutions Connect CRM and INFINITI databases from a single portal. Sales consultants can search and enter data once in both systems without the need for double entry. ICAR-X Sales also helps retailers solve problems with information accessible at their fingertips, assist with a more professional consultation, and ultimately drive a better experience while making the vehicle buying process more efficient.

“Clients are becoming more inclined to prefer a retail experience that marries the convenience of digital with the tangible showroom experience, whether starting the process online or in a showroom” said Matt Wilson, Director INFINITI Global Client Experience. “ICAR-X Sales has already given staff at several INFINITI retailers using VinSolutions Connect CRM the ability to access the most up-to-date client data from a single source, paving the way to the coveted digital showroom experience that has proven to increase client satisfaction.” 

The ICAR-X Sales app is available on the Apple App Store, Google Play and the Microsoft App store for tablet and smartphone use.

About VinSolutions

As the provider of Connect CRM, a leading dealership customer relationship management system, VinSolutions helps more than 5,000 dealers make every connection count. VinSolutions products integrate dealership systems, processes and tools to deliver a single view of the customer across the business – so dealers can focus on building relationships throughout the sales cycle. Founded in 2006 and headquartered in Mission, Kansas, VinSolutions fosters dealership success by providing a fully customizable suite of solutions, including equity mining, market pricing and desking tools, combined with the continuous, personal support of a designated Performance Manager. VinSolutions is OEM certified by every major manufacturer and is Autosoft, CDK, Reynolds & Reynolds and Dealertrack DMS certified. VinSolutions is a Cox Automotive™ brand.

About INFINITI

INFINITI Motor Company Ltd. is headquartered in Hong Kong with representations in 50 markets around the world. The INFINITI brand was launched in 1989. Its range of luxury automobiles is currently built in manufacturing facilities in Japan, the United States, United Kingdom, Mexico and China.  INFINITI design studios are located in Atsugi-Shi near Yokohama, London, San Diego and Beijing. The brand has been widely acclaimed for its industry-leading client services, having received the top overall ranking in the 2018 JD Power and Associates Customer Satisfaction Index and AMCI's Most Trusted Brand in the luxury segment, as well as its world's first driver assistance technologies and daring designs. From the 2016 season, INFINITI is a technical partner of the Renault Sport Formula One team, contributing its expertise in hybrid performance.

Find more information about INFINITI, its industry leading technologies and the all-new 2019 QX50 midsize luxury crossover at www.INFINITIUSA.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and see all our latest videos on YouTube.

Statesville, NC (Nov. 1, 2019) – Brad Keselowski’s Checkered Flag Foundation and Autotrader announced the return of the Tribute 2 Veterans presented by Autotrader program which will honor America’s heroes during a 2020 race weekend.

Starting today, friends and family of former service members can submit a veteran’s name to be featured on the No. 2 Autotrader Ford Mustang that Keselowski will pilot during the March 2020 race weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

“Carrying the names of veterans to Victory Lane on my Autotrader Ford Mustang last year was one of the highlights of my 2019 season,” said Keselowski. “I’m incredibly thankful to have sponsors like Autotrader that provide my family and the Checkered Flag Foundation the opportunity to honor veterans in unique ways. We are always looking for creative opportunities to honor the men and women who have sacrificed so much for our freedom. Featuring veterans’ names on my car again next season at Atlanta Motor Speedway is just one small way for us to honor these heroes, while also raising funds that will allow the foundation to continue its mission.”

The tax-deductible donation cost is $100 per submission to be part of the campaign, with proceeds benefiting the Checkered Flag Foundation in its mission to honor and assist those who have sacrificed for our country and our communities. Each veteran submission will receive a personalized certificate and a commemorative poster of the No. 2 Autotrader Ford Mustang displaying the names of the veterans along with a letter of thanks from Keselowski.

Those wishing to submit a veteran’s name can do so here. Submissions will be accepted through Tuesday, December 31, 2019.

Participating individuals in the program can use #Tribute2Veterans on social media to show their involvement and support of the program.

About Brad Keselowski’s Checkered Flag Foundation

Brad Keselowski’s Checkered Flag Foundation honors and assists those who have sacrificed greatly for our country and communities. Since 2010, the foundation has supported hundreds of organizations and individuals in order to help veterans and first responders during their road to recovery. Visit www.CheckeredFlagFoundation.org for details.

About Autotrader

Autotrader is the most recognized third-party car listings brand, with the most engaged audience of in-market car shoppers. As the foremost authority on automotive consumer insights and expert in online and mobile marketing, Autotrader makes the car shopping experience easy and fun for today’s empowered car shopper looking to find or sell the perfect new, used or Certified Pre-Owned car. Using technology, shopper insights and local market guidance, Autotrader’s comprehensive marketing and retailing solutions allow consumers to build their deal online, and guide dealers to personalized digital marketing strategies that grow brand, drive traffic and connect the online and in-store shopping experience. Autotrader is a Cox Automotive™ brand. Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises. For more information, please visit http://press.autotrader.com.

About Team Penske

Team Penske is one of the most successful teams in the history of professional sports. Cars owned and prepared by Team Penske have produced more than 540 major race wins, over 620 pole positions and 36 Championships across open-wheel, stock car and sports car racing competition. Over the course of its 53-year history, the team has also earned 18 Indianapolis 500 victories, two Daytona 500 Championships, a Formula 1 win, overall victories in the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring, along with a win in Australia’s legendary Bathurst 1000 race. Team Penske currently competes in the NTT IndyCar Series, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, the NASCAR Xfinity Series and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The team also races in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship, in a partnership with Dick Johnson Racing, as DJR Team Penske. For more information about Team Penske, please visit www.teampenske.com.

- Maybee joined Cox Automotive in 2017 as general manager of Manheim Northstar Minnesota.

- Maybee, a Nissan North America veteran, brings 10 years of automotive finance experience to his new role at NextGear Capital.

• - NextGear Capital is the industry’s leading finance provider serving more than 22,000 independent dealer clients.

ATLANTA, Nov. 4, 2019 – Scott Maybee has been named president of NextGear Capital, effective today. Maybee comes to NextGear from Manheim Northstar Minnesota, where he was general manager and responsible for all facets of the Minneapolis-based operation. Prior to joining Manheim, Maybee spent 10 years with Nissan North America and Nissan Motor Acceptance Corporation, rising to vice president of sales operations for Nissan Canada Finance. This move supports the Cox Automotive goal of promoting high-performing talent across its brands.

In his new role, Maybee will report to Mark Bowser, executive vice president and CFO, Cox Automotive. Bowser noted, “At Manheim, Scott successfully established a culture of transparency and rigorous process management while positively impacting employee morale and driving aggressive organic business growth. He and his team ultimately raised sales revenue, customer retention and operating margins.”

Dave Horan, who has served as acting president of NextGear Capital since July, will continue in his role as vice president of finance for the Carmel, Indiana-based company.

Maybee joins NextGear Capital at a time when the company is focused on providing new opportunities for independent auto dealers to profitably operate and grow their businesses. In addition to maintaining a healthy, opportunity-filled workplace for the 800-plus NextGearCapital employees, Maybee and the leadership team will continue to pursue ways to streamline and improve the client experience. As the entire industry evolves, optimizing the digital experience to drive efficiencies in every aspect of the client relationship continues to be a priority for NextGear Capital.    “Scott has the extraordinary ability to provide strategic leadership and drive value for clients,” Bowser added. “When our clients’ businesses are healthy, our business is healthy.”

A law-school graduate of Chicago-Kent College of Law, Maybee holds an MBA in Finance from DePaul University and a Bachelor of Science in Management from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he graduated summa cum laude. When not at work, Maybee focuses his time on his wife and two daughters, plays recreational hockey, and is a rabid Boston Red Sox fan.

About NextGear Capital 

NextGear Capital is the largest independent inventory finance company in North America, providing flexible lines of credit for auto dealers to buy used vehicles from over 1,000 auto and other vehicle sources throughout North America. With a client base of more than 22,000 dealers,NextGear Capital provides comprehensive services and support enabling dealers to buy and sell more inventory through self-service management tools, title services, records management and collateral protection.

Headquartered in Carmel, Indiana, NextGear Capital is a Cox Automotive brand. For more information, visit www.nextgearcapital.com.

About Cox Automotive 

Cox Automotive Inc. makes buying, selling, owning and using cars easier for everyone. The global company’s 34,000-plus team members and family of brands, including Autotrader®, Clutch Technologies, Dealer.com®, Dealertrack®, Kelley Blue Book®, Manheim®, NextGear Capital®, VinSolutions®, vAuto® and Xtime®, are passionate about helping millions of car shoppers, 40,000 auto dealer clients across five countries and many others throughout the automotive industry thrive for generations to come. Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises Inc., a privately-owned, Atlanta-based company with revenues exceeding $20 billion. www.coxautoinc.com

ATLANTA, Ga., October 23, 2019 – Autotrader is tipping off its 16th season of partnership with the National Basketball Association (NBA), featuring several opportunities to be front and center all season long as the Official Car Search Engine of the NBA.

The brand is the exclusive partner of the NBA on TNT Tip-Off Show presented by Autotrader, with at least 34 pre-game shows scheduled to air throughout this season featuring analysts Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith and host Ernie Johnson.  Autotrader also will see in-game exposure through the regular season and playoff game broadcasts on TNT and NBA TV, as well as online via NBA.com, reaching millions of fans each week.

“Integrating Autotrader with the NBA has proven to be a very successful marketing strategy for our brand, and we’ve made a great team for more than 15 years now,” said Greta Crowley, vice president of marketing for Autotrader. “Our audiences overlap nicely, and the partnership really is seamless. As one of the most recognized automotive marketplaces, Autotrader is excited to reach millions of NBA fans again this season to help them along the journey of finding the right car.”

In addition to having a pre-game, in-game and digital streaming presence, for the 14th year Autotrader will support the donation of a vehicle to a deserving recipient via the All-Star Drive Charity Giveaway during NBA All-Star.

Autotrader’s 16th season as an NBA partner premiered on Tuesday, October 22, 2019, with a special two-and-a-half-hour Tip-Off Show presented by Autotrader, followed by a doubleheader. Regular season NBA games will be broadcast on TNT on Tuesday and Thursday nights through April 2020, with playoff games from April through June of 2020.

For more information and news from Autotrader, visit press.autotrader.com, follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Autotrader_com (or @Autotrader_com), Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/autotrader_com/ (or @autotrader_com), like our page on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/autotrader/, and add us on Snapchat (@Autotrader_com).

About Autotrader
Autotrader is the most recognized third-party car listings brand, with the most engaged audience of in-market car shoppers. As the foremost authority on automotive consumer insights and expert in online and mobile marketing, Autotrader makes the car shopping experience easy and fun for today's empowered car shopper looking to find or sell the perfect new, used or Certified Pre-Owned car. Using technology, shopper insights and local market guidance, Autotrader's comprehensive marketing and retailing solutions allow consumers to build their deal online, and guide dealers to personalized digital marketing strategies that grow brand, drive traffic and connect the online and in-store shopping experience. Autotrader is a Cox Automotive™ brand. Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises. For more information, please visit http://press.autotrader.com. 

About Cox Automotive

Cox Automotive Inc. makes buying, selling, owning and using cars easier for everyone. The global company’s 34,000-plus team members and family of brands, including Autotrader®, Clutch Technologies, Dealer.com®, Dealertrack®, Kelley Blue Book®, Manheim®, NextGear Capital®, VinSolutions®, vAuto® and Xtime®, are passionate about helping millions of car shoppers, 40,000 auto dealer clients across five continents and many others throughout the automotive industry thrive for generations to come. Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises Inc., a privately-owned, Atlanta-based company with revenues exceeding $20 billion. coxautoinc.com

# # #

Dealer.com’s Digital Marketing Innovations Help Hyundai Dealers Attract, Engage, and Convert Online Shoppers.

Burlington, Vt., October 18, 2019 – Dealer.com, a Cox Automotive brand, today announced it has been selected in Hyundai’s Dealer Website Certification Program as a website and digital advertising provider, continuing a long-standing partnership rooted in driving the success of Hyundai dealers. Through the certification program, Dealer.com will remain an endorsed website provider for more than 600 Hyundai dealers in North America. The partnership extension follows Dealer.com’s recent redesign of its digital storefront, which empowers dealers to create a faster path to customer engagement by delivering more personalized experiences for consumers.

“Dealer.com looks forward to continuing our successful relationship with Hyundai and supplying their dealers with premiere automotive industry technologies and services,” said Wayne Pastore, vice president and general manager of Dealer.com. “Our digital solutions offer groundbreaking mobile and desktop flexibility, comprehensive inventory merchandising, personalized shopper experiences, and unmatched connectivity with Autotrader, Kelley Blue Book, and other Cox Automotive solutions.”

Dealer.com’s award-winning platform provides:

- Data-driven website design and a superior user experience, fueled by industry-leading, automotive-centric back end dealer configuration tools.

- Performance analytics that measure quality scoring, benchmarking and sales to ensure dealers understand what is driving the most results for their business.

- Automated creation of personalized website content and offers powered by Cox Automotive consumer data, such as relevant inventory recommendations and dynamic content targeting, resulting in a 2-2.5 times higher click-through rate and 12 percent lift on inventory leads[1].

- Market-leading digital retailing experience, which produces engaging experiences that keep shoppers on site longer and is three times more likely to result in lead form submission[2]. Leads created from digital retailing experiences close more often and at a higher profit than average internet leads[3].

In recent months, Dealer.com’s new digital solutions have been recognized throughout the automotive industry, earning Dealer.com several awards, including two consecutive Automotive Website Awards, the Highest Rated SEO Provider, and Driving Sales Dealers’ Choice Award for Top Rated Website Provider.

Dealers who would like to learn more can visit https://www.dealer.com/products/websites.

About Dealer.com
Dealer.com is the premier digital marketing solution for the automotive industry. Providing an integrated platform of Websites, Advertising, Digital Retailing and Managed Services, Dealer.com allows OEMs, dealer groups, retailers and agencies to leverage advanced digital technology, data and insights to deliver the shortest, fastest and most personalized path to customer engagement. The company practices a deep commitment to its culture of progress, with a focus on community, health, and wellness. Based in Burlington, Vermont, Dealer.com is a Cox Automotive brand. For more information, visit www.dealer.com.

About Cox Automotive

Cox Automotive Inc. makes buying, selling, owning and using cars easier for everyone. The global company’s 34,000-plus team members and family of brands, including Autotrader®, Clutch Technologies, Dealer.com®, Dealertrack®, Kelley Blue Book®, Manheim®, NextGear Capital®, VinSolutions®, vAuto® and Xtime®, are passionate about helping millions of car shoppers, 40,000 auto dealer clients across five continents and many others throughout the automotive industry thrive for generations to come. Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises Inc., a privately-owned, Atlanta-based company with revenues exceeding $20 billion. www.coxautoinc.com

Consumers save time by making online and in-lane payments directly through Xtime

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Oct. 17, 2019 -- Dealers using Xtime can now leverage the payment processing capabilities of CenPOS, which is now part of Elavon, to customers creating an enhanced vehicle ownership experience through quicker online and in-lane payment options.

The CenPOS payment solution integrates into Xtime's Spectrum Platform, which makes it easier to capture and report customer payments efficiently either in the service lane from a tablet device or any service department workstation. All U.S. and Canada-based franchise dealership customers can immediately use the CenPOS payment functionality, creating more convenient, reliable payment options without requiring a significant investment or process change.

"Giving our service advisors the ability to own the experience from start to finish on one platform is pivotal in the way we intend to do business in the future," said Chance Wiseman, fixed operations trainer at Del Grande Dealer Group in San Jose, Calif. "This one key change in technology will drastically streamline the active redelivery process. Another opportunity Xtime is providing us to exceed our customers' expectations."

CenPOS provides dealership customers with more control over their experience. With the choice to make payments remotely thorough their computer and smartphone, or onsite at the dealership with the new and improved Xtime Engage Tablet Reception application, customers can pay as they choose.

"Dealers should look at the service experience they are offering their customers in order to drive greater customer loyalty and retention," said Tracy Fred, vice president and general manager of Xtime. "The powerful combination of CenPOS and Xtime's single platform gives both service management and advisors a more streamlined and easy-to-use solution that meets consumers' demands and saves them time and energy throughout the entire service experience, from write-up to payment."

An efficient check-out process is also critical to keeping consumers happy and coming back. Consumers who are most satisfied spend 2.5 hours or less at the dealership for service.1 As a result of this new integration, dealers interested in using Xtime's Engage payment solution will soon have their choice of multiple merchant processing providers.

"With extensive expertise in providing payments for the auto industry, together with Xtime, we can offer rich, secure solutions that are specific to the needs of this industry," said Joey Orozco, director of business development, CenPOS. "By streamlining service check-out, dealerships can increase customer satisfaction and save their customers valuable time."

For more information, click here.

1 2019 Cox Automotive Service Industry Study

About CenPOS:
CenPOS is a merchant-centric, end-to-end payments engine that drives enterprise-class solutions for businesses, saving them time and money, while improving their customer engagement. CenPOS' secure, cloud-based solution optimizes acceptance for all payment types across multiple channels without disrupting the merchant's banking relationships. 

About Xtime
Xtime increases customer retention for automotive dealer service departments by using technology to transform the ownership experience. Improving customer satisfaction and retention drives dealer revenue and profitability. Xtime is committed to delivering the experience consumers demand – an experience which emphasizes value, convenience and trust.

Xtime books 52 million service appointments and processes 120 million repair orders annually. Twenty-nine global OEMs have chosen Xtime to drive that same type of success for their businesses, converting more than $13 billion in service revenue annually for more than 7,500 dealerships.

About Cox Automotive
Cox Automotive Inc. makes buying, selling, owning and using cars easier for everyone. The global company's 34,000-plus team members and family of brands, including Autotrader®, Clutch Technologies, Dealer.com®, Dealertrack®, Kelley Blue Book®, Manheim®, NextGear Capital®, VinSolutions®, vAuto® and Xtime®, are passionate about helping millions of car shoppers, 40,000 auto dealer clients across five continents and many others throughout the automotive industry thrive for generations to come. Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises Inc., a privately-owned, Atlanta-based company with revenues exceeding $20 billion. www.coxautoinc.com

Burlington, Vt., October 16, 2019 – Dealer.com, a Cox Automotive brand, recently teamed up with Cartender, a provider of digital marketing technology, to announce a new opportunity for dealers to leverage video advertising to more effectively communicate and engage their car shoppers. With the growing shift away from television toward smartphones and tablets, Dealer.com and Cartender deliver high quality video advertisements to an engaged audience at scale for dealers across these digital platforms.

Video advertising is a consistently undervalued channel, especially given 20% of the population is no longer reachable through television as people continue to obtain information elsewhere and find other forms of entertainment[1]. A major hurdle for dealerships is finding a scalable creative solution, to turn over new video assets every month. With this enhanced technology, Dealer.com seamlessly provides the details that dealerships want to highlight, such as their incentives, vehicle imagery and branding. Cartender will then take that information and transform it into compelling video templates.

“Dealer.com takes pride in finding undervalued modes of advertising channels for our dealers and removing barriers of entry to those channels,” said Mark Bernstein, associate vice president of advertising, Dealer.com. “We’re thrilled for this new venture, as video advertising gives dealers the ability to build brand and inventory awareness by connecting Facebook and YouTube audiences with their dealership in a dynamic and engaging format.”

Dealer.com works with dealers to identify their specific goals, build creative, and automate monthly video updating to alleviate the time burden for dealers managing video assets.

“Video advertising is an effective way to communicate and engage with customers, but getting the content to market in a timely manner has been a major challenge until now,” said Collin Davis, CEO and co-founder of Cartender. “Working with Dealer.com is the perfect combination of video production expertise, technology solutions, and the most comprehensive vehicle dataset in the industry. Dealers can now target automotive shoppers with a video solution that saves them time and resources by getting their brand to market ahead of the competition.”

Nearly half of auto shoppers who used online video for research said that it helped them discover a vehicle they weren’t previously aware of or considering[2]. However, many automotive dealers have been slow to invest in digital video. The typical dealership lacks digital video assets for content, or they have not previously invested in television or video advertising due to its high cost of entry.

Digital video should be considered an essential component for dealers’ digital advertising strategies because 97% of consumers either visit a dealership, search for inventory or conduct further vehicle research after watching in-market video content[3].

Dealer.com continues to provide multiple creative solution options to help deliver the highest quality and scalable creative content to dealers. For dealership seeking custom video content, Dealer.com also offers an Advanced and Premium level video solution that combines store footage, branding, running vehicle footage and monthly offers allowing dealers to differentiate themselves from their competitors.

To learn more about Dealer.com’s video advertising capabilities, visit https://www.dealer.com/products/advertising/video/.

About Dealer.com
Dealer.com is the premier digital marketing solution for the automotive industry. Providing an integrated platform of Websites, Advertising, Digital Retailing and Managed Services, Dealer.com allows OEMs, dealer groups, retailers and agencies to leverage advanced digital technology, data and insights to deliver the shortest, fastest and most personalized path to customer engagement. The company practices a deep commitment to its culture of progress, with a focus on community, health, and wellness. Based in Burlington, Vermont, Dealer.com is a Cox Automotive brand. For more information, visit www.dealer.com.

About Cox Automotive

Cox Automotive Inc. makes buying, selling, owning and using cars easier for everyone. The global company’s 34,000-plus team members and family of brands, including Autotrader®, Clutch Technologies, Dealer.com®, Dealertrack®, Kelley Blue Book®, Manheim®, NextGear Capital®, VinSolutions®, vAuto® and Xtime®, are passionate about helping millions of car shoppers, 40,000 auto dealer clients across five continents and many others throughout the automotive industry thrive for generations to come. Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises Inc., a privately-owned, Atlanta-based company with revenues exceeding $20 billion. www.coxautoinc.com