Third Party Lead Generators - Prepare To Meet Your Doom

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Washington DC April 28, 2014; The AIADA online newsletter reported that publicly traded dealership groups are moving to improve their own online lead development and reduce reliance on third-party lead providers.

Lithia Motors Inc. CEO Bryan DeBoer would like to eliminate third-party lead providers entirely. Penske Automotive Group Inc. Chairman Roger Penske said retailers may have relied on too many providers and probably should trim their rosters. Sonic Automotive Inc. executives said they already limit the number of lead providers the company uses and are trying to create more traffic on their own.

Their remarks follow AutoNation Inc. CEO Mike Jackson's earlier comments that the nation's largest dealership group would pull away from third-party vendors such as TrueCar, AutoTrader.com, and Cars.com.

In effect, the public retailers are sending third-party providers this message: We are closely vetting your performance, and you must deliver every month for every store you represent.

"More power to AutoNation for getting to that state where they can take out those costs and deliver a car to a consumer without that third-party cost," Lithia's DeBoer told Automotive News. "Our ultimate goal is to move away from vendors as well."