Auto Dealers Say Internet Is Important Now and in the Future

Black Book(R) Online Research Finds 92 Percent of Auto Dealers Will Expand Internet Departments in Next Year

BOCA RATON, Fla., Nov. 21 -- According to a survey recently conducted by Black Book(R) Online, American auto dealers are becoming more positive about the value of the Internet to their sales and marketing efforts. Seventy-eight percent of dealers said that the Internet has increased in importance over the last year, while 92 percent said they plan to expand their Internet departments in the next year.

"The use of the Internet by automobile dealers has become increasingly sophisticated over the past several years. In essence, the Internet has grown-up quite a bit and dealers are recognizing its potential," said Mike McFall, president of Veretech, Inc. which provides the technology behind Black Book Online.

According to McFall, as car dealers utilize the Internet more they are seeing good results from their online initiatives. In addition, because Internet results can be measured and quantified dealers better understand which online activities yield the best return.

Other results from the research include:

* Over half (52 percent) of respondents felt that they were fully utilizing the Internet.

* More than six of 10 (65 percent) respondents would prefer more leads from their own websites.

* Almost 70 percent of respondents feel that the automakers should provide more support in the form of pre-qualified, screened sales leads.

* Twenty-seven percent said they followed-up leads for at least two weeks and 21 percent said they followed-up on sales leads indefinitely.

"With many dealers already reporting that up to 20 percent of their sales originate on the Internet, we're seeing a more concerted effort to increase that number," said McFall.

The telephone survey, which was conducted by Intellitrends, LLC, sampled 100 auto dealers from throughout the U.S.

Veretech, Inc. is a privately-funded technology and Internet marketing company based in Boca Raton, Fla. The company is the creator of an online vehicle trade-in appraisal that generates leads, improves dealer closing rates and customer satisfaction. Currently, more than 1,000 automotive retailing websites, manufacturer websites and web portals use Veretech vehicle appraisal services, which include Intelliprice(TM) and Black Book(R) Online.

Considered to be the industry's most timely and accurate source of vehicle pricing data, the Black Book(R) family of vehicle appraisal guides is published by National Auto Research, a division of the Hearst Business Media Corporation. New and used car dealers, lenders, manufacturers, and government agencies have relied on Black Book since 1955. Black Book provides values for both new and used vehicles, exotics and collectables, motorcycles, ATVs, snowmobiles, personal watercraft, and heavy duty commercial trucks and trailers. Black Book data is published weekly in multiple formats including printed guides, electronic data feeds, Internet-based real time applications, hand held PDAs, and a variety of other custom products. Please visit http://www.blackbookusa.com/ for more information.