Fort Lauderdale, FL  — AutoUSA, the industry’s leading provider of the highest quality Internet-generated consumer leads to auto dealers nationwide, today announced that its Edmunds.com Premier Dealer Program is now available to General Motors (GM) auto retailers. The program provides dealers with exclusive lead territories, top placement in Edmunds’ Dealer Locator, and over 100 dealer-branded advertisements throughout Edmunds.com driving the highest quality trackable phone calls, leads, branding and traffic to the dealer website.

“Edmunds.com’s Premier Dealer Program is an outstanding Internet branding program and a great way for GM dealers to generate high quality Web traffic and leads,” said Phil DuPree, president of AutoUSA. “I can’t think of a better opportunity for dealers who want to increase their online sales.”

I can’t think of a better opportunity for dealers who want to increase their online sales.
Edmunds.com is one of the leading online resources for automotive information. Millions of consumers visit the site each month to shop for a vehicle. The Premier Dealer Program helps dealers more effectively reach auto buyers by prominently displaying the dealer’s brand throughout the portal, insuring the dealership receives top listing in searches and providing exclusive lead territories.

AutoUSA first launched the Edmunds.com Premier Dealer Program for non-GM dealer clients in 2006. Several months later, AutoUSA confirmed that there was a significant increase in lead quality and closing ratios amongst program participants. Dealers attributed the program’s overwhelming success to territory exclusivity and the portal’s popularity as a trusted source for vehicle reports, research, articles and comparisons.

GM dealers who sign up for the Edmunds.com Premier Dealer Program can take advantage of several marketing and branding opportunities that guarantee maximum exposure to targeted auto consumers, including:

Territory Exclusivity — One dealer per make per area. The territory assignments remain in place unless given up by the dealer.

Top Dealer Locator Placement — Guaranteed top placement in Edmunds.com’s Dealer Locator — even if there’s a competing dealer that’s closer. Once a dealer owns the top spot, it’s theirs exclusively. Includes a dealer endorsement by Edmunds.com.

Branded Advertisements — Over 100 branded advertisements throughout Edmunds.com on new and used car pages. Advertisements include an Edmunds Premier Dealer logo, trackable dealer phone number, two links to to the dealer’s Web site and a link to the dealer’s own Premier Dealer Web page

Premier Dealer Web page — An Edmunds.com-hosted dealer Web page that includes dealer logo, contact information, trackable dealer phone number, two links to dealer’s Web site, Edmunds message endorsing the dealer, lead form, map and driving directions.

“Edmunds has done a great job with this program. It’s one of the most cost-effective ways for a dealer to extend their online presence to purchase-ready auto consumers,” said DuPree.

About AutoUSA (www.AutoUSA.com)
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

Edmunds.com, the premier online resource for automotive information, estimated today that the average automotive manufacturer incentive in the U.S. was $2,356 per vehicle sold in June 2008, up $32, or 1.4 percent, from May 2008, and down $22, or 0.9 percent, from June 2007.

“General Motors and Toyota were the only two companies to have increased incentives this month from last year with Toyota incentives reaching a record high,” stated Jesse Toprak, Executive Director of Industry Analysis for Edmunds.com. “General Motors last minute 72-hour sales campaign helped increase their incentives spending for the month and Toyota needed some additional dollars to move their large SUVs and trucks from dealer lots.”

Edmunds.com’s monthly True Cost of Incentives^SM (TCI^SM) report takes into account all automakers’ various U.S. incentives programs, including subvented interest rates and lease programs, as well as cash rebates to consumers and dealers. To ensure the greatest possible accuracy, Edmunds.com bases its calculations on sales volume, including the mix of vehicle makes and models for each month, as well as on the proportion of vehicles for which each type of incentive was used.

According to Edmunds.com, combined incentives spending for domestic manufacturers averaged $3,213 per vehicle sold in June 2008, down from $3,349 in May 2008. From May 2008 to June 2008, European automakers increased incentives spending by $299 to $3,048 per vehicle sold; Japanese automakers increased incentives spending by $135 to $1,404 per vehicle sold; and Korean automakers decreased incentives spending by $22 to $1,951 per vehicle sold.

In June 2008, the industry’s aggregate incentive spending is estimated to have totaled approximately $2.84 billion, down 12.3 percent from May 2008. Chrysler, Ford and General Motors spent an aggregate of $1.7 billion, or 60.3 percent of the total; Japanese manufacturers spent $712 million, or 25.0 percent; European manufacturers spent $278 million, or 9.8 percent; and Korean manufacturers spent $140 million, or 4.9 percent.

“More of the same this month with continued high levels of incentives being spent on large SUVs and trucks,” commented Edmunds’ AutoObserver.com Senior Editor Michelle Krebs. “We expect Chrysler and Ford will become more aggressive to decrease inventories of their current Dodge Ram and F-150 before they introduce their replacements.”

Among vehicle segments, large SUVs had the highest average incentives, $5,097 per vehicle sold, followed by large trucks at $4,329. Sport cars had the lowest average incentives per vehicle sold, $1,128, followed by compact cars at $1,168. Analysis of incentives expenditures as a percentage of average sticker price for each segment shows large SUVs averaged the highest, 13.5 percent, followed by large trucks at 13.3 percent of sticker price. Sport cars averaged the lowest, 3.9 percent, followed by luxury sport cars at 4.9 percent of sticker price.

Comparing all brands, in June MINI spent the least at $125 followed by Scion at $223 per vehicle sold. At the other end of the spectrum, Saab spent the most, $7,215, followed by Cadillac at $6,612 per vehicle sold. Relative to their vehicle prices, Saab and HUMMER spent the most, 20.6 percent and 15.2 percent of sticker price, respectively; while MINI spent 0.6 percent and Scion spent just 1.3 percent.