Industry News & Trends

AutoTrader.com Buys VINSolutions

Jeff Kershner
Posted onMay 18, 2011 at 7:09 PM
Updated onUpdated on May 19, 2011 at 6:10 AM

AutoTrader Agrees to Acquires VINSolutions Dealer Services.

Be One with VIN – AND AutoTrader.com

autotrader.com logo

Well there you have it. Congratulations to VIN for setting their company services up for a profitable acquisition.

“We are thrilled to acquire VinSolutions and add it to our best-in-class portfolio of dealer software solutions companies,” said AutoTrader.com VinSolutions logoPresident and CEO Chip Perry. “Over the last few years, the online marketing and dealer software solutions space has continued to grow and thrive which has been important to dealers’ success, but at the same time it has become increasingly challenging and cumbersome. VinSolutions will further ramp up our dealer solutions product suite to provide dealers with a simpler, more functional one-stop-shop solution of Internet marketing software tools accessible by the dealer through a single sign-on tool.”

AutoTrader.com buys Homenet Auto

AutoTrader.com buys vAuto

AutoTrader.com buys KBB (Kelly Blue Book)

The IPO is all but set up.

What will happen to VIN Solutions?

Follow the jump for the official letter to dealers..

To Our Valued Dealer Partners,

We want to share some exciting news. As you may have heard, AutoTrader.com has entered into an agreement to acquire VinSolutions, a leading provider of end-to-end software solutions for dealers including Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Dealer Websites, Sales Management and Desking tools, social media and marketing tools.

As you know, dealer software solutions have evolved and become a more integral part of dealership operations. In response, AutoTrader.com has made several strategic business acquisitions, including vAuto, CDMdata and HomeNet, in an effort to bring together a best-in-class suite of solutions to address the changing needs of your business.

This acquisition of VinSolutions nicely complements the vAuto, CDMdata and HomeNet acquisitions, enabling us to eventually provide you with a one-stop, single-sign-on software solution. We recognize the complexity of your software environment and the challenges associated with integrating the individual applications you use. VinSolutions’ vision has been to provide an integrated suite of tools designed to help you streamline and simplify your operations and we are excited about that vision. At the same time, know that we are aware of the need to invest in VinSolutions’ current tools, technology infrastructure, and customer support resources to ensure that it can scale effectively as it executes its vision. We will also be working hard to bring together the best features of VinSolutions, vAuto, HomeNet, and CDMdata in new products and tools for your dealership as soon as humanly possible.

As we evolve and grow our suite of software solutions, we want you to know that we recognize your need for choice and flexibility in the tools you use. Therefore our vision is to offer open platform solutions that provide you that flexibility to work with our and other vendors’ tools as much as possible. Because AutoTrader.com and VinSolutions are both committed to the interests of all auto dealers, its software tools will be offered on a flexible a-la-carte and no long-term contract basis, and dealers’ will have the flexibility to work with their other software vendors. We also will establish policies that provide dealer-friendly data ownership rights to protect your confidential customer data.

Consistent with AutoTrader.com’s approach to its other acquisitions over the past 12 months, VinSolutions will become a subsidiary of AutoTrader.com and will maintain its headquarters in Overland Park, KS. VinSolutions will continue to operate independently and function as it does today under current CEO Mike Dullea.

Thank you for your continued support. If you have any immediate questions, please contact either of us, your local Advertising Consultant, or call our Customer Operations Team at 800-353-9350.

Chip Perry
CEO

Alan Smith
SVP, Dealer Sales

Jeff Kershner
Founder of DealerRefresh - 20+ Years of dealership Sales, Management, Training, Marketing and Leadership.
J
  • J
    Jeff Kershner
  • May 18, 2011
Will a DMS be next?
J
  • J
    Jeff Kershner
  • May 18, 2011
Will a DMS be next?
M
  • M
    Mitchell Brenner
  • May 18, 2011
I'll take a wait and see attitude on this one. VAuto seems to have survived the acquisition and AutoTrader has appeared to have learned from their numerous past indiscretions towards their dealers. We'll see!  
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    Garnett Wilson
  • May 19, 2011
 AutoTrader's "World Domination" strategy fits nicely with VIN's "Eat Crap and Die" strategy. 
A
Congratulations to the VS team!  I only have one question:  Matt - which Miami dealership will you be buying your next car from?
G
 The question of whether this and similar consolidation of providers will be a "win" for dealers... I tend to think, yes... while obviously a generalization, I think companies have learned from the mistakes of previous acquisition companies which sought to do just for their own financial gain.  I truly believe that Dominion and other similar companies, will have a win/win mentality because you always needs to be #learning to get better!
J
I feel the next acquisition has to be a review platform. Question is which? DealerRater or PrestoReviews??
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  • J
    Jeff Kershner
  • May 19, 2011
Don't get me wrong, reviews are content that's right now worth it's weight in gold to many, but I don't think they would see the value in it.

If they would, DealerRater with over 300,000 reviews on car dealers alone - would be the only choice. Presto Reviews is a self managed program that anyone could duplicate given the resources.
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    Cincidealer
  • May 19, 2011
Jeff, 

went to your site and saw you have presto on your dealer site. Just out of curiosity, what is the monthly cost of that program   
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    Mitchell Brenner
  • May 19, 2011
A year or two ago I would have been very worried about this news. I
hated AutoTrader and they were my least favorite Internet company
for years. They have really changed the last couple of years and I've
grown to understand them and have changed my perception of them. They also have left VAuto alone and that
relationship hasn't changed since they bought it so I am going under the
assumption that they will leave Vin Solutions alone to do what they do
and just support them with $$$ to help them continue to grow! Vin Solutions has been a great addition to our Dealership and I look forward to even more success!
M
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    Mitchell Brenner
  • May 19, 2011
A year or two ago I would have been very worried about this news. I
hated AutoTrader and they were my least favorite Internet company
for years. They have really changed the last couple of years and I've
grown to understand them and have changed my perception of them. They also have left VAuto alone and that
relationship hasn't changed since they bought it so I am going under the
assumption that they will leave Vin Solutions alone to do what they do
and just support them with $$$ to help them continue to grow! Vin Solutions has been a great addition to our Dealership and I look forward to even more success!
J
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    Jcole
  • May 19, 2011
Hopefully they can find a way to integrate vAuto's market pricing tools into VIN's inventory management system
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    Brian
  • May 19, 2011
Be one with AutoTrader? 
L
 Only time will tell where the product suite will go but I hope that the value stays the same.  I thinks that this will only enhance VINs backing for growth and will inprove customer service, speed of upgrades and server stability. If they leave the main structure of VIN intact it would be set-up for a "WIN, WIN" situation. Good luck to both sides!
J
Cincidealer-
I spend $395mo w/PrestoReviews. I chose to partner with PR because it's more flexible with gathering reviews and it's platform optimizes better than DealerRater. Mind you I also use DealerRater because of the way it displays on my Places page. PR allows me to optimize better via Geo-Targeting through City-Sites. This will be the difference as customer behavior continues to evolve through keyword searches containing the word review(s). Ex- Longview Chevrolet Reviews, Tyler Chevrolet Reviews. Some consumers may use the keyword dealer in the above examples. Both platforms roll-up into my places page so I get the benefit of the number of reviews displayed. It's an aggregate game. Contact Scott Falcone CEO PrestoReviews for more details 773.491.9555
J
Jeff- I agree but also disagree. DealerRater can also be duplicated given the right resources. Take some time and drill down into what Presto offers. I think you'll be surprised. 
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    CD Group
  • May 19, 2011
 It makes a good IPO road show story but time will tell if these AT acquired companies will be innovative and customer orientated after the IPO.

That’s a bunch of overlapping solutions with attached big ego personalities for AT to mash into a single soup-to-nuts login solution. Because of the wide overlapping, my guess is one of these acquired companies (like Vauto) will emerge as the “alpha” acquiree and the others (like Vin Solutions) will be slowly sunsetted; that’s how this game usually plays out and when the internal pie throwing begins. As the old saying goes, “the devil is in the details”.
A
 I thought of a second question: 

Autotrader - was VinSolutions your first choice?
M
by putting all of these pieces together, ATC can revoke the need for a DMS. 
J
AutoTrader Buys AutoNation.

To Our Valued Dealer Partners,


We want to share some exciting news. 
AutoTrader.com has entered into an agreement to acquire AutoNation (NYSE: AN). As of June 1st, 2011 The newly formed entity will be called AutoTraderNation.  

AutoNation is the worlds largest automotive retailer, and, as AutoTrader's CEO Pip Cherry said, "What the h*ll, we're already everywhere you look, I got some cash left in my checkbook... ReyRey's too much of a cluster*, why not get in our dealers face and show them a few VDP tricks?"

AutoNation,  a leading provider of competition to dealers from Coast to Coast is not-so excited about this shot-gun marriage.  AutoNation's CEO, Mike Hackson was last seen being escorted out by armed guard holding one small cardboard box.   AutoNation Middle Managers were seen walking around in a "I've seen death" stare, while trying to look as if it's all ok. The drama was so thick you could export it to Bollywood.

Autotrader would like to take this moment to remind you all that dealer software solutions have evolved and become a more integral part of dealership operations. In response, AutoTrader.com has made several strategic business acquisitions, including vAuto, CDMdata, HomeNet, VinSolutions, Jeff Kershner and now AutoNation in an effort to bring together a big a** mess of stuff to address the changing needs of your business.

Our CEO, Pip Cherry notes: "These acquisitions nicely complement each other, but, until the checkbook dries up, we're not done becoming the biggest fish in our little pond." Mr Pip Cherry also noted: "While I have been courting Bob Rockman, The CEO of Reynolds and Cluster Company, I asked him about his recent merger, specifically as reported be the Houston Business Journal,

"...the blending of the two firms has created a culture clash that's led to the departure of Reynolds employees, from executives to field technicians, both through lay-offs and of their own volition, since last August [2006]. Reynolds' local employee base has shrunk at least 10 percent since January 2006." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Reynolds_and_Reynolds_Company

Bob Rockman paused before he answered me and said... "CHOP IT! That's how you doooz it!" http://www.aetv.com/kingofcars/index.jsp"  Impressed, I countered with "Nuf' Said".

Mr Cherry continued.... "Consistent with AutoTrader.com’s other acquisitions
over the past 12 months, AutoNation will become a subsidiary of
AutoTrader.com and will be hereby known as AutoTraderNation and will maintain its headquarters where ever I tell them to go. AutoNation will continue to operate independently and function as it does today under current CEO, my brother in law, Joe Palooka."


Thank you for your continued support. If you have any immediate
questions,  or, if you'd like to sell us something,  please contact anyone with a checkbook like your local Advertising Consultant, or call our Customer Acquisitions Team at 800-GIVE-ITTOME.
J
AutoTrader Buys AutoNation.

To Our Valued Dealer Partners,


We want to share some exciting news. 
AutoTrader.com has entered into an agreement to acquire AutoNation (NYSE: AN). As of June 1st, 2011 The newly formed entity will be called AutoTraderNation.  

AutoNation is the worlds largest automotive retailer, and, as AutoTrader's CEO Pip Cherry said, "What the h*ll, we're already everywhere you look, I got some cash left in my checkbook... ReyRey's too much of a cluster*, why not get in our dealers face and show them a few VDP tricks?"

AutoNation,  a leading provider of competition to dealers from Coast to Coast is not-so excited about this shot-gun marriage.  AutoNation's CEO, Mike Hackson was last seen being escorted out by armed guard holding one small cardboard box.   AutoNation Middle Managers were seen walking around in a "I've seen death" stare, while trying to look as if it's all ok. The drama was so thick you could export it to Bollywood.

Autotrader would like to take this moment to remind you all that dealer software solutions have evolved and become a more integral part of dealership operations. In response, AutoTrader.com has made several strategic business acquisitions, including vAuto, CDMdata, HomeNet, VinSolutions, Jeff Kershner and now AutoNation in an effort to bring together a big a** mess of stuff to address the changing needs of your business.

Our CEO, Pip Cherry notes: "These acquisitions nicely complement each other, but, until the checkbook dries up, we're not done becoming the biggest fish in our little pond." Mr Pip Cherry also noted: "While I have been courting Bob Rockman, The CEO of Reynolds and Cluster Company, I asked him about his recent merger, specifically as reported be the Houston Business Journal,

"...the blending of the two firms has created a culture clash that's led to the departure of Reynolds employees, from executives to field technicians, both through lay-offs and of their own volition, since last August [2006]. Reynolds' local employee base has shrunk at least 10 percent since January 2006." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Reynolds_and_Reynolds_Company

Bob Rockman paused before he answered me and said... "CHOP IT! That's how you doooz it!" http://www.aetv.com/kingofcars/index.jsp"  Impressed, I countered with "Nuf' Said".

Mr Cherry continued.... "Consistent with AutoTrader.com’s other acquisitions
over the past 12 months, AutoNation will become a subsidiary of
AutoTrader.com and will be hereby known as AutoTraderNation and will maintain its headquarters where ever I tell them to go. AutoNation will continue to operate independently and function as it does today under current CEO, my brother in law, Joe Palooka."


Thank you for your continued support. If you have any immediate
questions,  or, if you'd like to sell us something,  please contact anyone with a checkbook like your local Advertising Consultant, or call our Customer Acquisitions Team at 800-GIVE-ITTOME.
J
For the record.



I love sarcasm and this was just having a little fun with Mr Perry's buying spree. 



The way I see it, if Chip Perry can get all his teams, his team leaders
and his players lined up, there will be no more important asset a dealer
could own than a VINsolutions web site.



The Digital Marketing HUB is Homenet.... Think about it.



HomeNet is very close to releasing Webiol 2.0.  It has been in alpha and
beta for years.  A pet peeve of AutoTrader has been the awful text only
VDPs.  Now with the new HomeNet acquisition, Webiol 2.0 could be easily
"optimized" for a new AT VDP.



Ok, if the Homenet to AT path can be "optimized" then why not Homenet to VinSolutions?



How is that possible? 
There are vast amounts of data that resides in
Homenet and getting access to it all highly complex.  Due to this
complexity, the full potential of leveraging all this info has never
been fully explored. 



Look at my website, http://www.usedcarking.com/. It's a 4 year old indie
site built by HomeNet & me. Homenet is not in the biz of building
websites, but, I convinced them to do it. It's packed with lots of interesting data points.... yet there are a mountain of UN-EXPLORED digital marketing opportunities that
lie within Homenet's system. As of today no one is closer to HomeNet's ocean of data than
VinSolutions.

Heads up to VIN.
Access to data means nothing without creative thinking to leverage it.  Data/programming knowledge and creativity are strange bedfellows.  You need to seek out HomeNet employee Matt Scalcione. We have been working together for years (and I've trained him well ;-)

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    Bryan Barnett
  • May 22, 2011
Interesting you mention homenet iol 2.0 Joe. Any more info on when we'll see this? I'm a long time homenet user and a fan of iol in general, but really have been dying of late for a more updated, dynamic version of their product. Particularly when it comes to building comments and interesting equipment descriptions, the current iol (which really hasn't been updated in years) leaves a lot to be desired.
J
Hang in there Bryan,

I work with the entire group at Homenet and I can tell you that for everything that drives you nuts, they have a solution that is under-construction.

I haven't seen 2.0, but I know that ALL care about getting it right.


For example, the Comment Generator...

I helped with their Comment Generator (CG) early on. In multiple phone meetings, I described to them a big a** organizational chart of how all the data points could be merged into a multi-paragraph composition that would deliver a non-machine like read that would be centered on the END USER (aka "the person that pays our bills!").

I also described to HomeNet the need for the CG to deliver the knockout punch in opening paragraph, and how to do it because the 1st 125 characters make the AutoTrader SRP.

After those initial phone calls I haven't heard or seen a thing. I am worried they'll miss the mark (like vAuto did). I've been offering them my assistance and they insist that I'll love the new Comment Generator.

It would take me pages and pages to describe all the difficulties that need to be over come. I hope they nailed it!

The VP of product development that took over the CG (I forget her name! grrrr) is VERY VERY sharp. Based on my read of her skills, I have HIGH HOPES that we're going to be very happy.

If they missed the mark, I'll be VERY VERY vocal.
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    Bryan Barnett
  • May 23, 2011
Thanks Joe -- great feedback.  So I actually just recently signed up with eCarList as a compliment to HomeNet to handle the comment builder and equipment description (and export that to HomeNet which will still handle all my exports out to websites, etc).  At this point I'm not overwhelmed with eCarList, but the cost was reasonable enough that I figured it was worth trying them out.  Do you have any other recommendations of a reasonably priced product to help with this piece until HomeNet releases 2.0?  Gotta have an easy, intuitive interface (something I also think homenet can improve) as I'm looking to move the vehicle equipment/description updating process to more of a secretarial duty (with some guidance) rather than being constantly behind trying to do it myself.  I really hope what you've heard regarding 2.0 does come to fruition...in a perfect world we do everything through HomeNet and not have to shop for an additional product to handle what they should be able to do...
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    Cincidealer
  • May 24, 2011
Jeff,

thanks for the info. I'll check it out.

C
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    CD Group
  • May 25, 2011
Lol....Joe, what makes you think Dale Pollak is going to allow HomeNet 2.0 to compete with Dale's famous vAuto Cheese Comment Builder?
  • Anonymous
  • May 25, 2011
what do you mean "eat crap and die" strategy? can you provide something specific?
  • Anonymous
  • May 25, 2011
can anyone explain the technology behind VIN? how can VIN do the following: (from Ralph's blog): VinLens also lets the dealer see where the customer has been before visiting the website so they can track their advertising better and tailor their approach to each customer based on the information they have seen
J
ahh... IDK maybe because I helped build both?

They're really 2 different systems. But, It's not a fair fight. HN has all the advantages, it's up to the project managers to make it happen.
J
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    Jock
  • May 25, 2011
Hi Molly, This is Jock from DealerPeak.com The idea seems pretty incredible but it's not all that difficult from a technical standpoint.  We have the same capability on our CRM/Website platform.  You see the servers have awareness of where a site visitor comes from, the referring URL.  Based on that you can view from within the CRM where those users are coming from.  We take it a step further by matching up the site visitor with the information we have on that visitor in the CRM.  So you can actually see that "Joe Smith" is now on your website in real-time and you can also see how many times he's visited, how many cars he's bought from you, if he has any active leads with you etc. etc.  It's very cool technology and opens up huge sales opportunities if someone is watching it. To my knowledge VINSolutions and DealerPeak are the only one's who have it. We call ours CyberSonar.  Hope this answers your question.
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    Hunter Swift
  • May 26, 2011


DealerSocket
also does this. We however take it even a step farther.


We can
track people's activity for prospects who have never been into your store or who
have never been entered into our CRM.


Meaning if
someone visits your website directly or from a referring source (google,
cars.com, etc), clicks rates and web activity is tracked and matched up with
phone ups and floor traffic.


 


We are the
only vendor that I know of that is able to track prospect activity and
regardless of what website provider you use.


 


It is part
of our Call Management piece called Market Analyzer.


 


Hunter
Swift
DealerSocket


H