SANTA MONICA, Calif. — TrueCar, Inc. the only transparent publisher of real-time new and used vehicle transaction data in the U.S. market, has completed the acquisition of Carperks, a leading provider of automotive purchasing and leasing programs that leverages group buying power for the corporate employees and members of over 1,000 highly-regarded U.S. businesses and membership organizations.
Through its innovative marketing programs Carperks offers preferred new and used car auto buying programs to employees of companies that include Coca Cola, Wells Fargo, Verizon, American Airlines, Macy’s, Home Depot and Sysco Corporation to name a few. Employees of these companies are able to research and configure vehicles and obtain “Employee Pricing”, discounts and special offers through the Carperks website and iPhone app.
“The Carperks audience is a perfect fit for our affinity auto buying solution – and TrueCar upfront pricing adds tremendous value to its customers,” said Scott Painter, Founder and CEO of TrueCar, Inc. “With a real innovator like Carperks part of the TrueCar family we are able to further expand our intelligent automotive marketplace, benefitting millions more consumers and thousands of additional dealers in the process.”
On the heels of its purchase of ALG from DealerTrack Holdings, Inc., the industry-leading source for automotive residual values, the acquisition of Carperks will provide TrueCar and its upfront pricing platform a new audience of over 25 million employees across the United States as well as a strong cobranded association with some of the most venerable institutional employers in the U.S. – joining TrueCar’s already significant customer base and partnerships with well-respected affinity auto buying programs with USAA, American Express, AAA, Consumer Reports and many others.
“This is the culmination of our dream here at Carperks – to make the car buying experience better for as many individuals as possible,” said Carperks Founder Don Wolfson. “As a part of TrueCar, we can more effectively serve our existing partners and most importantly, help save American families money during these challenging economic times.”
“Today is an exciting time for those who recognize that upfront pricing and total transparency are crucial to the success of the auto retail business,” added Bernie Brenner, TrueCar Chief Strategy Officer. “A best-in-breed company like Carperks allows us to better reach out to more dealers and buying groups – helping drive new sales to the car industry as a whole.”
About TrueCar, Inc.
TrueCar, Inc. has changed how cars are sold by providing a significantly better customer experience — helping qualified dealer partners to gain incremental market share and reduce costs. As a transparent, visual publisher of new car transaction data, TrueCar.com price reports help both dealers and consumers to agree on the parameters of a fair deal by providing an accurate, comprehensive and simple understanding of what others actually paid for the identically equipped new car over the last 30 days both locally and nationally.
TrueCar, Inc. works with a national network of over 5,000 Certified Dealers that provide up-front, no-haggle, competitive pricing to assist some of the nation’s largest and most well respected membership and service organizations to meet the auto buying needs of their members and customers. These partnerships include American Express, AAA, USAA, Consumer Reports and more than 60 others. Collectively these audiences represent over 1M in-market customers each month.
TrueCar, Inc. is headquartered in Santa Monica, CA and has offices in San Francisco. The company was founded in 2005 and has been profitable since 2009. With 131 percent annual growth since 2006, TrueCar has driven over 350,000 sales and is developing a suite of transaction oriented products and services centered on transparency and radical clarity as a result of comprehensively analyzing market data and information. You can follow TrueCar on Twitter and become a fan of TrueCar on Facebook.
About Carperks
Carperks is an affinity automotive marketing company that offers users the opportunity to find and purchase vehicles through a national network of new and pre-owned dealerships at discount prices. For nine years the company has provided preferred pricing to employees at over 1,000 companies nationwide, including American Airlines, Delta Airlines, Coca-Cola, JC Penney, Macy’s, Office Depot, Verizon Wireless, and Wells Fargo. Employees are given access to the Carperks portal through their company’s intranet or the Internet where they can search for vehicles and receive special vehicle pricing. For more information please visit: www.carperks.net.