AutoUSA Reports 17.6% Rebound in Truck Leads

Fort Lauderdale, FL – AutoUSA, the industry’s leading provider of the highest quality Internet-generated consumer leads to auto dealers nationwide, today announced a 17.6% increase in truck leads and 11.9% drop in car leads for 3rd Quarter, 2008. 

“Truck leads decreased when gas prices shot up during the 1st and 2nd Quarter of 2008.  Now that fuel costs are have declined, we’re seeing more truck inquiries,” said Phil DuPree, president of AutoUSA. 

Despite the increase, truck lead volume, which includes Large Pickup, Large SUV, Small Pickup and Small SUV leads, is still down 26% YTD, driven by a fall-off in lead volume from Small SUVs (-33.6%) and Large SUVs (-27.9%).

The lead decrease in the car category of CUV, Large Car, Luxury Car and Middle Car brought total volume back to beginning of the year figures.   The stop-loss was Small Car leads, up 20.6% since January.  All other car leads were down YTD, including a large drop in CUVs at –14.6%.

Car lead market share, which was 82.9% in January, and grew to 89.1% in June, dropped back to 85.5% in September. 

Conversely, trucks market share shrank in June (from 12.4% to 7.0%), and rebounded in September (10.0%), reflecting the stabilization of gas prices, which drew some consumers back into the trucks market.

AutoUSA provides leads to more than 4,000 dealers nationwide from a partnership network that includes leading automotive web sites including Edmunds.com, Kelley Blue Book, MSN Auto, Yahoo! Autos, AOL and AutoVantage.

About AutoUSA
AutoUSA, Inc., is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and a subsidiary of AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE: AN), the largest retail automotive company in the United States. AutoUSA is an independent third-party provider of leads to more than 4,000 dealerships. The company has built its success on a combination of advanced web-based technology and a network that includes the country’s most well respected online automotive resources, including Edmunds.com, Kelley Blue Book, MSN Autos, Yahoo! Autos, America Online, NADA Analytical Services Group, AutoVantage.com, AutoNation.com and AutoUSA.com. The vast majority of Ward’s Top 100 eDealers use AutoUSA. More information is available online at http://www.AutoUSA.com