The
U.S. car industry continues to be plagued by Internet price and orderability inaccuracies,
according to CNW Marketing Research’s second annual "Online Vehicle-Pricing
Accuracy Study."
Consumers who rely on the Internet for dealer invoice and Manufacturer’s
Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) pricing data are being led astray by as much as
hundreds of dollars, according to CNW Marketing Research.
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In addition, the 2001 study shows many instances of a consumer’s ideal vehicle
not being ‘buildable’ on some sites even though the configuration
of make, model and options is offered by the manufacturer.
CNW measured 10 third-party online automotive information providers including
AOL.com, AutoWeb.com, CarsDirect.com, CarPoint.com, CarPrices.com, ChromeData
(through Yahoo), Edmunds.com, IntelliChoice.com, Kelley Blue Book (KBB.com),
and Vehix.com.
The most accurate pricing and configuration information provider was Chrome
for the second year in a row with an average error of barely $US24, down from
$US84 a year ago.
While this year’s study shows vast improvements for some of the sites including
Chrome and Kelley, overall inaccuracy grew from $US444 in the 2000 study to
$US630 this year.
In a second phase of the study, ‘average consumers’ using various
types of computer systems were asked to rate each of the online information
providers.
CarPrice.com was ranked highest at 8.34 on a 10-point scale. It, too, uses
Chrome as its price and vehicle-configuration provider. Kelley and Edmunds were
second and third. AOL, AutoWeb and IntelliChoice were rated lowest.
"As many now-defunct automotive dot-coms discovered, online new-car pricing
is tricky and difficult," said CNW Marketing Research president Art Spinella.
"It requires precision software that reduces the likelihood of consumer
errors while accurately reflecting the manufacturers’ dealer-invoice and MSRP
prices."
Because of the flaws in many of those former automotive sites, consumers are
not as trusting of online automotive data as they were just a year ago, other
CNW studies reveal.
This increasing rate of scepticism and a rebirth of in-person comparison-shopping
means a dealer or online site must have the most accurate information possible
or suffer the potential loss of valuable customers, CNW said.
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