Auto Dealer Facts:

• Eight out of 10 consumers prefer to be referred to a dealership by an online buying service (National Automobile Dealers Association, 3/2/200).
• Since February 2000, nearly 81 percent of all U.S. dealerships had Web sites with interactive capabilities, and of those, 95 percent have a staff dedicated to handling customers via e-mail (National Automobile Dealers Association, 4/24/00).
• Twice as many automobile dealers are using independent online buying services in 2000 to assist with the new-vehicle sales process compared to 1999 (2000 Dealer Satisfaction with Online Buying Services StudySM, J.D. Power and Associates).
• The average cost to maintain a dealer Web site is $3,000 per year (2000 CarsDirect.com study).

Industry Facts:

• By the year 2003, consumers will purchase approximately 5.2 million new cars entirely over the Internet (National Automobile Dealers Association, 8/00).
• New car sales over the Internet will total an estimated $12.5 billion in annual business by 2003 (Forrester Research 2000).
• Sales of new cars over the Internet will accelerate to $27.3 billion in 2004 (International Data Corp., 5/25/00).

Consumer Facts:

• Fifty-six percent of consumers surveyed plan to use the Internet as part of their next car purchase (National Automobile Dealers Association, 3/2/00).
• Customers using an online buying service save an average of $490 on their new-vehicle transaction compared to traditional showroom shoppers. Furthermore, most customers referred through an online buying service are given a discounted price quote up front without having to make an offer (2000 Dealer Satisfaction with Online Buying Services StudySM, J.D. Power and Associates).
• Fifty-four percent of new-vehicle buyers use the Internet, up from 40 percent in 1999 (J.D. Power and Associates 2000 New Autoshopper.com Study ).
• In 2000, 4.7 percent of all new vehicles were sold through an online buying service, as compared to 2.7 percent in 1999 (J.D. Power and Associates 2000 New Autoshopper.com Study ).
• In a Gallup 2000 consumer survey, 44 percent reported using the Internet for researching a vehicle purchase, nearly doubling from 26 percent in 1999 (Gallup 2000 Attitudes Report).
• Sixty-five percent of car buyers received an online price quote for a specific vehicle before visiting a dealership (Friedman Swift Associates, 3/1/00)