Automotive News, Press Releases, and Events

Jeff Kershner announced and hosted a 30-minute webinar on March 23, 2011, focused on improving Lead to Show rates using HookLogic, a tool he had been using for two years to generate more leads and drive more showroom visits. The webinar drew a full house with 90% of attendees staying until the end, prompting a follow-up thread to handle the overflow of unanswered questions — a strong signal that the topic resonated deeply with dealers.

Dataium announces a new data agreement with Nissan North America to collect, aggregate, and analyze consumer activity across Nissan and Infiniti branded websites. The deal gives Nissan, Infiniti, and their dealers access to Dataium's VisiCogn reporting suite, offering deeper insight into online shopper behavior, including which models consumers are browsing and their purchase intent. The thread highlights how OEMs are investing in business intelligence tools to better understand and act on digital shopping patterns.

DealerApp Vantage announced the launch of Dealer Appvantage Pro (DAP), a mobile marketing app for auto dealers available on Apple, Android, and BlackBerry devices. The app aims to help dealers engage customers 24/7 through push notifications, service scheduling, vehicle quotes, and specials in a non-intrusive way. The post reads as a press release introduction to the product rather than an organic dealer discussion.

Jeff Kershner revives the Weekly Refresh recap format on DealerRefresh, rounding up recent blog and forum highlights including Cars.com dealer reviews going live on March 15th, a cautionary tale about mismanaged Twitter accounts from the Chrysler tweet incident, and topics around smartphones, reputation management, and lead-to-show metrics. The lone reply enthusiastically supports the recap format, noting it helps busy readers stay current with DealerRefresh content without following every post. The thread is brief but signals a useful digest format for dealers trying to keep up with fast-moving digital retail news.

The thread covers AutoTrader.com's 2011 announcement of a partnership with Contact At Once! to add live chat functionality to dealer listings as part of its Connections Bundle. The lone reply cuts straight to the point, predicting AutoTrader will eventually acquire Contact At Once — a sharp observation about how major portals tend to absorb their key technology partners.

A press release announces a free HookLogic webinar hosted on March 23, 2011, featuring DealerRefresh's Jeff Kershner, focused on improving lead-to-show rates at automotive dealerships. The event targets sales and marketing professionals who struggle to convert generated leads into actual showroom visits, a persistent challenge driven largely by dealership competition. Registration was capped at 100 participants, signaling a focused, practitioner-level discussion.

A press release announces that eleven vAuto customers won DealerRater's 2011 Dealer of the Year Awards, representing one-third of all recipients, with Russell & Smith Honda of Houston taking the top overall honor. The key takeaway is the suggested correlation between vAuto's Velocity Method of Management and higher customer satisfaction scores on DealerRater.

ScreenCrafters, a boutique technology firm based in Fairhope, AL, announced it received USPTO patent number 7,904,335 for its web-based lead generation system known as SiteEncore or Last Man Standing, which uses undefeatable pop-ups and pop-unders to capture dealer website leads. The company claims the system can double or triple first-party lead volume for automotive dealers. The thread is brief, consisting of the press release and a single congratulatory reply.

A 2011 press release from Dataium shared in the DealerRefresh forum reveals that $3.40 per gallon was a tipping point at which rising gas prices began meaningfully shifting online car shopping behavior toward hybrids and away from SUVs and trucks. Prior to that threshold, consumers had continued shopping for less fuel-efficient vehicles despite months of steadily rising prices. The data suggests dealers and industry watchers should monitor gas price benchmarks as leading indicators of segment demand shifts.

Jeff Kershner announced a redesign of the DealerRefresh dealer forums, highlighting that the new look aligns with the blog's existing style while retaining previous features and adding enhancements. The post encourages community members to explore the update, framing it as part of a broader effort to elevate both the blog and forums. The only reply, from Brian Pasch, offered brief but positive feedback on the new format and ongoing content quality.

Jeff Kershner promotes a live online conference hosted by DealerAdvantage and Cars.com on March 9th, focused on reputation management for dealerships. The event promises workshops from social media experts, peer dealer case studies, and a preview of Cars.com's then-unreleased Dealer Reviews feature ahead of its spring beta launch. The thread serves primarily as an announcement and invitation for dealers to attend the web conference.

The thread highlights how Hyundai's Assurance Program — allowing job-loss buyers to return vehicles without credit impact — drove a 143% surge in Sonata interest on AutoTrader.com in February 2009, moving it from 82nd to 20th among new vehicles viewed. Replies emphasize the broader lesson for dealers: proactive, differentiated marketing drives real consumer interest. The thread serves as an early data point showing that bold, recession-era value propositions translate directly into measurable online shopping behavior.

The thread covers Cox Enterprises selling a 25% stake in AutoTrader.com to Providence Equity Partners while retaining majority control and day-to-day operations. Replies debate whether this signals financial distress or a strategic capital infusion, with insider perspective from ed.brooks arguing Cox used the deal to accelerate repayment of early investor capital given AutoTrader's rare status as a growing asset within a largely declining Cox portfolio. Broader concerns emerge around private equity motives, the long-term sustainability of AutoTrader's business model, and speculation about future acquisitions like KBB.

Jeff Kershner announces a Carfax PowerUp Webinar on online reputation management featuring Jack Simmons of Cars.com and Jay Luna of Carfax. The session focuses on best practices for improving customer perception of dealerships online. The thread serves primarily as a heads-up to DealerRefresh members about a timely training opportunity.

eLEAD CRM announced the launch of eCarSocial, a digital marketing platform integrated into their CRM solution, offering dealers tools like search engine marketing, SEO, social media management, and a feature called WebPush for managing customer conversations across Facebook and Twitter. The single reply is an enthusiastic endorsement from what appears to be a familiar contact, praising the timing and innovation of the release. The thread is essentially a press release with minimal substantive discussion or critical evaluation.

Alex Snyder recaps two back-to-back California industry events: Brian Pasch's Digital Marketing Strategies Conference in Napa Valley and NADA 2011, describing DMSC as one of the best automotive marketing conferences he'd ever attended for its collaborative, ego-free atmosphere. Replies from vendors including Dominion and others praise the write-up, discuss iPad compatibility trends spotted on the show floor, and share a running joke about Dealer.com's metal business cards repeatedly triggering airport security alarms. A dissenting voice from an Atlanta consultant nudges the group to address deepening dealer-manufacturer margin tensions that were apparently a recurring topic at NADA.

The thread reacts to AutoTrader's acquisition of HomeNet Automotive, raising concerns about consolidation driving up dealer costs and data privacy risks. A series of anonymous posts—apparently including Cars.com insiders—debate how ATC and Cars.com differ in SRP and VDP counting methodology, with the core argument being that ATC sells ad space to non-automotive advertisers, effectively halving the classified listings dealers get per page. The most substantive takeaway comes from a former HomeNet employee and DealerRefresh's Jeff Kershner, who warn dealers to tightly control DMS data access, noting that parent companies like AutoTrader gain visibility into all data flowing through acquired vendors—a risk most dealers are unprepared for.

DealerRater announced the launch of a dedicated Content Monitoring Team to manually read and vet all reviews submitted to its platform, supplementing its existing Fraud Investigation Team. The move aims to ensure that all reviews comply with DealerRater's Terms of Use and maintain the integrity of its 250,000+ dealer reviews. The thread appears to be a press release shared to inform industry professionals of the expanded review oversight measures.

vAuto announced a partnership with Manheim in February 2011, allowing vAuto customers to access Manheim run lists directly within vAuto's stocking module to source used vehicles more efficiently. The integration was framed as the first of several planned synergies following vAuto's relationship with AutoTrader.com, though at least one dealer responded skeptically, noting it could give used car managers an excuse to pass on clean trade-ins in favor of auction units.

HomeNet announced a partnership to resell SOCIALDEALER, a social media management platform integrated with their Inventory Online Vehicle Marketing Suite. The platform allows dealers to connect their inventory and customer base across Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and other networks to market their brand and vehicles online. The thread is a press release announcement with no substantial community discussion or insight beyond the product launch itself.

HomeNet Automotive announced a free 30-day trial of Facebook Marketplace for dealers attending NADA 2011, offering inventory listings on both Facebook Marketplace and dealership fan pages. The key differentiator highlighted is that HomeNet posts to both placements simultaneously, whereas competitors only push inventory to fan pages, giving dealers broader exposure to Facebook's roughly 600 million users.

Kevin Frye's recap of the 8th Digital Dealer Conference draws praise from attendees and envy from those who missed it, with replies touching on networking highlights, vendor interactions, and session takeaways. A recurring theme is the gap between dealer enthusiasm for social media as a direct sales tool and vendor skepticism, alongside frustration that mobile media received too little attention. The thread also teases the 9th conference in Las Vegas and hints at upcoming social media content commitments from contributors.