Dealer questions Q&A with CarGurus leadership
Thanks to all the dealers who attended our live webinar today. We really appreciate the chance to listen to your questions and give you the honest answers. An email followup is going out to everyone who registered with a recap of the main themes.
Apologies for a few tech issues. We wanted to be transparent and move quickly, and wound up with couple of glitches. The whole conversation is in there, though.
If you’d like to get on the list to be part of the next round of cash offer testing, here’s the signup form.
CarGurus receives two “Top Rated” DrivingSales Dealer Satisfaction Awards
Today, we’re proud to announce that CarGurus has received “Top Rated” Awards for both New Car and Used Car Advertising in the DrivingSales Dealer Satisfaction Awards. CarGurus received a top dealer satisfaction ranking in both the new and used car leads categories, as determined by the thousands of auto dealers who are part of the DrivingSales.com community.
CarGurus’ inaugural One Voice Report reveals divide among franchise and independent dealers
2019 was a strong year for used car dealers in the US. The market was just ahead of 2018, with approximately a third (36.9%) of dealers reporting improvement year over year, and a smaller proportion (32.2%) finding conditions tougher. But if you polled a room of franchise and independent dealers how their year went, you’ll get a mixed response. 46% of franchise dealers reported improvements in their market over 2018, but only 32% of independent dealers agreed.
Built around a survey of nearly 1,000 independent and franchise car dealers and our annual Dealer Council meeting, the inaugural CarGurus One Voice Report examines topics set to be key to retailer performance in 2020.
Adweek: Genesis was the big winner at Super Bowl 54 according to CarGurus
It’s the most expensive 30-second advertising spot on television. For Hyundai’s luxury vehicle brand, Genesis, the cost was well worth it. CarGurus’ Director of Automotive Industry and Economic Analysis, George Augustaitis, spoke to Adweek about Genesis’ brand lift on CarGurus immediately after their commercial aired during the big game. Check out the full Adweek article to read more.
Among Auto Brands, Genesis Saw the Most Lift From the Super Bowl – Adweek
UPDATE: Understanding the CarGurus Offers test
Update: Offers test enters new phase
We heard a lot of very helpful feedback on the CarGurus Offers test, which will be valuable as we continue to build an inventory acquisition channel to benefit all our dealers.
The test is now moving to a new phase, in which we are testing CarGurus Offers only in the Sell Your Cars area of our site, targeting consumers selling directly to other consumers that may want to get more immediate offers from dealers instead. We are also preparing to add more dealers in our future testing. Offers is not exclusive to any one partner, our intent is to eventually build an offering that can work for all interested dealers. We are no longer testing Offers on post-lead VDPs.
We know inventory acquisition is an ongoing challenge for dealers, and we believe that we can help. For years, we’ve been working with multiple partners to test new ways to help our dealer customers acquire the quality used cars they need to fuel their business. We’re excited to find new avenues to help you address the growing challenge of inventory acquisition in a balanced, cost-effective manner.
If you’d like to be a part of the next wave of testing, please let us know here. Note that there are technical requirements to participate and limited slots available during the beta.
Sedans are facing an SUV/CUV takeover, CarGurus survey results find
In November 2019, CarGurus surveyed automotive owners on their sentiments toward sedans. Summarized in the 2nd Annual Sedan Survey, the results showed that SUV/CUV models are gaining ground on the commonly-owned sedan. Fewer car owners are driving sedans (38% in 2019 vs. 42% in 2018) and of those that currently do, 25% of them plan to switch to an SUV/CUV for their next automotive purchase.
The survey also revealed that price plays a major role in the decision to purchase a sedan:
- 62% of sedan owners said they chose a sedan because the price range was favorable, up from 56% in 2018
- If price wasn’t a factor, 40% of sedan owners would choose a SUV/CUV
For more information, read the full press release or read the full report.
Fireside chat with CarGurus CEO Langley Steinert: Navigate 2019 video
“I didn’t think customers were going to buy a used car sight unseen. I really didn’t. I thought, there’s no way that’s going to happen. I’m happy to say I was wrong. And it’s not just a small trend, it’s a big trend.”
CarGurus acquires Autolist to expand auto shopping leadership
Big news from CarGurus: we’ve acquired the car shopping website Autolist, adding to our leadership position among online auto marketplaces and providing more value for our dealers by expanding our active car-buying audience.
Like CarGurus, Autolist is a tech-centric online auto shopping provider. Their popular mobile app has millions of downloads, and we believe that engaged audience will provide yet another source of low-funnel shoppers for our dealers. The new relationship is expected to drive additional connections for US-based CarGurus customers in our premium packages:
- Dealers in our Enhanced, Featured, and Featured Priority packages will get Autolist leads as part of their existing subscription at no charge for a limited time
- Dealers on our Standard listings package and our free Restricted listings won’t receive leads from Autolist
Autolist will continue to be operated as a standalone brand for consumers: car shoppers won’t notice any immediate changes to either site as a result of this deal. Both sites and apps will continue ongoing development – now with a larger tech team behind them.
We’re really excited to welcome the Autolist team into CarGurus – and we are looking forward to the benefits this acquisition will offer to our dealer customers and theirs.
Here’s the official press release.
If you have specific questions about what this means for your dealership, please contact your CarGurus rep at 1-800-CarGurus.
This blog posting includes forward-looking statements. For information regarding forward-looking statements made in this blog posting, please refer to the “Cautionary Language Concerning Forward-Looking Statements” section of the press release.