ATLANTA, March 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Despite the shortened month of February, AutoTrader.com the Internet's leading automotive shopping and consumer information website experienced a record number of unique visitors to its site in February.

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Lifted by a strong marketing campaign, unique visitors to the core site increased 13 percent while mobile traffic accelerated by 41%. AutoTrader.com experienced eight of its top 10 best traffic days ever in February surpassing one million unique visitors on each of those record eight days. The site reached its highest single-day traffic ever on February 20 when nearly 1.1 million unique visitors shopped for a car.

"Our goal is to connect buyers and sellers, and we are thrilled that more consumers than ever are coming to AutoTrader.com to shop for new and used vehicles," said AutoTrader.com President & CEO Chip Perry. "This is an exciting time to be in the auto industry and we look forward to continuing to play a key role in the shopping experience and by creating exceptional value for our dealer customers."

AutoTrader.com's significant marketing efforts including its strong presence at the widely televised NBA All-Star Weekend, a robust search engine marketing campaign and effective participation at auto shows contributed to the record growth.

"Our marketing partnerships, like the one we enjoy with the NBA, have proven to be well timed with the momentum of improved auto sales.  Millions of consumers are also exposed to the AutoTrader.com brand at many of the nations' auto shows," said Clark Wood, Chief Marketing Officer for AutoTrader.com.

The AutoTrader.com brand was well marketed in late January and February at the auto shows in Washington DC, Chicago, Philadelphia and Cleveland.   

The record number of visitors to the site was aided by a record 1.7 million consumers who visited AutoTrader.com via their mobile device.  "Mobile traffic is playing an increasingly significant role in our traffic numbers as consumers download the AutoTrader.com iPhone and Android mobile apps to their smart phone devices," said Wood. 

Mobile traffic now accounts for between seven and 10 percent of AutoTrader.com's monthly unique visitor traffic.   

Consumers shopping for a new or used automobile can visit AutoTrader.com to: read auto reviews, find inventory for cars in their local areas, compare vehicles side by-side and see dealer specials.  AutoTrader.com lists over 3 million new, used and certified pre-owned vehicles on its site offered by nearly 22,000 dealers and 75,000 private sellers.

About AutoTrader.com

Atlanta-based AutoTrader.com, created in 1997, is the Internet's ultimate automotive marketplace and consumer information website. AutoTrader.com aggregates in a single location millions of new cars, used cars and certified pre-owned cars from thousands of auto dealers and private sellers and is a leading online resource for auto dealers, individuals and manufacturers to advertise and market their vehicles to in-market shoppers. The company also provides a robust suite of software tools for dealers and manufacturers to help them manage and market their vehicle inventory and display advertising on the Internet. AutoTrader.com continues to grow key business metrics, including revenue, profitability and site traffic. Today, AutoTrader.com attracts millions of unique monthly visitors who utilize the site to review descriptions, photos and videos of vehicles for sale; research and compare vehicles; review pricing and specials; and read auto-related content like buying and selling tips and editorial coverage of major auto shows and automotive trends. AutoTrader.com operates one other auto marketing brand, AutoTraderClassics.com. AutoTrader.com also owns used vehicle management software company vAuto, Kelley Blue Book (Kbb.com), HomeNet Automotive, a leading provider of online inventory management and merchandising solutions for the automotive retail industry and VinSolutions, a leading provider of end-to-end solution platforms for dealers.  AutoTrader.com is a majority-owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises. Providence Equity Partners is a 25 percent owner of the company and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers is also an investor. For more information, please visit www.autotrader.com.

SOURCE AutoTrader.com