Cars.com Named Top Review Site in Digital Air Strike’s “2015 Automotive Social Media Trends Study”

For the third year in a row, Cars.com, a TEGNA Inc. company, has been named the top review site used by car buyers looking for dealerships online. Digital Air Strike, the automotive social media and digital engagement company, released the ranking as part of its fifth annual Automotive Social Media Trends Study, which highlights consumer behavior on social networks, review sites and mobile devices related to the car shopping, buying and service experience.

“We’re proud to maintain our position as the top automotive review site,” said Alex Vetter, president and chief executive officer of Cars.com. “Consumers rely on Cars.com’s 1 million plus reviews to guide them in one of life’s biggest purchases. And, with our new service and repair features, car owners are increasingly sharing their honest feedback about service providers and experiences.”

Gracia Martore, president and chief executive officer of TEGNA, continued, “One of Cars.com’s greatest assets is its trusted, independent voice. This recognition further proves the importance of online reputation in a digital age and I’m proud that Cars.com is able to offer its consumers and dealer customers a platform to communicate and connect.”

“We are pleased that consumers continue to value the reviews on Cars.com,” said Alexi Venneri, co-founder and chief executive officer of Digital Air Strike. “This year’s Study reveals that consumers are more engaged than ever before in terms of using reviews as the primary tool to select a dealership with over 52 percent of car buyers ranking Cars.com as the most helpful site, even more important than a dealership’s own website.”

In 2011, Cars.com unveiled its Dealer Reviews feature, which was a groundbreaking milestone within the automotive category. Today, online reviews are an integral part of the vehicle shopping experience.

This year, to further strengthen their partnership with consumers throughout every phase of the car ownership cycle, the company unveiled new features to help take the guesswork out of shopping for vehicle service and repair. The rollout included the introduction of service-based dealer reviews, a key component of consumers’ consideration process. Now, more than 40 percent of all reviews on Cars.com are for dealer service departments.

The Automotive Social Media Trends Study serves as the fifth of its kind produced by Digital Air Strike, and includes findings from 2,000 car buyers and 2,000 service customers who either purchased or serviced a vehicle within the previous six months. The study – with data collected in the past 45 days – covers all major U.S. geographic regions and represents domestic and foreign automotive brands, with even distribution across age and gender groups.

To write a review of their dealership experience, consumers can visit Cars.com/DealerReviews.

Read more at http://www.cars.com/go/about/us.jsp?section=P&content=rel&date=20151105#WevaMhUPSsti38KW.99