Research Outline

Kelley Blue Book & Auto Trader

Goals

To gain an understanding of the relationship between Kelley Blue Book and Autotrader, and how the two function together, collaborate, or integrate features

Early Findings

Both are owned by Cox Automotive, part of umbrella company Cox Enterprises.

In 2015, the two online auto brands were partnered more closely when Cox decided to delegate the leadership of both to Jared Rowe, and name him President of the Cox Automotive Media Division, in order to better leverage the integration of both.

Prior to this, the two were operated independently, as separate brands.

It is noted that over 65 percent of all car shoppers visit either Autotrader.com or KBB.com when car shopping.

Kelley Blue Book was acquired for $500 million dollars by Cox Enterprises in 2010.

In terms of task integration, Autotrader.com is focused on the transaction side of auto sales, and Kelley Blue Book is focused on providing automotive information and resources to buyers.

The two websites are highly integrated. One way the two offer value and collaborate is that Autotrader’s listings are also available on the Kelley Blue Book Website, and when customers search for the value of their car on Kelley’s, they are offered an option to list it on Autotrader.
Searching and shopping history on all Cox Automotive media sites, including Kelly Blue Book, Autotrader, and Dealer.com are all leveraged when customizing results for those browsing any of the websites.

Autotrader also displays a Kelley Blue Book price adviser on all their listings, that notes whether the price is ‘good’ or ‘great’ based on Kelley Blue Book Fair Market Range.