Automotive News, Press Releases, and Events

Jeff Kershner posted an announcement for a free Dealix webinar scheduled for Monday, April 26, 2010, titled 'Perfecting the Lead Mix: the Key to Growing Sales in Your Dealership.' The session featured a panel of automotive experts discussing how to optimize consumer lead sources to drive dealership sales growth. The thread is primarily an informational announcement with registration details rather than a discussion.

A dealer guest post praising AutoTrader.com's 2009 national sales meeting quickly devolves into a heated debate between apparent AutoTrader insiders and skeptics over traffic figures, ROI claims, and whether dealers truly need both AutoTrader and Cars.com. A notable side conversation questions whether dealers should even maintain separate internet budgets, with one commenter arguing that siloed internet departments encourage dishonest lead sourcing. The thread ends on a cynical note, with an accusation that AutoTrader itself runs internal scraping operations to inflate its own traffic metrics.

Contact At Once! announced the launch of six interactive online training courses designed to help dealership staff improve chat techniques and convert more online shoppers into sales. The courses were built around the reality that dealership personnel have hectic schedules that make traditional classroom or webinar training impractical, so a self-paced, on-demand format was chosen instead. The key insight is that structured chat training, delivered flexibly, can meaningfully improve lead-to-sale conversion for dealers using the platform.

PCG Digital Marketing announced three new monthly digital marketing packages aimed at automotive retailers looking to expand their online presence through SEO, social media, reputation management, and paid inventory advertising. The packages are positioned as a comprehensive, bundled approach to digital marketing for dealers. The post reads largely as a press release introducing the new service tiers rather than generating significant community discussion.

Contact At Once! announced in April 2010 the launch of mobile phone chat for auto dealers, allowing salespeople to answer chat leads from smartphones and avoid missing prospects while away from their desks. The key insight is that dealer staff are frequently away from their computers, and mobile chat connectivity directly addresses that gap to improve lead conversion. The thread appears to be a press release announcement with no significant discussion or debate following the original post.

Alex Snyder posted an April Fools' Day joke claiming Digital Dealer 8 had been rescheduled, which some readers took seriously and acted upon. The follow-up post retracts the joke, offers apologies to the Digital Dealer staff, vendors, and attendees, and signals that Snyder and Jeff are likely planning to attend the conference. The thread serves primarily as a correction and goodwill gesture after the prank caused unintended confusion.

A public spat erupted after VinSolutions claimed to be 24-36 months ahead of competitors, prompting iMagicLab's CEO to challenge them to a live CRM bake-off. VinSolutions backed away from the challenge, citing concerns about revealing proprietary features, while iMagicLab's CEO accused them of using surrogates and avoiding accountability. The thread highlights dealer frustration with vendor posturing on social media, and a competing CRM vendor, DealerPeak, stepped in to offer their own bake-off participation.

iMagicLab announced the hire of Michael Wynns, founder of Dealerskins, as Vice President of Marketing in March 2010. The thread briefly touches on the announcement before devolving into a minor dispute about whether DealerRefresh was giving iMagicLab disproportionate coverage compared to other industry vendors. The moderator defended the posts as simply reflecting the timing of press releases, not editorial bias.

American Honda Motors announced an exclusive partnership with ClickMotive to build geo-targeted Dealer Ad Association Websites for both Honda and Acura brands nationwide. The platform aims to combine digital marketing tools into a single solution serving consumers, dealers, and ad agencies. The thread is brief, with a single congratulatory reply acknowledging ClickMotive's win of the Honda business.

The thread announces Sean Wolfington joining VinSolutions as Chairman of the Board, but quickly pivots into a heated debate over a proposed live product 'bake-off' between VinSolutions and iMagicLab. iMagicLab's Richard Keith Latman publicly challenges VinSolutions to a head-to-head demo comparison moderated by DealerRefresh's Jeff and Alex, accusing VinSolutions of avoiding the matchup, while community members debate format fairness and whether either side is genuinely willing to compete transparently.

HomeNet announced a 'Video-to-Pictures' feature for its Video Online Marketing Suite, allowing dealers to automatically extract hundreds of still images from live vehicle videos and distribute them to their website and online classifieds. The key pitch is that dealers already investing time in live video can now get double utility from that content without extra effort. The thread appears to be a press release announcement with limited community discussion.

A press release introduces Motozuma.com, a social savings platform for first-time car buyers that partnered with Hyundai to match user down payments up to $500. Skeptical commenters quickly challenged the business model, accusing the site of running a non-interest-bearing account scheme that benefits the founder at users' expense, with someone claiming to respond on behalf of Motozuma defending the FDIC-insured Chase account setup. The thread ends with critics conceding the only real value is a limited Hyundai-exclusive match incentive, advising shoppers to save elsewhere and only deposit funds at the point of purchase.

Jeff Kershner and Alex share a boots-on-the-ground review of the 2010 NADA Convention and Expo in Orlando, noting lower-than-usual attendance from both dealers and vendors, fewer parties, and a more discerning dealer crowd focused on substance over novelty. Replies touch on skepticism around DealerMouth's microsites for sales reps due to SEO duplicate content concerns, questions about HomeNet's eBay/Edmunds integration, and a positive shoutout from CAR-Research XRM crediting the recap for driving demo requests. The thread offers a candid snapshot of industry mood and vendor buzz from the show floor.

Jeff Kershner posted an announcement for a free Cars.com webinar scheduled for April 9, 2009, featuring an industry roundtable with executives from Cars.com, CNW Marketing, and NADA discussing used car sales as a bright spot amid the 2009 downturn. The core insight was that used car volume was expected to return to 40 million-plus units that year, making it a key profit opportunity for dealers. The only reply was an off-topic spam comment with no substantive discussion.

Jeff Kershner posted an announcement for a free Cars.com webinar scheduled for February 2010, recapping key trends and takeaways from the NADA convention. The session promised a panel of industry experts discussing the new- and used-car marketplace, sales projections, and emerging technology to help dealers plan for a profitable year. The thread appears to be primarily a promotional announcement rather than an active discussion.

Cars.com announced the launch of a free iPhone app in February 2010 that lets shoppers search new and used car inventory from dealers and private parties, noting that nearly a third of mobile visits already came from iPhone users. A brief reply noted the app saw 6,500 downloads during the Super Bowl weekend, suggesting strong early adoption.

DealerSocket announced two product upgrades in February 2010: mobile lead response capability that automatically logs actions to customer records, and integration of its CRM Desking tool with DealerTrack lease rates and residuals. The DealerTrack integration was still in pilot with two customers at the time of the announcement, with a full rollout planned for all Desking customers shortly after. The thread appears to be a press release post with no visible community discussion captured.

The thread introduces Dealerflow, a new Employee Relations Management (ERM) software unveiled at NADA 2009 aimed at helping car dealerships manage internal staff communication, availability statuses, and employee profile pages. Discussion explores how the tool differs from Twitter or Yammer by integrating multiple dealer-specific functions into one system rather than adding another single-purpose app. Commenters showed genuine interest in its potential, particularly for multi-store operations, and one reply flagged plans for a website API to sync employee data directly to dealer websites.

DealerRater announced a 2010 redesign of their car dealer review website, featuring a refreshed logo, cleaner typography, and a more social, user-friendly aesthetic. The update focused on cosmetic improvements and new features aimed at making the platform easier to navigate and more engaging for consumers researching dealerships.

ActivEngage announced a program in January 2010 to help Toyota dealers communicate recall information to customers through live chat on dealership websites, responding to Toyota's high-profile recall crisis at the time. The company trained its virtual sales assistants with recall details and added special graphics to Toyota dealer sites to prompt visitors to chat about recall concerns. The key takeaway is that live chat technology was being positioned as a real-time crisis communication tool for dealers during a major manufacturer recall event.

eLead issued a press release claiming record 2009 sales growth, crediting product improvements, new hires, and dealer and OEM wins. The lone reply offers a real-world counterpoint: a dealer three days into an eLead implementation reports cautious optimism, noting cost savings and desk manager approval, but ongoing confusion among sales staff.