ATLANTA  – November 16, 2010 – Getting on the road to car shopping success will lead North Carolina resident Nicole Bryant and a friend all the way to Los Angeles during the opening weekend of the L.A. Auto Show. As the grand prize winner in AutoTrader.com’s Purse Powers the Pedal sweepstakes, Bryant won a trip to Los Angeles for two, including airfare and hotel accommodations; $1,000 spending money; a designer purse; and tickets to the auto show.

The Purse Powers the Pedal sweepstakes was developed to raise the visibility of AutoTrader.com’s female-focused car shopping tips because research showed that while women are a large part of the car-buying and decision-making market, most are not sure of themselves when visiting car dealerships.  According to the research, women influence over 80% of all vehicles purchased and are the sole buyers of more than 50% of all cars sold in the United States, but 75% don’t feel certain or sure of themselves when visiting dealerships.

Seeking to change that, AutoTrader.com launched the Roadmap to Car Shopping Success, developed with Courtney Hansen, host of Spike TV's "Powerblock" and author of The Garage Girl's Guide to Everything You Need to Know About Your Car, and created the Purse Powers the Pedal sweepstakes.

As AutoTrader.com’s first sweepstakes that was primarily promoted via the company’s social media pages on Facebook and Twitter (www.twitter.com/autotrader_com), the Purse Powers the Pedal program generated notable results. Over 2,600 people entered the sweepstakes, and 70% of entrants were female. The AutoTrader.com Facebook page experienced a 31% lift in “likes” throughout the sweepstakes, and the number of unique visitors to the Roadmap to Car Shopping Success page increased 1,855% over the same time frame in the previous month, making it the second-most viewed article on AutoTrader.com in October.

“Women are such a large percentage of the car buying market and an even bigger influence over car purchasing decisions, so we wanted a fun, accessible way to engage them with our car shopping tips,” said Clark Wood, chief marketing officer at AutoTrader.com. “The sweepstakes proved to be a successful way to increase the visibility of these tips, reach more women and give them the opportunity to win prizes along the way. We would like to congratulate Nicole on her big win and wish her and her friend a great trip to Los Angeles.”

The sweepstakes ran from Sept. 30 to Oct. 20. To enter, participants read the Roadmap to Car Shopping Success at www.autotrader.com/roadmap and then visited the AutoTrader.com fan page at www.facebook.com/AutoTrader to answer a question about the car shopping tips and access the entry form. In addition to the grand prize, two other winners drawn during the sweepstakes received a designer purse.

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 more than 15 million 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 two other auto marketing brands, AutoTraderClassics.com and AutoTraderLatino.com. AutoTrader.com also owns used vehicle management software company vAuto. 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.

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