Tate Attia, finance manager at Easterns Hyundai of Leesburg, has heard and seen the recent trend of people trading in their SUVs for more economical cars — but he can also speak from personal experience.

“I live 40 miles from work, and every three days I was spending $75 on gas, so I traded in my SUV for a smaller car,” Attia said. “I now pay $50 once a week [on gas].”

Attia took a hit of $7,000 trading in his SUV for his new four-door sedan – but to him, it was worth it.

“No dealer wants to buy a SUV,” he said, speaking from his dealership position. “We have removed all profit on used SUVs because we don’t even want them on the lot. We are lucky if we can give them away at invoice [pricing].”

The selling of hybrid vehicles is a different story.

When Easterns Hyundai gets any hybrid cars in stock, buyers at Easterns’ 16 showrooms in the metropolitan area are ready to pounce.

“We get hybrids rarely,” said Attia, “but when we do get some in, it turns into a bidding war.”

Cars still moving

Over at CarMax Auto Superstore headquarters in Richmond, revenues for the first quarter of 2008 have risen, but the company has seen declines in both customer foot traffic and buyers’ ability to get the credit to purchase a vehicle.

“The slowdown in the economy, the dramatic rise in gasoline and food costs, and the related impact on consumer spending adversely affected our first-quarter performance,” said Tom Folliard, CarMax president and chief executive officer. “For the first time in more than two years, we experienced a modest decline in customer traffic in our stores. Additionally, credit availability from our third-party nonprime lenders declined slightly during the quarter.”

Folliard added, “Despite the slower-than-expected sales, our data indicates that we continued to gain market share in the late-model used vehicle market.”

The declining market for the once-popular SUVs has had an impact on CarMax’s business.

According to the company’s first quarter earnings report, “wholesale industry prices for SUVs and trucks declined nearly 25 percent, which is approximately four times the normal depreciation expected over this period and well in excess of the depreciation expected over a full year.”

As of June 30, CarMax had 1,375 SUVs available, both new and used, ranging from $7,998 to $70,296.

Folliard said, “This is the most rapid depreciation of any vehicle segment that we have experienced in our 15 years.”

The earnings report also stated that if the current trends persist, “results for the full year [of the company's earnings] could be significantly below the bottom of our original earnings guidance range.”

CarMax had only two hybrid cars available June 30 – a 2006 Lexus RX 400h for $35,998 (31K) and a new 2008 Toyota Highlander for $36,816.

Great deals on SUVs

“With SUVs, [a buyer] can get a good enough deal that outweighs the $1 more in gas,” said Eric Kaiser, sales manager at Moore Cadillac Hummer.

He said the big sport utility vehicles have dropped in price significantly.

Kaiser said last week was a busy week for the dealership because of the deals the store has going on – 0 percent interest for 72 months vs. the typical 6.9 percent interest.

“This deal saves a buyer $15,832 over the life of the loan,” he explained.

Having Cadillac as part of the dealership has helped the store during these hard economic times, Kaiser said.

“We are able to maintain the same client customer base, but we are nowhere near where sales used to be,” he said.

Contact the reporter at lwolstenholme@timespapers.com

Cars.com announced today an expansion of its certified used-vehicle advertising program through partnerships with Infiniti, Saturn and Subaru. In-market car buyers searching Cars.com can now access basic listings for the automakers’ complete inventory of certified vehicles available nationwide at local dealerships. Eighteen manufacturers now actively promote their certified programs on Cars.com with complete listings on the site.

“The launch of our new certified partnerships with Infiniti, Saturn and Subaru is great for shoppers on Cars.com who are increasingly searching for certified inventory and for the automakers who are helping to drive sales of certified vehicles for their local dealers,” said Dennis Galbraith, Cars.com vice president of advertising products.

Moves by these manufacturers to advertise their certified inventory on Cars.com coincide with strong industry-wide sales of certified used vehicles, growing consumer interest in manufacturer-certified cars and increased demand for information online about certified programs. For example, May certified sales were the highest on record, up more than 5 percent from the same month a year ago despite a soft economy and slow sales of other vehicle segments.

Heightened interest in certified cars is also being seen online. Through May, email and phone leads to Cars.com dealers on certified vehicles have increased 63 percent year-over-year. For the same period, the available inventory of these vehicles on the site grew an average of 15 percent.

Awareness of certified vehicles and their benefits among Cars.com shoppers is also on the rise. A recent Cars.com survey found that more than 60 percent of the site’s visitors indicate they understand the benefits of buying certified. That number represents a 53 percent increase from 2006.

“Car buyers increasingly cross-shop between new, used and certified used vehicles to find the one that best meets their needs, so it is important to provide prospects with the full range of options for them to consider,” Galbraith said. “When automakers connect with in-market shoppers about their certified programs, the message resonates, and the cars sell.”

By participating in Cars.com’s certified advertising program, automakers receive extra prominence for their certified inventory on the site. Infiniti, Saturn and Subaru certified vehicles will be distinguished by a manufacturer-certified logo to help in-market shoppers identify these vehicles on search results pages. Consumers researching these cars on Cars.com can learn more about purchasing a certified vehicle, access more details about each certification program and contact local dealers.

“The internet is among the most effective mediums for advertising certified vehicles and promoting the value of certification,” Galbraith said. “Unlike other media, the internet allows them to provide in-depth program information in a format that is convenient for car buyers to access and easier to process. Certified programs have many features and are too complex to be adequately communicated in a 30-second TV or radio spot. The internet is far better suited for complex messages.”

Respondents to a recent Cars.com survey most commonly attributed their knowledge of CPO programs to third-party websites (23 percent) and dealerships (22 percent).

About Cars.com

Cars.com is the leading destination for online car shoppers, offering credible, easy-to-understand information from consumers and experts to help buyers formulate opinions on what to buy, where to buy and how much to pay for a car. With comprehensive pricing information, side-by-side comparison tools, photo galleries, videos, unbiased editorial content and a large selection of new- and used-car inventory, Cars.com puts millions of car buyers in control of their shopping process with the information they need to make confident buying decisions

Dealer.com, the leading provider of online marketing solutions for the automotive industry, today announced it has entered into a licensing partnership with Autodata Solutions, Inc., the industry’s leading provider of automotive software and data to auto manufacturers and consumer research portals. Dealer.com plans to seamlessly incorporate Autodata’s extensive automotive content, images and research tools into Dealer.com’s suite of online marketing solutions, providing dealers with the most accurate vehicle data available for their websites.

“The alliance with Autodata allows Dealer.com to focus on building the industry’s best performing websites, while providing dealers with the rich content they need to stay ahead of their competitors online,” said Rick Gibbs, chief technology officer of Dealer.com. “When it comes to technical innovation we are two to three years ahead of our competitors, and this partnership is another way we will continue that trend.”

With such a broad array of online marketing solutions for thousands of automotive retailers, Dealer.com is perfectly positioned to leverage Autodata Solutions’ broad and integrated platform of vehicle data, content, images and applications
Dealer.com customers will achieve better website conversion, higher lead volumes and boost sales and profitability goals by receiving updated VIN decoded data, technical specifications, detailed vehicle options and accurate images of vehicle inventory. Additionally, dealers can take advantage of displaying invaluable tools such as online configurators, side-by-side vehicle comparisons, and manufacturer incentives. Autodata provides automotive content, research, and technology implementation services to most of the auto manufacturers who distribute vehicles in North America, along with several of the most popular consumer research portals.

“With such a broad array of online marketing solutions for thousands of automotive retailers, Dealer.com is perfectly positioned to leverage Autodata Solutions’ broad and integrated platform of vehicle data, content, images and applications,” said Michael Benavides, Group VP of AutodataDIRECT. “Dealers in the U.S. and Canada have the opportunity to significantly benefit from our daily updated vehicle information and persistent innovation. We look forward to contributing to Dealer.com’s success in both markets.”

About Dealer.com

Founded in Burlington, VT in 1997, Dealer.com is the leading provider of online marketing solutions to the automotive industry. Dealer.com offers award-winning SmartSites™ website design incorporating dynamic video; user-friendly lead management tools; the best in search engine advertising and unparalleled metrics and web analytics. Excellent customer service, innovative training and proven results are just a few of the reasons why more of the top 100 dealer groups use Dealer.com than any other vendor. For the last several years, dealerships across the country have voted for Dealer.com as the best website provider, resulting in the company being awarded gold and platinum in Auto Dealer Monthly’s Dealers’ Choice Awards.

Dealer.com’s suite of online marketing solutions is the only set of tools that effectively creates a 360O view of auto dealers’ online and traditional marketing investments and results. Dealers are easily able to track spending and determine which activities are leading to the highest return on investment, allowing them to streamline advertising and marketing efforts into targeted activities that increase sales and improve the bottom line.

For more information, please visit www.dealer.com  or call 888-894-8989.