TULSA, Okla., Feb. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Thrifty Car Sales, a subsidiary of Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. , has recently made significant upgrades to its Web site, http://www.thriftycarsales.com/ . The re-design focuses on the needs of the customer and the needs of Thrifty Car Sales dealers.
For the first time, the site offers consumers the ability to search its entire inventory of cars at all Thrifty Car Sales dealerships in the U.S. The upgraded site also offers easy-to-use car shopping tools, pre-qualification forms, expanded inventory pages, as well as links to other popular car sales sites and to individual dealer sites.
"We did a deep dive into what consumers said they wanted from our Web site, and have made vast improvements to THRIFTYCARSALES.com," said Jeff Cerefice, Vice President of Thrifty Car Sales. "Customers told us they wanted to be able to search by make/model, mileage, price and location. More importantly, they requested that our site be easy to use, which we have managed to accomplish. In addition, we are now leveraging the power of Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group's internet marketing resources. The result is a site that is easy for customers to find and use, driving more business to our dealers' doors."
The site also offers consumers the ability to:
* Search the inventory of Thrifty Car Sales dealerships within a
specific mile radius, in proximity to the customer's zip code;
* Access Thrifty Car Sales' inventory by make/model, mileage, price and
location.
* View multiple images of vehicles, along with detailed specifications
(engine type, transmission, fuel type, horsepower, front/rear-wheel
drive, exterior and interior color, etc.);
* Use tools to calculate payments, as well as links to NADA Guidelines
and the Kelley Blue Book;
* Visit local dealer web sites along with address, hours of operation,
maps, driving directions and other service-related information; and
* Search comprehensive vehicle history reports on-line via Carfax.
"We also spent a lot of time with our dealers to address their internet wants and needs," said Cerefice. "What we've created adds tremendous value to their franchise."
Added features to dealers include:
* Increased traffic through web optimization -- pushing
http://www.thriftycarsales.com/ higher in organic search listings such
as MSN, AOL, Google, Yahoo, etc.;
* Increased traffic through geo-targeted keyword purchases and
leveraging the expertise of the company's national advertising agency
(FKQ) to champion this buy;
* In-house administrative support enabling easy maintenance;
* Ability to customize the look and feel of individual dealer sites;
* Individualized connectivity to dealer-selected local sites;
* Aggressive cross-marketing to a database of 1.65 million car rental
customers; and
* First-class functionality and connectivity at more than 50 percent off
the previous price.
The next step will focus on cosmetics -- improving the look of the site with dynamic motion and graphics.
The new http://www.thriftycarsales.com/ Web site was developed by The Cobalt Group, North America's leading provider of automotive retailing solutions, in conjunction with in-house experts from Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. Cobalt provides automotive retailing products and services to more than half the automotive dealerships in the U.S., Canada and Mexico and is endorsed by more than two-thirds of the world's major automotive manufacturers.
About Thrifty Car Sales
Thrifty Car Sales is a subsidiary of Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc., a Fortune 1000 Company headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Thrifty Car Sales, with 39 locations, franchises retail used car sales dealerships throughout the United States. Dealerships offer a wide range of late model, low mileage vehicles. Thrifty Certified(R) vehicles pass extensive inspection and are backed by a limited warranty. Thrifty Car Sales was founded in 1999.
FCMN Contact: chris.payne@dtag.com
