Autobytel and AutoPacific Collaborate to Conduct Largest Automotive Buyer Satisfaction Survey
2012 Model Year Owner Evaluations Lead to Annual Awards
IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Autobytel Inc. (Nasdaq: ABTL),
the company dedicated to helping dealers and car-buyers connect online,
and AutoPacific, an automotive marketing research and product-consulting
firm, announced today the companies have coordinated efforts to publicly
survey the largest number of automotive buyers to date across all major
manufacturers. The collaboration, which grew from an initial partnership
between the two last year, surveys recent car and truck buyers' ratings
of their new 2012 model year car or truck. The results are analyzed to
identify the top performing vehicles that will then be honored with
either a Vehicle Satisfaction Award (VSA) or the Ideal Vehicle Award
(IVA).
The collaboration denotes an effort to gather the most comprehensive
information from a wide variety of consumers. AutoPacific and Autobytel®
have jointly surveyed consumers, and through the collaboration, more
than 75,000 surveys have been completed. Once the consumer data is
analyzed, AutoPacific will announce the award winners to manufacturers
and Autobytel® will disseminate the award information to
consumers. In an effort to further fulfill its consumer promise to be
Your Lifetime Automotive Advisor, Autobytel® will dedicate a
multifaceted approach to sharing this information with consumers through
its editorial team, who will provide in-depth feature content on the
award winning models in each automotive segment on the company's
flagship website, autobytel.com.
George Peterson, President of AutoPacific shared, "We are excited to
work with Autobytel in this endeavor. Together, the data we gathered for
our survey will form the largest new vehicle purchase consumer database
to date this year." He continued, "The VSA's and IVA's are all about
consumer feedback and opinion. Given Autobytel's consumer scale, this
important information will now be able to reach millions of consumers
who are considering their next vehicle purchase in a way AutoPacific
hasn't achieved in the past."
The Vehicle Satisfaction Awards objectively measure how satisfied an
owner is with a new vehicle.
Respondents rate 48 attributes for importance in the purchase decision
and satisfaction after purchase. The Ideal Vehicle Awards measure the
fusion between expectation and reality. An ideal vehicle is one that
meets an owner's expectations for the product when acquired. The Ideal
Vehicle Awards are quantitative gauges measuring how closely a vehicle
matches an owner's expectations. The buyers who desire the least number
of changes to their vehicle are, in fact, driving their "ideal" vehicle.
"Both the Vehicle Satisfaction Awards and the Ideal Vehicle Awards offer
true consumer-to-consumer recommendations — a feature Autobytel is proud
to offer on our flagship website," said Autobytel Inc. President and
Chief Executive Officer, Jeffrey H. Coats. "While consumers read and
expect our expert reviews,
peer-to-peer recommendations offer highly-valued points-of-view for
in-market consumers, whatever type vehicle they may be considering. We
feel this alliance with AutoPacific will enable us to offer consumers
even more information to help them make more informed buying decisions."
About Autobytel Inc.
Autobytel Inc., an online leader
offering consumer purchase requests and marketing resources to car
dealers and manufacturers and providing consumers with the information
they need to purchase new and used cars, pioneered the automotive
Internet when it launched autobytel.com
in 1995. Autobytel continues to offer innovative products and services
to help consumers buy, and auto dealers and manufacturers sell, more
used and new cars. Autobytel has helped tens of millions of automotive
consumers research vehicles; connected thousands of dealers nationwide
with motivated car buyers; and helped every major automaker market its
brand online. Through its flagship website autobytel.com,
its network of automotive sites and its respected online affiliates,
Autobytel continues its dedication to innovating the industry's highest
quality Internet programs to provide consumers with a comprehensive and
positive automotive research and purchasing experience, and auto
dealers, dealer groups and auto manufacturers with some of the
industry's most productive and cost-effective customer referral and
marketing programs.
Investors and other interested parties can receive Autobytel news
releases and invitations to special events by accessing our online
signup form at http://investor.autobytel.com/alerts.cfm
About AutoPacific (www.autopacific.com)
AutoPacific
is a future-oriented automotive marketing research and
product-consulting firm. Every year AutoPacific publishes a wide variety
of syndicated studies on the automotive industry. The firm, founded in
1986, also conducts extensive proprietary research and consulting for
auto manufacturers, distributors, marketers and suppliers worldwide.
Company headquarters and its state-of-the-art automotive research
facility are in Tustin, California, with an affiliate office in the
Detroit area. Additional information can be found on AutoPacific's
websites: http://www.autopacific.com
and http://vehiclevoice.com/
Autobytel Inc. Media Relations
MSC-PR
Michelle Suzuki
310-444-7115
michelle@msc-pr.com
or
Autobytel
Inc.
Jim Helberg
949-862-1395
jimh@autobytel.com
or
Autobytel
Inc. Investor Relations
PondelWilkinson Inc.
Roger
Pondel/Laurie Berman
310-279-5980
investor@pondel.com
or
CMC
Group, Inc
Bradley Orr
303-887-4932
borr@cmc-group.us
or
AutoPacific
Dan
Hall
714-838-4234
dan.hall@autopacific.com
or
George
Peterson
714-838-4234
george.peterson@autopacific.com
Source: Autobytel Inc.
News Provided by Acquire Media
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