Under-the-hood coverage of Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway featuring Justin Bell will kick off live streaming on eBay Motors’ mobile app, just one of the new features announced for the app

Daytona Beach, Florida (Jan. 27, 2012) — eBay Motors today announced new updates to the eBay Motors iPhone® app, available for immediate download on iTunes, with features including taking a picture of a vehicle to instantly search for it on eBay, and streaming live, exclusive content. The eBay Motors iPhone® app already enables auto lovers to shop for vehicles and the parts that go with them anytime, anywhere – the updates announced today enable auto fans to further simplify their shopping experience, make sharing with their friends more seamless, and access entertaining and informative original content, right from their smartphones.

With the eBay Motors iPhone app’s new streaming feature, car enthusiasts can watch live broadcasts exclusive to eBay Motors from auto events and races directly from their iPhone or iPod Touch®. To kick off this feature, former Le Mans winner Justin Bell will host live, behind-the-scenes coverage at the 50^th Anniversary Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway this weekend, January 26-29. The coverage will complement the live broadcast on SPEED, ongoing updates on GRAND-AM.com, and “after-hours” coverage on SPEED.com. The footage will also be streamed live on the World’s Fastest Car Show website, the online destination for eBay Motors’ weekly auto adventure show.  

Bell will be among the drivers of the No. 4 Children’s Tumor Foundation/ Racing4Research/Magnus Racing Porsche GT3, sponsored by eBay Motors, and competing in the GT (Grand Touring) class in the Rolex 24. In addition to the around-the-clock webcast on the World’s Fastest Car Show website, Bell will also serves as SPEED’s “in-race” reporter, giving live reports and updates directly from the No. 4 eBay Motors/R4R Porsche while he is racing on the track.

“Being able to compete in this event at such a historic venue, while providing coverage race fans will love, is a great privilege,” said Bell. “The all-time greats have been in this race, and to be a part of that history while writing a new chapter with first-ever live mobile broadcast of the event will be very special. For every fan that has ever wondered what it’s like to be a driver, this will be as realistic a glimpse into our day as they’ve ever seen before.”

Another featured aspect of this weekend’s unprecedented television and online programming from eBay, SPEED, SPEED.com and GRAND-AM.com will be a post-race auction on eBay Motors of the one-of-a-kind “Rennsport Edition” Porsche Cayman S, a special commission from the organizers of the Cayman Interseries for this past October’s Rennsport Reunion at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The Cayman Interseries was part of the weekend’s racing action at Rennsport, the ultimate celebration of Porsche’s accomplished racing heritage, and the special blue and yellow Cayman S paid tribute to the event.   The car was autographed by the dozens of the legendary drivers in attendance and also has the names of every factory racing Porsche ever produced and the great international circuits on which these famous drivers and machines raced. 

Proceeds from the “Rennsport Edition” Porsche Cayman S auction will go to the Children’s Tumor Foundation (CTF), which benefits children with Neurofibromatosis (NF), and provides funding for research to find a cure for the disease.  The No. 4 eBay Porsche will carry CTF’s Racing4Research message in the Rolex 24 while the webcast will actively promote the NF cause all weekend.  The Rolex 24 Racing4Research program has become the annual kickoff event for CTF fundraising each year and donations can be made at www.racing4research.org.

In addition to live streaming, new features for the eBay Motors iPhone app include:

·         New Search! See a car you like? Use Vehicle Finder to take a picture of the car and find it on eBay – no typing required

·         Win more stuff! Receive notifications for when you are outbid, when items you are watching are ending, and updates on the current Best Offer

·         Easily update your Garage! Haven't uploaded a photo of your car to the Garage? Stock images for vehicles are now available for quick and easy profile updates

·         Share with your friends! Easily share the parts and vehicles you are buying or selling with your followers on Twitter (currently for iOS 5 only)

“Car lovers have embraced mobile shopping with 127,000 parts and 2,800 cars sold each week worldwide through eBay mobile applications alone," said Steve Yankovich, eBay’s vice president of mobile. “We are enhancing this experience with entertaining original content and Vehicle Finder image search. The eBay Motors app is a one-stop destination for auto fans, from their next purchase to behind the scenes footage of a raceway event, whether they are at home or on the go.”

To tune-in to eBay’s coverage of the Rolex 24, visit http://mobile.ebay.com to download the eBay Motors mobile app, and visit the World’s Fastest Car Show website on days leading up to, and during race weekend.

To bid on the special “Rennsport Edition” Porsche Cayman S, go to www.ebay.com/ctfauction for details.

About eBay Motors

eBay Motors, a part of eBay Inc., is the Internet's largest marketplace for buying and selling all things automotive. The site offers everyday cars for everyday drivers, as well as collector cars, motorcycles, auto parts and accessories. eBay Motors is consistently ranked the first or second most visited automotive site on the web according to ComScore (April 2011).

About eBay Mobile

eBay launched its first application for the iPhone in July 2008 and has since become a leader in mobile commerce. Its core iPhone application, which is available free via iTunes® in eight languages and 190 countries, has been downloaded more than 25 million times and allows users to fully browse and buy without leaving the application. eBay's portfolio of mobile applications have surpassed 65 million global downloads since the third quarter of 2008. The eBay app for the iPad® debuted in the top ten most downloaded free iPad apps in the iTunes Store and delivers a dramatically different, visually compelling shopping experience to browse and purchase the vast selection of products available on eBay. eBay’s suite of mobile apps, including RedLaser, Motors, Fashion, Classifieds and StubHub, make selling and buying possible virtually anywhere, anytime. In 2010, eBay’s mobile volume transacted on the site was nearly $2 billion. In 2011, eBay’s mobile volume transacted on the site was $5 billion, and expects to transact $8 billion in volume in 2012. For more information on eBay mobile, visit mobile.ebay.com

RedLaser is a leading barcode-scanning mobile application for iPhone and Android™ and was acquired by eBay Mobile in June 2010. The app has more than 16 million downloads and is consistently a top three free utilities app in the U.S. Apple iTunes store. Scan a cataloged item and prices across Google, TheFind, eBay, Half.com, Milo.com and Best Buy will populate for comparison – along with helpful product information. The RedLaser software development kit is used by more than 200 licensees, including Coupons.com, TheFind, The Knot and shopkick and stickybits. For more information on RedLaser, visit www.redlaser.com.

eBay Inc.’s PayPal division has been delivering mobile payments since 2005 and has a mobile app for iPhone, Android, BlackBerry® and Nokia phones, as well as SMS and WAP-based payments solutions. PayPal offers merchants an easy way for shoppers to checkout on mobile websites via Mobile Express Checkout and mobile developers can use PayPal for in-app payments using PayPal’s Mobile Payments Library. PayPal increased mobile payment volume by five-fold in 2011 to $4 billion and expects to reach $7 billion in 2012. For more information on PayPal mobile, visit www.paypal.com/mobile

All designated trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners.

OAK BROOK, IL (January 30, 2012) – vAuto’s Provision inventory management system is now fully functional on leading mobile platforms, giving dealers instant, anywhere access to market intelligence and tools to drive efficient  acquisitions of the “right” used vehicles at the “right” price for their dealerships.

The Provision system, which vAuto will feature at the upcoming National Automobile Dealers Association convention in Las Vegas, is now fully functional on Android- and Apple-powered smartphones and mobile devices.

“Provision’s mobile integration means dealers and their buyers have all the market data and information they need to efficiently acquire and merchandise the ‘right’ vehicles at their fingertips,” says vAuto president Keith Jezek. “In today’s marketplace, 24/7-anywhere-access to inventory management data, technology and tools is absolutely essential for success.”

As part of the mobile integration, Provision features geolocation technology to boost dealer efficiency at physical auctions. The technology recognizes auction locations and automatically serves up the vehicle buy lists and bidding recommendations dealers will need to work the lanes. “Our goal is to make sure dealers and their buyers hit the ground running, working faster and smarter as they evaluate and bid on vehicles,” Jezek says.

Launched last November, Provision provides industry-changing market intelligence to help dealers answer the three most critical used vehicle inventory decisions—“what vehicles to buy?” “what to pay?” and “where to find them?” With the mobile integration, dealers can now use Provision on their hand-held devices to:

·         Access and manage vehicle buy lists, condition reports and bidding recommendations created in the Provision system, using these resources to evaluate and purchase the “right” vehicles at physical and online auctions;

·         Monitor the performance of used vehicle inventories and make pricing and merchandising adjustments to maximize turn and gross profits;

·         Expedite the transport and merchandising of acquired vehicles.

“Provision is designed to make sourcing and acquiring used vehicles less difficult and more efficient for dealers,” Jezek says. ”Provision’s mobile integration gives dealers greater ease and flexibility to keep pace with a fast-moving marketplace.”

About vAuto

vAuto provides innovative technology, tools and business intelligence to help dealers improve their used vehicle department sales and profits. vAuto’s Provision inventory management system simplifies the acquisition, pricing and merchandising of used vehicles for dealers based on real-time supply-and-demand data in their markets. vAuto’s RealDeal leverages dealer market intelligence to build transparency and profits in used vehicle sales processes. Today, more than 4,000 dealerships across the United States and Canada rely on vAuto’s used vehicle systems. Dale Pollak, vAuto’s founder, has written two automotive retail industry best-sellers, Velocity: From the Front Line to the Bottom Line and Velocity 2.0: Paint, Pixels & Profitability. Headquartered in the Chicago suburb of Oak Brook, IL, with a research and development center in Austin, TX, vAuto is a wholly owned subsidiary of AutoTrader.com. Additional information about vAuto is available at www.vauto.com.

Media Contacts:

Lance Helgeson

vAuto

Phone: +1.708.613.5816

E-mail: lhelgeson@vauto.com

Video Platform Expands Content to Include Exclusive Interviews with Gary Vaynerchuk, Rob Siefker, Jason Falls, Aaron Strout and others.

Salt Lake City, Utah - January 31, 2012

DrivingSalesTV (DSTV) will report on the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) 2012 convention and post video news released at the show, as well as interviews with leading automotive industry executives and dealers. DSTV recently expanded its video content to include exclusive interviews with many of the leading digital media thought-leaders, including keynotes from the 2011 Driving Sales Executive Summit.

“We look forward to providing some of the industry’s richest video content from the convention floor in Vegas,” said DrivingSales CEO and Founder Jared Hamilton. “DrivingSalesTV is already full of content from the hugely successful 2011 DSES, providing those who were unable to attend (as well as those who did) the opportunity to hear tips and advice from passionate digital visionaries in social media, location-based marketing, customer service, and more. We are pleased to be able to provide a similar service for dealers who are unable to attend NADA and will be filming the most pertinent inspirational and practical profit-building content on the convention floor.”

DrivingSalesTV combines two powerful media platforms – video and social media – with authoritative profit-building information. With DSTV, dealers can easily keep tabs on their industry, see best practices in action, and have a more personal view into peer success stories, in a format that is lively, interesting, and interactive – even, at times, provocative – but always with a focus on business innovation and improvement.

Among the rich video content currently available at http://www.DrivingSalesTV.com are exclusive interviews with Gary Vaynerchuk, on how social media has changed the way business is conducted online; Rob Siefker, Director of Zappos Customer Loyalty Team, on how Zappos model for delivering happiness to their customers can be applied to the automotive industry; Jason Falls, renowned social media strategist, on common Social Media stumbling blocks; Aaron Strout, on how businesses can use location to create more loyal customers--and much more, including keys to successful accessories sales, customizing Google analytics, growing your dealership through social media, and a face to face debate between leading internet experts.

About DrivingSales TV
DrivingSalesTV (http://www.drivingsalestv.com) streams industry news, dealership trends, as well as broadcast interviews with the experts, executives, and innovators who help drive the auto industry forward. The web channel will soon launch “The Founder’s Series,” a collection of video interviews with high-level auto industry executives and thought leaders discussing their background, the industry and critical trends, as well as “DSTV Cribs,” a look inside some of the most innovative dealerships in the country, highlighting how their store is set up for success.

About DrivingSales.com
DrivingSales is the auto industry's fastest-growing, most influential trade media property focused on delivering actionable profit-building information and business intelligence to auto retailers and industry professionals. Approximately, one in every four dealerships in the United States has a registered member in the DrivingSales community.

DrivingSales' information network includes flagship property DrivingSales.com (http://www.drivingsales.com), the world's largest car dealer social network; DrivingSalesTV (http://www.drivingsalestv.com), an interactive web channel which helps car dealers and auto professionals keep tabs on their industry and emerging technologies 24/7; DrivingSales University, an on-demand training platform where dealerships learn the latest web strategies from top e-commerce experts; DrivingSales Executive Summit (DSES) the industry's leading conference where progressive dealers collaborate and learn from world renowned experts, and DrivingSales Dealership Innovation Guide, a quarterly free publication featuring case studies of the industry's most innovative dealerships, solutions and best practices.

DrivingSales encourages innovation and excellence in the industry with its annual Dealer Satisfaction and Innovation Cup Awards, whose winners are determined solely by the dealer community. Founded by Jared Hamilton, a third generation car dealer, DrivingSales won a “Top 25 Under Five” award from the Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum (UVEF), was named a 2011 Fast 50 “Emerging Eight” company by Utah Business magazine, and received an Interactive Media Award (IMA) in 2011 for Outstanding Achievement in the ‘Automobile’ website category. Additionally, DrivingSales was named one of ten social media gambits for 2009 by Automotive News and one of the Top 10 Companies to Watch in 2010 by Auto Success Magazine.

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

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CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. – January 30^th, 2012 – Booth #320, NADA 2012  Convention & Expo—Auto/Mate Dealership Systems (www.automate.com) today launched Guard/Mate, the industry’s first data protection service for auto dealerships. In response to the growing concerns of many auto dealers about third-party vendors’ access to dealership data, Auto/Mate is taking a proactive approach to help dealers manage vendor access.

“Everyone in the industry agrees that dealers own their data and should have the right to grant access to any company they choose and that the DMS vendor should not sell, share or trade the dealers’ data,” said Mike Esposito, President and CEO of Auto/Mate. “However, the problem is that dealers change third party vendors and may not know who is actually accessing their data nor do they know what type of data a vendor is mining from the dealer database.”

Guard/Mate provides dealers with the information they need to regain control of their data. Guard/Mate audits the vendors that have access to Auto/Mate’s dealership management system (DMS). On a monthly basis, every dealer receives a list of all the vendors who have access to the dealer’s data, as well as when they access it and from which part of the system the data was pulled.

“At Auto/Mate we feel that this issue is of paramount importance to our dealers and want to ensure that all of our dealers have Guard/Mate so for that reason Auto/Mate is not charging its dealers for Guard/Mate,” said Esposito.

With a list of previously authorized vendors from Auto/Mate as a starting point, dealers can first notify Auto/Mate if any vendors are pulling data that shouldn’t be. Often when dealers cancel an agreement with a third-party vendor, they fail to notify their DMS provider. Without notification, the DMS provider could unwittingly allow continued access to that vendor.

Jim Ziegler, President and CEO of Ziegler SuperSystems, has encountered this in his practice. “A large Chrysler dealer I do business with recently audited their DMS," he said. "We found 87 different vendors extracting Data from his DMS. Some of these vendors he wasn't even doing business with any more."

Upon notification from the dealer of unauthorized access, Auto/Mate will immediately shut off that vendor’s access. For the vendors who are allowed to access the dealer’s DMS, Auto/Mate recommends that dealers review their contracts and demand the removal of any language that grants the vendors any rights or license to share or re-sell their data in any way.

Guard/Mate will be rolled out to Auto/Mate customers beginning in February. To learn more about Guard/Mate, stop by Booth #320 at NADA 2012 or set an appointment here: www.automate.com/nada.html

About Auto/Mate

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 700 auto dealers nationwide. Auto/Mate offers the best customer service in the industry; the company received top satisfaction rankings in NADA’s most recent DMS provider survey. 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 www.twitter.com/AutoMateDMS.

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Fort Lauderdale, FL – January 30^th, 2012 – BOOTH 1415, NADA 2012—AutoUSA Internet Sales Solutions (www.autousadealers.com) announced today that Dick Brooks Honda in South Carolina has generated an average of 60 showroom visits per month using one of AutoUSA’s products, ShowPro^SM, powered by HookLogic. ShowPro is an incentive marketing program that offers consumers a $25 gift card for showing up at a particular dealership. In the four months after implementation of ShowPro, Dick Brooks Honda attributed 57 sales to the program, with an average cost-per-sale (CPS) of less than $100 per vehicle sold. Overall, Dick Brooks Honda continues to achieve a 35% lead-to-sales rate and a conversion to sales rate of 59% using ShowPro.

“ShowPro has been the exact tool we needed to motivate online shoppers to visit our showroom first before heading to other dealers,” says Leah Hooks, Director of Marketing & Advertising with Dick Brooks Honda.

Dick Brooks Honda is located in Greer, a small town between the two metro cities of Spartanburg and Greenville. The location has presented challenges in getting customers to drive out of their way to visit the showroom. By focusing on customer service and a friendly, soft sales approach, Dick Brooks Honda has built a great reputation, but attempts to expand market share have been met by aggressive price-lowering tactics from competitors.

Last year Leah was searching for something to entice customers to their showroom, but didn’t know what would work until her AutoUSA sales representative presented the ShowPro solution. “I’m not so sure if someone had randomly pitched this product if I would have considered it,” says Leah. “But the reputation of AutoUSA and the cost effectiveness of the product as an overall package with their other Internet solutions we use, such as leads and Craigslist inventory listings, was a real draw.” Another motivator for Leah was that AutoUSA guarantees geographical exclusivity, so their same-brand competitors can’t offer the same incentive.

Dick Brooks Honda implemented ShowPro in August 2011. When customers are viewing inventory on the Dick Brooks Honda web site, a web overlay appears offering them a selection of gift cards upon visiting the showroom. When the customer brings a coupon code into the showroom, a salesperson enters the code into a simple web interface and the gift card is fulfilled off-site and mailed to the customer.

Of every 100 customers that fill out the web form, an average of 35 show up at the dealership. “Most of our customers don’t have to drive real far out of their way,” says Leah, “but I have had customers come from as far as North Carolina.”

The gift card amounts are not so substantial as to appeal to customers looking for freebies, but they are enough to encourage serious, in-market customers to go out of their way. And because Dick Brooks Honda has a 59% conversion rate for gift card redemption into sales, Leah says the cost of the gift cards themselves is inconsequential.

“One of the great things about ShowPro is that it delivers an ROI that is easy to track as the leads come in from the dealer’s own web site, as well as from other sites that AutoUSA delivers leads from,” said Mike Shawd, Vice President of AutoUSA. “The results that Dick Brooks Honda have achieved with ShowPro are typical of what we hear from many other dealers.”

For Dick Brooks Honda, the ShowPro incentive program has worked exactly as hoped, drawing new customers from nearby cities to the showroom and giving their salespeople an opportunity to show up the competition.

To learn more about ShowPro, visit Booth #1415 at the NADA Convention & Expo in Las Vegas, February 3^rd – 6^th; call 888-220-7182 or view a ShowPro demo on www.youtube.com/AutoUSADealers

About AutoUSA (www.autousadealers.com)

AutoUSA Internet Sales Solutions brings the best-in-class tools to increase Internet sales and lower costs for automotive dealerships. Leading products include Leads&Listings^SM, providing the highest quality, new and used car email and phone leads; ShowPro^SM incentive program, proven to turn more leads into shows; 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, adding profit to the bottom line. AutoUSA products are currently benefiting thousands of active dealers all across the U.S.

AutoUSA has more than ten years of proven success built on a foundation of superior web-based technology, excellent customer service and partnerships that include 100+ independent automotive web sites. AutoUSA is owned and operated by AutoNation, America’s largest auto retailer. For more information go to www.AutoUSAdealers.com , follow us on www.twitter.com/AutoUSALeads and “Like” us on www.facebook.com/AutoUSADealers

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CHICAGO – Cars.com, the premier online resource for buying and selling new and used vehicles, announced today that it will be giving the massive audience of Super Bowl XLVI the power to make a big difference in the lives of kids and young adults through its “Cars Cares” campaign.  During the game, when the Cars.com commercial airs, viewers who use the popular Shazam App to tag the ad will earn $1.00 for one of seven charities in contention for a maximum $100,000 donation from the site.

“As we head back to the big game for the fifth year, we wanted to do more as an organization to contribute to our community and drive our mission of confidence,” said Mitch Golub, president of Cars.com.  “We are launching Cars Cares as a way to give back, and fuel initiatives that matter to our brand, employees, site users and advertising partners– including dealers and automotive manufacturers.”  

The maximum $100,000 donation will be given to the charity which receives the most votes on the Cars.com Facebook page between January 26 and February 13.   Eligible organizations were selected for the work they do to drive confidence in kids. “Each organization has a unique focus on educating youth and providing programs and services that drive self-esteem, positive decision making and healthy behaviors,” said Mitch Golub.   “It was important to us to identify organizations whose culture and values match our own and to give our community a voice in deciding which organization should be the recipient of our first Cars Cares donation.”

Votes can be cast daily through February 13, and the winning organization will be announced on Monday, February 20, 2012.  The charities are:  

·         Adopt-A-Classroom helps underfunded teachers by providing them with community partners and funding to purchase the tools, materials and supplies they need to help students learn as effectively as possible in today’s classrooms.

·         Alliance for a Healthier Generation works to address one of our leading public health threats – childhood obesity. Through its nationwide efforts the Alliance works to positively affect places that make a difference to a child’s health: homes, schools, doctor’s offices and communities.

·         Cameras For Kids Foundation brings the gift of photography to underprivileged teenagers living in foster facilities across the United States. By use of digital cameras, these teenagers build up confidence, self-esteem, artistic talent and gain a skill set by learning about the fundamentals of photography through workshops, photo shoots and Fine Art Photography Exhibits.

·         Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) inspires children to be lifelong readers by delivering free books and literacy resources to underserved children from birth to age 8. Through the dedication of more than 400,000 volunteers nationwide, RIF motivates children to follow their dreams and achieve their full potential.

·         SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) empowers teens to stand up for positive, healthy choices.  SADD students work to keep their peers safe and help them avoid making destructive decisions around underage drinking, drug use, risky and impaired driving, and teen violence and suicide.

·         Scholarship America believes that every student deserves an opportunity to go to college regardless of their financial status, and since 1958 has awarded more than $2.7 billion to 1.8 million students across the country.

·         VH1 Save the Music is a nonprofit organization dedicated to restoring instrumental music education programs in America’s public schools, and raising awareness about the importance of music as part of each child’s complete education. Since 1997, VH1 Save The Music has provided $48 million worth of new musical instruments, donated to more than 1,800 public schools in more than 100 cities around the country, impacting the lives of more than 1.8 million public school students. 

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 needs 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 Belo (N.Y.SE: BLC), Gannett Co., Inc. (N.Y.SE: GCI), The McClatchy Company (N.Y.SE: MNI), Tribune Company and The Washington Post Company (N.Y.SE: WPO).

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RedBumper Introduces Consumer SmartApp; Enables Auto Dealers to Buy Inventory Directly from Consumers While Monitoring Real-Time “Price Comparison” Scan Activity

Dallas, TX – January 24, 2012 – RedBumper, (http://redbumper.com/) a new breed automotive inventory management company, today announced that it will unveil its SmartApp at the 2012 NADA & ATD Convention and Expo in Las Vegas, NV, February 3-6.  SmartApp is the first mobile App on the market to include built in VIN and QR scanners for use by consumers. RedBumper builds these apps for its auto dealers allowing them to choose from many different template designs while seamlessly incorporating the dealer’s branding. The QR scanners allow the dealer to encourage and entice consumers to download his App in an endless variety of promotions, while the VIN scanner allows the dealer to virtually be connected in real-time to the consumer. This dynamic tool enables dealerships to be at the forefront when consumers are shopping for a vehicle or wanting to sell one they have.

The mobile SmartApp has many distinguishing features not available in any other app. First, it enables a customer to get an immediate cash offer for his vehicle from the dealer with a simple VIN scan and a click.  These consumer bid requests are sent across the company’s mobile infrastructure allowing the dealer to interact and bid for the customer’s vehicle in a matter of minutes. Second, it gives the customer a used car “Price Shopper”. A customer simply scans a vehicle he’s interested in and the App will display all the similar local listings allowing the customer to see the best price in the market.  The app issues a price challenge from the sponsoring dealer challenging the best price found by the consumer.

According to recent studies, consumers visit an average of 6 dealerships when shopping for a vehicle. The majority will have a Smartphone in hand and SmartApp places the sponsoring dealership right alongside that car buyer on any competitor’s lot, at the exact time that consumer is in the market shopping for a vehicle.

“SmartApp allows the dealer to monitor his customer’s scan activity in real-time.  For the first time a dealer can see where the customer has been shopping and what pricing he has seen prior to negotiations. There is nothing like SmartApp on the market today,” said RedBumper founder Bruce Thompson.

“Imagine being able to source inventory directly from thousands of App customers with the most efficient process in the industry.  Being able to see the thousands of daily scans executed by consumers, with all competitive pricing information they have viewed. SmartApp gives our dealers a fantastic and unique ability to proactively beat their competition by providing the consumer with a powerful tool; becoming part of the customer’s shopping process.  It has a built in dynamic push notification message center and all the bells and whistles you can dream of,” Thompson added.

Workshops will be held throughout the 2012 NADA convention to unveil the new App. To register for a workshop visit: http://redbumper.com/nada.aspx

RedBumper was founded by Bruce Thompson, former CEO and founder of American Auto Exchange (AAX). Thompson is credited for creating and pioneering the modern day inventory tools that are broadly used in dealerships across the United States.

When AAX was acquired by JM Family Solutions in 2005 it was the management tool of choice for 4 out of the top 5 largest dealer groups in the country.  Thompson is once again introducing revolutionary tools to the industry with the launch of RedBumper, which offers tools and efficiencies that are far beyond anything available on the market today.  The tools are in high demand; RedBumper is currently installing at the rate of 100 dealerships per month.

For more information about RedBumper call:   888-339-1116      , visit, www.RedBumper.com or sign up for a demonstration at NADA at: http://redbumper.com/nada.aspx

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About RedBumper:

RedBumper is a new breed automotive inventory management company created by Bruce Thompson. Thompson is widely credited for pioneering modern day inventory management when he introduced new tools to the industry in 2001 with American Auto Exchange (AAX). RedBumper is a very powerful next generation system offered on a flexible Smartphone-centric platform, with tools that are both innovative and intuitive. Its objective is to streamline auto dealer workload by delivering a system that is simple to use and direct.  The company aims to take a new approach, offering fresh and creative tools the industry has never seen while at the same time leveraging proven technology. RedBumper prides itself for delivering ground- breaking tools that give auto dealers a significant competitive edge by being first to market. Creating the most powerful suite of tools on a flex platform allows RedBumper the opportunity to reduce much of the cluster and redundancy prevalent in current market products. It enables auto dealers to turn inventories faster while realizing more profit, month after month.

Houston, Texas, January 24, 2012 -- Many automotive vendors and independent third party marketers have built their business model around sharing/selling auto dealers’ customer information. CAR-Research XRM, a single-source CRM solution uniquely branded as; “XRM, Exceeding CRM”, today announced that the company has not, and will not, share, sell or trade any auto dealers private customer data, short of a government subpoena, or with the dealer’s consent. CAR-Research XRM guarantees that all auto dealers’ data is safe and will only be used (in conjunction with the dealership’s efforts) to help that dealership sell more cars. CAR-Research XRM will be exhibiting at the 2012 NADA & ATD Convention and Expo in Las Vegas, NV, February 3-6 at Booth # 3801

CAR-Research made an announcement to this effect in an open letter to dealers this week.  For full text of letter see http://www.car-research.com/data_safeguard_guarantee.asp

According to Keith Shetterly, E-Commerce Director at DeMontrond Auto Group, CAR-Research is the first to take such a strong public stand on this issue, “CAR- Research XRM, a notable CRM company, has taken an EXTREMELY strong dealer-protective and data-protective stance--essentially, they're first to take a strong public stand that they do NOT share your data with anyone and only use the data as a dealer directs. No selling of data! No remarketing to your customers!  No condescension!  On a dealer’s side right out of the gate for years now and still going forward, this is wonderful,” Shetterly said.

Speaking out on the issue in an open letter to dealers, Patrick Kelly, President and COO of  CAR-Research XRM stated,  “Dealerships across the country have unwittingly allowed access to their customers' most sensitive information, including but not limited to: Name, address, email, VIN, contract rate and term, as well as aftermarket products purchased. These Trojan Horse tactics are a direct assault upon the dealership’s customer base and ultimately the Blue-sky of their franchises. We challenge dealers to take immediate action and review their existing agreements with any vendor with access to their customer information. Question their relationship with any CRM company, Inventory Management company or Third Party Lead Provider that states they have the authority to aggregate, share or sell that dealer’s information to an affiliate or third party!” For full text of this letter visit: http://www.car-research.com/data_safeguard_guarantee.asp

CAR-Research has developed a proven singular solution that helps an auto dealership run more effectively and proficiently. It is a web-based, comprehensive CRM solution that helps increase revenue from sales and service, improve customer satisfaction index (CSI) and service satisfaction index (SSI), and boost the dealership’s gross profit. A dealership can consolidate all its departments into a manageable solution that delivers value through proven processes at every stage of the customer life cycle. For more information call begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 888-865-6998        visit: www.CARResearchXRM.com  or drop by Booth # 3801 at the 2012 NADA & ATD Convention and Expo in Las Vegas, NV, February 3-6.

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 About CAR-Research XRM:

CAR-Research XRM has leveraged its thorough knowledge of the automotive industry to develop a proven singular solution that helps run any dealership more effectively and proficiently. CAR-Interactive is a web-based, comprehensive CRM solution that helps increase revenue from sales and service, improve customer satisfaction index (CSI) and service satisfaction index (SSI), and boost a dealership’s gross profit.  A dealership can consolidate all departments in the dealership into a manageable solution that delivers value through proven processes at every stage of the customer life cycle. CAR-Research also includes robust features such as  Internet Lead Manager (ILM), Showroom Control Manager, Business Development Center (BDC), Auto-Trade, Database Solution, and Reporting modules to help  enhance the customer experience while increasing revenue-generating opportunities and  improving staff accountability and production. Additional information is available at www.CARResearchXRM.com