OAK BROOK, IL – AutoTrader.com and vAuto announce the integration of AutoTrader.com’s Trade-In Marketplace (TIM) into vAuto’s suite of inventory management tools.

Integrating TIM with vAuto enables dealers to efficiently acquire more trade-ins and deliver a more market-transparent and customer-satisfying appraisal and purchasing process.

“This integration advances our goal to build greater synergies between AutoTrader Group companies and provide more value for dealers,” says Jim Menard, vice president and general manager for vAuto. “Combining TIM and vAuto simplifies the trade-in appraisal and acquisition process at dealerships. It helps dealers more efficiently identify and purchase a greater number of the used vehicles they need from the best source possible—their own customers.”

“TIM offers car shoppers the most transparent and easy-to-use method to determine the current market value of their trade-in vehicle and locate a dealer who wants their car,” says David Berry, senior manager of operations for TIM. “This integration streamlines the workflow for dealers as they match TIM offers to their used vehicle buy lists and use market-specific data with customers to appraise and acquire their vehicles.”

The integration’s benefits for dealers include:

• Less effort and time to access TIM offers and complete appraisals.  Specific vehicle data moves seamlessly from TIM to vAuto’s appraisal tool. This eliminates the data entry and multiple logins dealers currently perform to view vehicle condition and valuation reports to complete appraisal offers.

• Additional market data for better dealer appraisals. The integration includes the new TIM Market Report, which dealers can use with customers to detail the vehicle-specific options and conditions that drive TIM offers and their own appraisal amounts.

• Greater confidence in trade-ins. The integration synchronizes Provision’s Inventory Recommendations List with TIM offers. Dealers no longer have to guess or double-check whether a customer’s trade-in vehicle is a “right” car for their store. Similarly, Provision’s letter grade ranking helps dealers quickly assess the retail opportunities and risks each TIM offer vehicle represents. Dealers can receive e-mail or text alerts when customers complete TIM offers that match vehicles Provision recommends for their used vehicle inventories. The feature allows dealers to respond more quickly when vehicles they need most become available.

About vAuto
vAuto provides innovative technology, tools and business intelligence to help
dealers improve their used vehicle department sales and profits. vAuto’s Provision inventory management system simplifies the acquisition, pricing and merchandising of used vehicles for dealers based on real-time supply-and-demand data in their markets. vAuto’s Auction Genius platform makes it easier for dealers to acquire used vehicles at leading auctions. vAuto’s RealDeal leverages dealer market intelligence to build transparency and profits in used vehicle sales processes. Today, thousands of dealerships across the United States and Canada rely on vAuto’s used vehicle systems. Dale Pollak, vAuto’s founder, has written two automotive retail industry best-sellers, Velocity: From the Front Line to the Bottom Line and Velocity 2.0: Paint, Pixels & Profitability. Headquartered in the Chicago suburb of Oak Brook, IL, vAuto maintains a research and development center in Austin, TX, and field office in Longmont, CO. vAuto is a wholly owned subsidiary of AutoTrader Group. Additional information about vAuto is available at www.vauto.com.

About AutoTrader.com
Created in 1997, Atlanta-based AutoTrader.com is the Internet's ultimate automotive marketplace. As a leading resource for car shoppers and sellers, AutoTrader.com aggregates millions of new, used and certified pre-owned cars from thousands of dealers and private sellers and provides expert articles and reviews. AutoTrader.com, which also operates the AutoTraderClassics.com auto marketing brand, is wholly owned by AutoTrader Group. Additionally, AutoTrader Group owns Kelley Blue Book (kbb.com) as well as three other companies that provide a full suite of software tools that help dealers and manufacturers manage their inventory and advertising online: vAuto, HomeNet Automotive and VinSolutions.  AutoTrader Group is a majority-owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises. Providence Equity Partners is a 25 percent owner of the company and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers is also an investor. For more information, please visit www.autotrader.com.

08/27/12