Houston, Texas, October 22, 2012, CAR-Research XRM, a single-source CRM solution uniquely branded as; “XRM, Exceeding CRM”, today announced the release of Victory by Inches: The Key to Auto Dealers’ Sales Success in a Social World. The new eBook is a best practices guide for auto dealerships covering CRM strategies in today’s social world.

“Social media is an increasingly relevant marketing tool for auto dealerships. Its ability to engage consumers where they socialize today -- and then pull them into the showroom -- is a growing reality. However, social media at your dealership doesn’t mean much if the sales team is forgetting the basics – those foundational socialization steps known as the road to the sale, customer follow up, and prospecting the household for additional opportunities,” said CAR-Research XRM President and COO Patrick Kelly.  “Soliciting friends and followers via Facebook, Twitter or dealer review sites is valuable, but it must be secondary to personal engagement on the showroom floor. As it has always been, selling cars is a process of engagement. Sales victory is earned by capitalizing on every inch of opportunity. Selling has always been a social process,” Kelly added.

Dealerships who embrace a culture of selling sociability:

·         Engage every customer and are intentional about building value into their product

·         Recognize every communication and encounter with customers as part of a social engagement opportunity to boost retention and win new business from customers’ friends and families

·         Pursue every up consistently – and reengage socially with unsold customers to win back two-thirds of them and close between 40 and 70% of them

“On a daily basis we use digital and social marketing to drive traffic to our website and into our stores. However, people still want to buy from people they trust and that can be accomplished only through face-to-face interaction with the customer,” notes Jim O’Neil, Regional Manager for the Fenton Auto Group, Tyler, TX.

Victory by Inches: The Key to Auto Dealers’ Sales Success in a Social World shares how dealerships create social selling cultures and convert more shoppers into buyers, whether coming into the store after visiting your website, viewing your Facebook page, getting referred by a friend, or because the store just happens to be in a convenient location.

 Victory by Inches: The Key to Auto Dealers’ Sales Success in a Social World can be downloaded for free at: http://www.carxrm.com/files/carxrm-com-eBook-Oct2012.pdf. Free print copies will also be available at booth # 817at the 13^th Digital Dealer Conference, October 23-25, 2012, Las Vegas, NV.

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About CAR-Research XRM:

CAR-Research XRM provides auto dealerships with a comprehensive single-source CRM solution and has been helping dealerships grow their business and increase profits since 1994. Its founders worked in the retail automotive industry for years before forming CAR-Research XRM.

Using this experience and industry knowledge, the company built its dealership solution one piece at a time, resulting in the industry’s most advanced single-source dealer solution, one that exceeds traditional CRM's. For more information visit www.CARXRM.com or call 800-376-5918.

For more information contact:

Adriana DiFranco

3 Birds Marketing

(919) 627-8784

adriana.difranco@3birdsmarketing.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Auto Industry Veteran Joins Forces With 3 Birds Marketing

Barron Meade hired to connect progressive auto executives with company's innovative marketing software and services

October 18, 2012, [Chapel Hill, NC]…………..3 Birds Marketing, a software developer offering an integrated digital marketing platform and professional services to the automotive industry and other business verticals, today announced that Barron Meade has joined its staff to lead the company’s Strategic Partnerships Initiative.

A Detroit native, and long-time auto industry insider, Meade was born and raised in the automotive industry. He has held many roles in automotive retail management including General Manager of Meade Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram, andPresident of Meade Lexus, both in the Detroit area.

More recently, Meade’s industry credibility and civic involvement, culminated in his appointment as President of the Detroit Auto Dealers Association and Chairman of the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS), one of the most attended and prestigious auto shows in the world, and one of the largest media events in North America. In gratitude for his years of outstanding service, Meade was named Chairman Emeritus of the NAIAS. He is an entrepreneur and consultant to the automotive industry and considered a subject matter expert regarding digital marketing for the auto industry. 

“Our objective for this Strategic Partnership position was to find someone who could introduce 3 Birds’ software solutions to forward-thinking car manufacturers and automotive groups,” said Kristen Judd, President and Co-Founder of 3 Birds Marketing. “Barron proved to be the perfect choice. He understands the digital landscape and the types of tools and partners the retail automotive industry needs. He sees clearly how the industry is changing and evolving,” she added.

“I’m very proud to be on the 3 Birds Marketing team,” Meade said. “For a young company, 3 Birds has already gained a lot of traction and earned significant credibility in the auto industry. They’ve impressed me with their passion, auto industry understanding and vision to empower automotive clients with powerful digital marketing tools.” Meade will open and help run the 3 Birds’ Detroit office.

3 Birds Marketing is currently in a fast-track growth phase having increased its work force by 40% in 2012. The firm has outgrown its space and is currently building new offices in Chapel Hill. The company currently handles digital marketing activities, solutions and assessments for more than 650 auto dealerships in the United States.

About 3 Birds Marketing               www.3birdsmarketing.com
3 Birds Marketing is an interactive marketing company headquartered in Chapel Hill, NC, specializing in developing digital marketing software for several verticals. Founded in 2009, 3 Birds offers an integrated marketing and communications platform that creates a comprehensive marketing loop for clients that promotes customer engagement, delivers better qualified leads, increases conversions, and provides marketing analytics and data. To find out more, visit www.3birdsmarketing.com or call (877) 285-1094.

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CHICAGO – Cars.com, the premier online resource for buying and selling new and used cars, today announced that Linda Bartman, the site’s Vice President of Marketing, has been named Chief Marketing Officer. As CMO, Bartman is responsible for overseeing the company’s branding, advertising, and overall marketing efforts, ensuring that Cars.com is delivering industry-leading products to the market.

“As a rapidly growing company, branding is more important than ever,” said Mitch Golub, Cars.com’s President. “It requires a strategic viewpoint on how we position our business and our value for success in the long-term. Linda brings a broad skillset of both strategic positioning and marketing expertise that will continue to make our business and products win in the marketplace, and set a growth path for emerging opportunities.”

Bartman joined Cars.com a year and a half ago as the Senior Director of Trade and Sales Marketing with the initial remit to evolve the current business-to-business value proposition to meet the more current view of the digital landscape for customers.  In January, Bartman was named Vice President of Marketing where she was tasked with setting the strategic foundation for marketing across the Cars.com business, with dealers and with car shoppers. 

“It’s an exciting time for Cars.com and the digital landscape, and I am looking forward to taking the brand to the next level, not just in the third party automotive site category, but among the top technology and media companies,” said Bartman. "As we work to position our brand as a strong digital media provider, the need to build a fully integrated marketing strategy will be critical to the value we deliver for our advertiser customers through our high quality audience. With this strategy, we will expose the Cars.com brand to more car shoppers and help them determine what to buy, where to buy and how much to pay.”

Prior to joining Cars.com in 2011, Bartman was the Brand & Marketing Communications Director at BP Fuels business, where she was responsible for the retail fuel’s brand strategy and marketing communications.

ABOUT CARS.COM

Cars.com is an award-winning online destination for car shoppers that offers information from consumers and experts to help buyers formulate opinions on what to buy, where to buy and how much to pay for a car.Cars.com offers thousands of new and used vehicle listings, consumer reviews, side-by-side comparison tools, photo galleries, videos, unbiased editorial content and many other tools. Cars.com put millions of car buyers in control of their shopping process with the information they need to make confident buying decisions. Launched in June 1998, Cars.com is a division of Classified Ventures LLC, which is owned by leading media companies, including A.H. Belo (NYSE: AHC), Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI), The McClatchy Company (NYSE: MNI), Tribune Company and The Washington Post Company (NYSE: WPO).

DAYTON, Ohio – Oct. 18, 2012 – The Reynolds and Reynolds Company today announced the company will offer demonstrations of docuPAD^® and Contact Management in the Reynolds booth #1131 at the 13^th Digital Dealer Conference & Exposition to be held Oct. 23-25 in Las Vegas.

docuPAD, an F&I interactive selling and document processing system for automotive dealerships, will be displayed on-site for attendees to see first-hand how this F&I selling tool can change the consumer experience and improve a dealership’s business results. docuPAD enables dealership personnel to engage consumers in the finance and insurance steps of a vehicle transaction and electronically manage and record the entire process, including electronic signature capture. In recognition of its unique product attributes, docuPAD recently received two patents from the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

At the 2012 National Automobile Dealers Association convention, docuPAD was the most demonstrated product at the Reynolds and Reynolds booth.

“It’s a product unmatched in the industry and one that has helped increase customer satisfaction and F&I results for those dealerships that are using it,” said Jon Strawsburg, vice president of Product Planning for Reynolds and Reynolds. “We’re proud of this unique product and the results it’s delivering for dealers.  We’re looking forward to showcasing the product at Digital Dealer.”

More information: docuPAD | Reynolds and Reynolds

About Reynolds

Reynolds and Reynolds is the automotive industry’s largest and most trusted provider of automobile dealership software, services, and forms to help dealerships improve business results. The company is headquartered in Dayton, Ohio, with major operations in Houston and College Station, Texas, and Celina, Ohio. (www.reyrey.com)

# # #

Reynolds Media Contact:
Thomas Schwartz
937.485.8109 (office)
937.269.9569 (mobile)
Thomas_Schwartz@reyrey.com

DealerTrack Selected by Dealers United as Preferred DMS Provider

National Purchasing Network for Automotive Dealers Embraces DealerTrack DMS for its Superior Capabilities and High-Value

Lake Success, N.Y. , October 17, 2012 - - DealerTrack (Nasdaq: TRAK) today announced the company has been selected as the recommended DMS provider for Dealers United, a national purchasing network for privately-owned automotive dealers.

As part of the agreement, Dealers United will market DealerTrack DMS as the recommended DMS solution to its entire network of nearly 5,000 franchised and independent dealers. DealerTrack DMS, based on a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) delivery model, provides the real-time, on-demand data every dealer needs to run their business efficiently.  Through its Open Track program, DealerTrack DMS can simply and seamlessly integrate with other existing third-party and OEM systems within a dealership, including Sales and F&I, and inventory management systems.

“Dealers United’s mission is to level the playing field for private dealers each and every day by finding the best products and services for our dealer members,” said Jesse Biter, co-founder, Dealers United. “The DealerTrack DMS is clearly a cut above the rest when it comes to solutions that both franchised and independent dealers need to run their businesses efficiently and profitably.”

“DealerTrack is a true dealer partner when it comes to DMS,” said Sharon Kitzman, vice president and general manger, DealerTrack DMS. “This endorsement by Dealers United will allow more dealers to cost-effectively experience the advanced technology and robust functionality of DealerTrack DMS.”

About DealerTrack (www.dealertrack.com)

DealerTrack's intuitive and high-value web-based software solutions and services enhance efficiency and profitability for all major segments of the automotive retail industry, including dealers, lenders, OEMs, third-party retailers, agents, and aftermarket providers. In addition to the industry’s largest online credit application network, connecting more than 18,000 dealers with more than 1,200 lenders, DealerTrack delivers the industry’s most comprehensive solution set for automotive retailers, including Dealer Management System (DMS), Inventory, Sales and F&I, Interactive, and Registration and Titling  solutions. For more information visit  www.dealertrack.com.

Safe Harbor for Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements

Statements in this press release regarding the benefits of DealerTrack DMS, the benefits of the Dealers United Endorsement, and all other statements in this release other than the recitation of historical facts are forward-looking statements (as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995). These statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements of DealerTrack to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.

Factors that might cause such a difference include the number of dealers that subscribe to DealerTrack DMS and other risks listed in our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ending December 31, 2011. These filings can be found on DealerTrack's website at www.dealertrack.com and the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Forward-looking statements included herein speak only as of the date hereof and DealerTrack disclaims any obligation to revise or update such statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events or circumstances.

# # #   

ALBANY, N.Y. – October 16^th, 2012 – Auto/Mate Dealership Systems (http://www.automate.com) announced today that Pennsylvania-based Sands Auto Group has reduced its dealership management system (DMS) expense by 75%, since switching from its legacy DMS to Auto/Mate. Terry Sands, owner of the Sands Auto Group, also credits Auto/Mate’s flexible, simple reporting tools with helping him see trends and stay competitive when he reviews the performance of his four stores.

In 2006 Sands decided to switch to a new DMS vendor due to cost and service issues. One reason he chose Auto/Mate was because the employees all had previous car dealership experience and knew the business. “We were used to working with people who knew the computer but who had never worked in the business before,” said Sands. In addition to better customer service, Sands realized an immediate cost reduction of 75% in his DMS expense, a savings that has been maintained to this day.

Sands relies on Auto/Mate’s flexible and simple reporting tools to help him review the performance of various departments within his stores, as well as to do side by side comparisons of his two Ford dealerships, Suzuki dealership and his Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram dealership. Because Auto/Mate is compatible with many standard file formats including Excel, Sands extracts the data in his DMS and uses it in several reports he finds valuable.

One report Sands created in Fixed Ops/Mate allows him to review effective labor rates, hours per technician, service advisor information and other critical metrics in his service departments. “We have buckets for maintenance ops and competitive ops,” said Sands. “Capturing this information allows us to zero in on gross profit margin on all the services we offer, so we can stay competitive.”

Another report Sands refers to a lot is a used car report he built in Sales/Mate, a module that allows dealers to analyze the front end of the dealership including gross profit, deal control, penetration rates and inventory. “One thing we track is the gross profit based on the age of cars,” said Sands. His buckets show sales from 1-7 days, 8-21 days, 22-45 days and 45 days and older. The report clearly shows that the faster the cars are turned, the higher the gross profit margin. “This allows our managers to keep focused on activities that generate the most profit, such as moving the cars as quickly as possible through service, and getting the inventory online right away.”

Sands also uses the Sales/Mate report to track sales by zip code, mileage of vehicles, make and model, the percentage of Fords that are sold versus other makes, and more. “It’s very simple to create any type of report for anything that you want to look at,” he said. Another report he frequently views is a side-by-side comparison of how his four dealerships are performing. If a figure seems out of place or raises a question, he can easily click on it to drill down deeper and find the source of the discrepancy. Viewing side-by-side comparisons of all his stores enables Sands to spot new trends or quickly identify potential issues.

The flexibility and ease of use of Auto/Mate’s dealership management system allows Sands to create a variety of reports that help him stay competitive. In addition, he enjoys Auto/Mate’s attentive customer service and the ongoing cost savings of a system 75% less than what he was paying prior to 2006.

About Auto/Mate

13^th Digital Dealer Conference & Exposition:

Don’t Miss Mike Esposito’s Workshop on “How to Increase Service Growth Through Auto Dispatching”— Wednesday, October 24^th at 3:30 p.m.

Auto/Mate Dealership Systems is a leading provider of dealership management system (DMS) software to retail automotive dealerships. Its Automotive Management Productivity Suite (AMPS) is a user-friendly, feature-rich dealership management software in use by more than 800 auto dealers nationwide. Auto/Mate offers the best customer service in the industry, with live people answering the phone and minimal hold times for technical support. Auto/Mate’s employees have more than 300 years of combined experience working in auto dealerships – the foundation of its “designed by car people, for car people” slogan. For more information, visit www.automate.com and follow us on Twitter @AutoMateDMS

Veteran auto industry business leader, digital strategist, and innovator joins rapidly growing business intelligence and performance improvement company

Salt Lake City, UT -- October 11, 2012 -- Kevin Root has been named President and Chief Operating Officer of DrivingSales, the company announced today. Root joins the rapidly growing business intelligence and performance improvement company to further build and execute on its mission of delivering unbiased, actionable insights to help automobile dealers increase their profitability.

Root, who has served on the DrivingSales Advisory board since 2009, is charged with both operational and strategic responsibilities for DrivingSales. During his career, Root has launched over a dozen successful first generation products and digital solutions, and was recognized by J.D. Power and Associates as “one of the ten original automotive eBusiness pioneers.”

“Kevin will be key to helping us move our vision forward. He brings one of the sharpest strategic minds in our industry, as well as critical expertise and hands-on experience turning strategies into business-building solutions,” said DrivingSales CEO and Founder Jared Hamilton. “His background aligns perfectly with our insight- and information-driven mandate: his performance-improvement solutions for dealerships and OEMs have been foundational for our industry, and his industry research has broken new ground on everything from reputation management to the impact of social media on dealerships. We are excited to have Kevin join our team as we focus on bringing the next chapter to our dealer community and clients!”

Jared Hamilton: "Why I brought Kevin Root on as President of DrivingSales"

DrivingSales, which is on track for its third consecutive year of triple-digit revenue growth, has attracted users from one out of every three franchised dealerships in the United States. The company has won multiple awards, including a ‘Stevie’ Award in the American Business Awards for Innovative Company of the Year for 2012.

“I have watched DrivingSales grow to become a key industry influencer over the past four years, doing what no one else in the industry has done: create a new platform to ensure dealers get the unbiased, relevant and unfiltered intelligence and insight they need to build their businesses,” said Root. “The passion and integrity its talented team brings to everything they do makes DrivingSales one of the best positioned companies in the industry.”

Root is an automotive industry veteran with over 25 years of automotive and technology experience. He joins DrivingSales from Dealer.com where he was Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Product Officer. Prior to joining Dealer.com, he served for 10 years in product strategy, retail performance improvement and marketing positions at Cobalt and DriverSide. Root is widely known for producing the ecommerce performance research that has become the auto industry benchmark, and has led large studies on the subjects of social media, reputation management and emerging consumer trends. Root’s extensive accomplishments include the creation of over a dozen technology products and services used by thousands of dealers and many of the leading manufacturers. Root has consulted with and developed digital marketing and retail performance improvement solutions for many automotive OEMs and enterprise dealer groups including Lexus, VW, Audi, DaimlerChrysler, Ford, Kia, Subaru, and AutoNation.

About DrivingSales
Founded in 2008 and dedicated to the dealer community, DrivingSales is a business intelligence and performance improvement company that delivers unbiased*, profit-building information to make automobile dealers more successful through three distinct channels: DrivingSales Data, DrivingSales University and DrivingSales Media. DrivingSales Data houses the largest database of cross-vendor, dealership performance data in the North American auto industry and provides dealerships with the most statistically accurate performance benchmarks and metrics for their marketing and technology investments. DrivingSales University is a fully interactive online university that offers advanced profit-building strategies to automotive professionals through hundreds of classes taught by world-leading experts. DrivingSales Media connects dealers to peers and information through its global media assets, including DrivingSales.com, the world’s largest automotive social network; The Dealership Innovation Guide, an industry leading quarterly publication; DrivingSales Executive Summit, the top automotive conference for progressive dealers, and DrivingSalesTV, Web TV covering everything car-dealer related. Approximately one in every three dealerships in the United States has a registered member in the DrivingSales community.

*Vendor Neutral Policy: Dedicated solely to making dealerships more profitable, while also providing benefit to automakers and the industry as a whole, DrivingSales adheres to a strict vendor neutral policy through each of its channels. This means the company only provides unbiased information, not ‘pay-to-play’ follow up services -- and never accepts payment in exchange for media coverage or lets potential advertisers dictate messaging or create bias in any of its channels.

DrivingSales Media Relations:
Melanie Webber (melanie@mwebbcom.com), mWEBB Communications, 424.603.4340
Angela Jacobson (angela@mwebbcom.com), mWEBB Communications, 714.454.8776

Driver Connect Mobile App to be presented onstage during DrivingSales Executive Summit

DAYTONA BEACH, FL and SALT LAKE CITY, UT – October 9, 2012 – DMEautomotive’s Driver Connect, Mobile App has been named a finalist for the DrivingSales Innovation Cup Award for the Most Innovative Dealership Solution of 2012. Driver Connect was selected by a panel of dealer judges from a very competitive field and will be presented onstage at the 2012 DrivingSales Executive Summit (DSES), held Sunday, October 21^st through Tuesday, October 23^rd, 2012 at the Bellagio Las Vegas.

“We are honored to be recognized by the most important judges of our solutions: auto dealers - especially because we know that mobile apps represent a massive communications and marketing revolution that is actually far bigger than most dealers think. Mobile apps are simply one of the best ways to connect with customers, and with next-generation customers, in particular,” said Mike Walther, president of DMEautomotive.  “We look forward to sharing Driver Connect’s series of mobile app ‘firsts,’ with DSES attendees -- all designed to put dealers ahead of the app curve and firmly in front of their customers.”

Driver Connect is a breakthrough, dealer-branded mobile app for iPhone, iPad, and Android devices and provides consumers with a suite of cool, truly useful and personalized automotive tools – as well as features that keep a dealership’s customers engaged and spending. Driver Connect is the only dealer app that enables hyper-targeted communications down to the exact customer and vehicle lifecycle. And when the right message/offer is zapped onto the priceless real estate that is the screen of a person’s phone/tablet - at the right time - that dealership’s service and sales conversions take off.

DrivingSales created the Innovation Cup Awards to recognize solutions introduced or enhanced in 2012 whose innovative approaches have produced significant results for dealers.  Dealership solution-providers submitted applications online, vendor names were blanked out, and a panel of dealer judges selected the finalists.  Finalists will present their solution onstage at the DSES on Monday, October 22^nd. A panel of dealer judges will then ask questions of each presenter and score each product. The solution with the highest score will win the Innovation Cup Award for “Most Innovative Solution of 2012.”

“We believe the Innovation Cup Award represents one of the highest accolades our industry has to offer its dealership solution providers: the vote of those who understand its benefits the most - auto dealers,” said DrivingSales Founder and CEO Jared Hamilton. “We congratulate DMEautomotive on being recognized as an outstanding innovator by auto dealers and we look forward to seeing this exciting and progressive solution presented onstage at the DrivingSales Executive Summit!”
 

The Innovation Cup Award is part of an exciting DSES line up this year, which includes high-profile keynotes from Billy Beane of ‘Moneyball’ fame, SEO ‘superstar’ Rand Fishkin, mobile experience expert Luke Wroblewski, renowned leadership trainer Jim Dance,  prominent Northwestern University marketing professor Florian Zettelmeyer and an exclusive presentation from Facebook and Google.  Last year's summit was standing room only, and although DSES 2012 will allow for an expanded number of registrants, it is expected to sell out. Register online for the 2012 DrivingSales Executive Summit Automotive Conference.

For more information about the Innovation Cup Award, go to www.drivingsalesinnovationcup.com/. For more information about the DrivingSales Executive Summit, visit: www.DrivingSalesExecutiveSummit.com or contact dses@drivingsales.com. Stay tuned for DSES news as it develops on www.twitter.com/drivingsales and on facebook.com/drivingsales. Participate in the conversation with the #DSES hashtag as preparations continue throughout the year.

About DMEautomotive

DMEautomotive (DMEa) is the industry leader in science-based, results-driven automotive marketing, and provides turnkey marketing to the largest and most innovative automotive organizations, from automobile dealerships to many of the largest aftermarket companies in the U.S. DMEa's uniquely panoramic view of the complete automotive sales and service market, combined with its cutting-edge, science-based marketing programs, increases customer yield, conversion and retention.

DMEa does not take marketing performance on faith, and each product and service is measured by a simple, precise scientific approach: Is it true? Prove it. Will it work? Test it. Does it generate results? Show it! Supported by DMEa’s proprietary, cloud-based Red Rocket Technology Platform, the DMEa product suite includes science-based, data-driven, multi-channel customer acquisition and retention marketing programs; best-in-class campaign reporting; data management and analytics; auto-focused Customer Interaction Center solutions, and complete on-site mail and email fulfillment services. Headquartered in Daytona Beach, Florida, DMEa also has major operations in Jacksonville, Fla.

About DrivingSales

Founded in 2008 and dedicated to the dealer community, DrivingSales is a business intelligence and data company that delivers unbiased*, profit-building information to make automobile dealers more successful through three distinct channels: DrivingSales Data, DrivingSales University and DrivingSales Media. DrivingSales Data houses the largest database of cross-vendor, dealership performance data in the North American auto industry and provides dealerships with the most statistically accurate performance benchmarks and metrics for their marketing and technology investments. DrivingSales University is a fully interactive online university that offers advanced profit-building strategies to automotive professionals through hundreds of classes taught by world-leading experts. DrivingSales Media connects dealers to peers and information through its global media assets, including DrivingSales.com, the world’s largest automotive social network; The Dealership Innovation Guide, an industry leading quarterly publication; DrivingSales Executive Summit, the top automotive conference for progressive dealers, and DrivingSalesTV, Web TV covering everything car-dealer related. Approximately one in every three dealerships in the United States has a registered member in the DrivingSales community.

*Vendor Neutral Policy: Dedicated solely to making dealerships more profitable, while also providing benefit to automakers and the industry as a whole, DrivingSales adheres to a strict vendor neutral policy through each of its channels. This means the company only provides unbiased information, not ‘pay-to-play’ follow up services -- and never accepts payment in exchange for media coverage or lets potential advertisers dictate messaging or create bias in any of its channels.

DMEautomotive Media Relations:
Crystal Hartwell (crystal@mwebbcom.com), mWEBB Communications, 714.987.1016

DrivingSales Media Relations:
Melanie Webber (melanie@mwebbcom.com), mWEBB Communications, 424.603.4340
Angela Jacobson (angela@mwebbcom.com), mWEBB Communications, 714.454.8776

Fort Lauderdale, FL – October 8^th, 2012— AutoUSA Internet Sales Solutions (www.autousadealers.com) announced today the addition of five panelists to their scheduled workshop at the 13^th Digital Dealer Conference & Exposition. Phil DuPree and Josh Vajda will present and moderate “The Five Things in Common That Successful Internet Departments Share” on Tuesday, October 23^rd at 3:30 p.m. The panelists, all Internet sales and marketing professionals, represent several dealerships with highly successful Internet departments; in addition, two consultants will contribute their expertise towards the workshop discussion.

“We’re thrilled these panelists agreed to share their real-world experience about the type of support needed by management to build a successful Internet department,” said Phil DuPree, President of AutoUSA. “We’re confident attendees will walk away with concrete recommendations of how to create processes to boost Internet sales.”

AutoUSA recently surveyed nearly 200 dealership Internet marketing personnel. Analysis of the responses reveal the five most important processes necessary for an Internet department to be successful, as well as the five types of support from upper management critical to help Internet departments maximize their potential. Panelists will weigh in with their own experience and recommendations. Panelists include:

Greg Coleman, Director of Business Development and e-Commerce Director

Oxmoor Automotive Group

Coleman has been in the automotive industry for nearly 10 years, with a focus on Internet/marketing and BDC operations. In 2011 Coleman led the five-store Oxmoor Automotive Group to sell 4,088 Internet units. He has a master’s in business administration with a concentration in marketing and economics. He has managed several large BDC operations, and has a wide variety of managerial experience from phone center business development centers to cradle-to-grave Internet sales teams.

Justin Brun, e-Commerce Manager, Acton Toyota of Littleton

Brun is responsible for the management and direction of Acton Toyota’s online marketing strategy and presence. He has grown Acton Toyota’s digital footprint with two separately themed websites; one dedicated to service and the other focusing on Genuine Toyota ExtraCare Vehicle Service Agreements (VSA’s), the success of which has contributed to Acton Toyota’s #2 national ranking as a Toyota VSA retailer.

Richard Tolsma, Internet Manager, Dan Wiebold Ford

Tolsma joined Dan Wiebold Ford more than nine years, starting in the detail department, moving up to Reconditioning Manager, and then becoming Internet Manager three years ago. Originally a one-person operation selling five to twelve units per month, Dan Wiebold Ford’s Internet department has grown under Tolsma’s direction. In addition to Tolsma, the department now has five salespeople, an assistant, part-time photographer and is selling 50+ units per month.

Dennis Colome, Vice President of Sales & Marketing, eXtéresAUTO

Colome is widely recognized as one of the country’s top dealership trainers and a pioneer in helping auto retailers adapt their businesses to meet the needs of the ever-evolving Internet customer. He began his career selling cars in 1976 and spent 14 years running his own dealership before consulting dealerships. His nearly three decades of industry experience includes positions with Autobytel Inc., Izmocars, Half a Car Group and Reynolds & Reynolds.

Raynard M. Fenster, President/CEO, RayFenster.com LLC

Fenster has several decades experience in developing innovative e-commerce solutions for quality organizations, and has pioneered cutting edge applications for vendors and OEMs such as ImagicLabs, AVV, Autobase, Reynolds, ADP, Dealerskins, Blackbook, Carfax, eBay, AULtec, Autobytel, Ford, Lexus, and Saturn. He was one of the first Internet professionals that moved e-commerce into fixed operations and social media. Most recently a sales director with Sheehy Nissan, Fenster now focuses on coaching and training personnel and has provided training to many of the top Internet managers and directors in the country.

For more information on “The Five Things Successful Internet Departments Have in Common,” visit:  http://bit.ly/SyEmv9

About AutoUSA Internet Sales Solutions

AutoUSA Internet Sales Solutions brings the best-in-class tools to increase Internet sales and lower costs for automotive dealerships. Leading products include Payment Pro^SM, a payment-based pre-qualification tool for dealer websites; ShowPro^SM incentive program, proven to turn more leads into shows; Leads&Listings^SM, providing the highest quality, new and used car email and phone leads from 100+ sites; PowerListings^SM 2.0, helping dealers increase traffic to—and leads from—their social media sites; and AVA Virtual Sales Assistant, helping dealerships manage more leads at a reduced cost. AutoUSA products are currently benefiting thousands of active dealers all across the U.S.

For more information, visit AutoUSA’s web site, subscribe to our blog at http://blog.autousadealers.com, follow us on Twitter @AutoUSALeads and “Like” us on Facebook at /AutoUSADealers

Conner’s presentation “Close the Dealer ‘App Gap’” joins an agenda that also includes Billy Beane of ‘Moneyball’ fame, Facebook, and Google

Medford, OR – October 8, 2012 – Mark Conner, assistant vice president of Marketing for Lithia Motors, Inc. has been selected to present at the fourth annual DrivingSales Executive Summit (DSES), the most authoritative profit-building event for innovative dealers. Conner joins an impressive agenda that also includes high-profile keynotes from Billy Beane of ‘Moneyball’ fame, SEO ‘superstar’ Rand Fishkin, mobile experience expert Luke Wroblewski, renowned leadership trainer Jim Dance, prominent Northwestern University marketing professor Florian Zettelmeyer and an exclusive presentation from Facebook and Google. The DSES will be held Sunday, October 21^st through Tuesday, October 23^rd, 2012 at the Bellagio Las Vegas. 

All speakers and content for the summit were selected by the DSES Dealer Advisory board. On October 23^rd, Conner will present a breakout session at the summit titled “Attack the Dealer “App Gap”: Reach Gen Y – Keep ALL Customers CLOSE – and Seriously Boost Your Service Appointments”.

“Most people, especially the hard-to-reach, dealer-resistant Gen Y crowd, are now spending much less time with desktops/mobile websites, and far more time with mobile apps, so we went into action with our own mobile app,” said Conner.  “I am excited to have the opportunity to share new data, best practices and our success with our dealership apps at the DrivingSales Executive Summit. Attendees should walk away with a comprehensive, new, mobile APP-TITUDE: an understanding of why their dealerships need to tackle this – how to do apps right – and what real results/ROI they can drive.”

According to Conner, mobile app usage actually represents as large a shift in consumer behavior as the 80s PC revolution or the 90s Internet boom. And yet, only a small minority of dealerships has adopted a mobile app to connect with customers. It is this “APP GAP,” that Conner will address in his presentation, including how Lithia has addressed this often missed opportunity – as well as detailed best practices based on what’s been learned in the trenches through Lithia’s 60+ stores experience with their own app.

“Mark Conner was selected from an outstanding field of nearly 100 applicants, and we are confident that DSES attendees will learn a great deal from this extremely relevant topic. We are proud to add Mark to our exciting line-up for 2012,” said DrivingSales CEO and Founder, Jared Hamilton. “His presentation on Attacking the Dealer “App Gap” resonated with the dealer board, and will be an important part of the profit-building takeaways for summit attendees as they craft their 2013 business plans.”

The DrivingSales Executive Summit is 100% dealer driven and designed specifically for the most advanced dealer principals and dealership executives in the industry. The summit has a vendor-neutral policy, meaning no vendor influence on presentation selection and adherence to a strict dealer-to-vendor ratio.  The DrivingSales Executive Summit is the only automotive conference where dealers decide the agenda, not the vendor sponsors. This translates into the highest level of learning for the dealer attendees versus other events where workshops are little more than glorified sales pitches.

Last year's summit was standing room only, and although DSES 2012 will allow for an expanded number of registrants, it is expected to sell out quickly. Register for the DSES at: http://drivingsalesexecutivesummit.com/registration/.

For more information about the DrivingSales Executive Summit, visit: www.DrivingSalesExecutiveSummit.com or contact dses@drivingsales.com. Stay tuned for DSES news as it develops on www.twitter.com/drivingsales and on www.facebook.com/drivingsales. Participate in the conversation with the #DSES hashtag as preparations continue throughout the year.

About Lithia Motors, Inc.

Lithia Motors, Inc. is the ninth largest automotive retailer in the United States. Lithia sells 28 brands of new and all brands of used vehicles at 86 stores, which are located in 11 states. Lithia also arranges finance, warranty, and credit insurance contracts; and provides vehicle parts, maintenance, and repair services at all of its locations.

About DrivingSales

Founded in 2008 and dedicated to the dealer community, DrivingSales is a business intelligence and data company that delivers unbiased*, profit-building information to make automobile dealers more successful through three distinct channels: DrivingSales Data, DrivingSales University and DrivingSales Media. DrivingSales Data houses the largest database of cross-vendor, dealership performance data in the North American auto industry and provides dealerships with the most statistically accurate performance benchmarks and metrics for their marketing and technology investments. DrivingSales University is a fully interactive online university that offers advanced profit-building strategies to automotive professionals through hundreds of classes taught by world-leading experts. DrivingSales Media connects dealers to peers and information through its global media assets, including DrivingSales.com, the world’s largest automotive social network; The Dealership Innovation Guide, an industry leading quarterly publication; DrivingSales Executive Summit, the top automotive conference for progressive dealers, and DrivingSalesTV, Web TV covering everything car-dealer related. Approximately one in every three dealerships in the United States has a registered member in the DrivingSales community.

*Vendor Neutral Policy: Dedicated solely to making dealerships more profitable, while also providing benefit to automakers and the industry as a whole, DrivingSales adheres to a strict vendor neutral policy through each of its channels. This means the company only provides unbiased information, not ‘pay-to-play’ follow up services -- and never accepts payment in exchange for media coverage or lets potential advertisers dictate messaging or create bias in any of its channels.

Media Relations:

Crystal Hartwell (crystal@mwebbcom.com), mWEBB Communications, 714.987.1016