Kelley Blue Book, which provides new- and used-vehicle information, announced this week that it has integrated Carfax vehicle history reports into its KARPOWER Online pricing, management and marketing solution. The integration of Carfax services into KARPOWER Online yields a more seamless solution for dealerships by enabling users to obtain used-vehicle history information without leaving the KARPOWER program.
Within KARPOWER Online, dealers can set up and access their Carfax account directly through KARPOWER Online. Dealers can have a Carfax report generated automatically through the KARPOWER Online system and they can view the entire report within KARPOWER.
Dealers can also now use the Kelley Blue Book and Carfax brands to market their used vehicles through a co-branded window sticker program. Highlights from the Carfax report are printed (in bullet points) on the sticker. In addition to the co-branded sticker, dealers can print a Carfax addendum sticker from KARPOWER Online to place next to a dealer's own sticker. According to the company, the most popular feature is the ability for users to customize and print Kelley Blue Book-branded window sticker and buyer's guides for either individual vehicles or a dealer's entire used car inventory.
KARPOWER Online offers dealer management system (DMS) polling, automated web export capabilities and other tools to help dealerships value, manage and market their used-vehicle inventories. KARPOWER Online also has access to 21 years of regionally adjusted Kelley Blue Book Retail, Wholesale and Trade-In Values and it offers a built-in VIN decoder in which dealers can input--instead of keying in information--to assess a vehicle.
Having two of the most well-known marketing brands in the automotive industry working together is certainly a good thing for their dealer customers and themselves. Separately, both Kelley Blue Book and Carfax have very strong brands that are recognized by dealers and consumer alike. But together, that brand name is further strengthened--and that will most likely help dealers sell more vehicles (at least that's what it's supposed to do).
But no program is worthwhile if it's not being used. By integrating the two into KARPOWER Online, both companies have increased the chances that dealers will use the system. These days, customers don't want to have to jump from one system to another. They want to have quick, seamless access to the products and services they need; if you make customers take too many steps to find what they're looking for, they'll find someone else who makes navigation easier. This should certainly become a winning proposition for both companies.