Chug e-MarketView Provides Unprecedented Insight into Dealership Web Platform Providers

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Chug (www.chug.net), the search engine for cars, today released findings from its first e-MarketView Report revealing how key dealership web platform providers stack up in terms of market share.  The report focuses on approximately 24,000 branded and high volume independent dealers - representing over 90% of all "on lot" car inventory - who rely on sophisticated dealer web providers to create their virtual storefronts.

According to Chug's e-MarketView Report, Dealer.com and ADP/Cobalt dominate the market with a combined 52% share of dealer websites. Dealer.com slightly edges out ADP/Cobalt for the #1 position. DealerConnection and Reynolds and Reynolds, ranking 3rd and 4th, are far behind with 10% and 5% market shares respectively.

"Over 34 vendors compete to be the virtual front door for US dealerships, with hundreds of millions of dollars at stake," said Chug CEO Len Short. "Until now, the industry has lacked a coherent, objective view of this critical market. With its advanced search technology, Chug is able to accurately determine the market share for each dealership web platform provider, offering side-by-side comparisons of each vendor by automaker brand.  Now, interested parties – Dealer Principals, Auto Groups, Service Providers – can understand the competitive landscape and set their strategies based on data, not on hearsay. Moreover, while Chug is providing this aggregate information for free, strategic partners may have access to more granular data in the future."

According to Short, the web platform data snapshot is the first in a series of reports to come from Chug, which indexes millions of "on lot" car listings and makes related data available. Chug's e-MarketView Report is designed to provide the auto industry with a bird's-eye, real-time view into what is happening on the automotive digital ground floor - from e-commerce vendor market share to up-to-the-minute market activity on millions of listings. Future Chug e-MarketView Reports will provide vehicle price trends based on what vehicles actually are selling for, as well as brand and attribute trending of the most popular – and unpopular - listed vehicles.

Chug e-MarketView Report: Dealership e-Commerce Providers Highlights:

Top Five Providers by Market Share

To view the Chug e-MarketView Report, click here

About Chug

Chug (www.chug.net) is the first true search engine for cars, with over 3.5 million vehicle listings for new and used cars for sale. By crawling and indexing over 40,000 US auto dealers, Chug provides new and used vehicle shoppers with access to the industry's most comprehensive and accurate view of available car inventory. On Chug, consumers can search for new or used vehicles from popular brand names such as Honda, Ford, Chevrolet, Nissan, BMW and many more.   Moreover, they can find important car buying data such as vehicle asking price, CarFax reports, vehicle mileage, specific VIN, and other important information not readily available on other consumer car web sites.

Created by a veteran team of technology, Internet and media innovators to remove the barriers that frustrate both online car-buyers and sellers, Chug accelerates the connection between consumer and dealer.  Buyers benefit because they can easily search for any make, model, year, and/or color, then click directly to the dealer site to learn more -- or opt to interact without surrendering personal information.  Dealers benefit from broad exposure of their active vehicles to in-market car shoppers, and immediate connection to interested car buyers

Media Contacts:
Melanie Webber, mWEBB Communications, (424) 603-4340, [email protected]
Angela Jacobson, mWEBB Communications, (714) 454-8776, [email protected]

SOURCE Chug