TrueCar - DealerTrack (ALG) Relationship: The words of a DealerTrack Employee

I received this email about eight hours ago from an employee of DealerTrack. They asked me that I kept it discreet so I will not be mentioning who it was that sent this to me. It is amazing that DealerTrack's own employees have certain opinions about DealerTrack selling ALG to TrueCar. Does it mean that DealerTrack's own employees are against this deal too? I know that I myself could not work for a company that would allow something like this (no matter how much money I was getting paid). Anyway, here is the email with more inside information by someone whose name cannot be disclosed. Friends, enjoy this as much as I did.

> So the press release reads "DealerTrack sells ALG to TrueCar." Why would DT part ways with their most unique data brand, in an age where data rules all, you ask? Well, actually they didn't. In the "selling" of ALG, DT gets: an equity stake in TrueCar, scores a seat on their board, receives a perpetual/royalty free ALG license, secures a multi year agreement to retain operating duties, and banks a very high stack of millions of dollars. What did they give up other than some future subscription revenue, of which they are going to share in anyway?
>
> This isn't a sell your dealership to AutoNation/take the money and run type of a transaction. This is Pops handing off to Junior. Son here's how we do it. This is nothing more than "let's just go ahead and transfer the title and put this thing in your name, wink." DealerTrack had to have anticiapted the outcry of moving dealer data, and this was their way of staying off the battlefield.
>
> So why would TrueCar agree to such a one sided expensive deal? Imagine all the financial and lender information that DT has access to, or the amount of data contained in the DT DMS (Arkona), imagine the number of credit applications submitted through their portal each day, the scanned deal jackets, the AAX inventory metrics, TriVin's electronic titles, etc... The amount of data is maddening, it's deafening. But with every one of these keystrokes from these modules and business units comes a corresponding digital imprint, an imprint that is filed and sorted, and sent to the DT data vault for future use.
>
> Welcome to the future.

> Many of us have seen A&E's Storage Wars where entrepreneurs will bid for access and ownership to the contents of storage lockers that are in default. Invariably there is a guy in the back of the auction crowd with a funny hat that is always nodding his head and mumbling, "uh hum". Let's call him Scott. And Scott will do whatever it takes, at any cost, to get the keys. He just wants to go in and take a peek around. Here's a check.
>
> And whether you think it's your data, or legally it's theirs, or you like the TrueCar business model or you don't, that's up for you to decide. One thing is for sure, DealerTrack just made a truckload of money.

> Zig, meet Zag.

4 members like this

Comment

You need to be a member of DealerELITE.net to add comments!

Join DealerELITE.net

Comment by Keith Shetterly on December 13, 2011 at 10:19pm: Guess who's been looking at my LinkedIn profile from TrueCar the last few days and today? Seems everybody BUT Scott Painter, whom I attempted to email via LinkedIn. What, did they forget to call me, too? :) Guess I didn't make the cut, but kudos to you, Stan. :) Maybe they didn't like my technology and data background, even if it's ten years old? Anyway, here's the access of my LinkedIn by TrueCar:

Comment by James A. Ziegler on December 13, 2011 at 12:33pm: The Devil Made a Call to Georgia

by Joshua Hirsch

The Devil made a call to Georgia, he was looking for a industry to steal.

He was in a bind because of the forums chatter and was looking to make a deal.

When he came across a young man selling cars, and selling them HOT, then the Devil jumped on his speaker phone and said boy let me tell you what !! I guess you did not know it but I am a car guy too, and if you care to take a dare id make a bet with you.

Now you sell cars good son, but give the devil his due. I bet my business, against your industry because I think I’m better then you. The boy said my name is Jimmy and it may be a sin, but I take your bet your goanna regret cause I am the best there has ever been !! FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN, RUN BOYS RUN !!!

Comment by James A. Ziegler on December 13, 2011 at 5:54am: Comment by James A. Ziegler just nowDelete Comment

I am totally smiling when I see what I have started here... 30,000 page views on my blogs and at least fifty spinoff blogs by other people, national publications writing and debating, and finally dealer associations moving on it...ALL BECAUSE I STARTED THIS LITTLE MOVEMENT

TrueCar we've coming.

Comment by Stan Sher on December 13, 2011 at 1:52am: Scott Painter had his people call me. Scott Painter wants to have a call with me. What do you all think? Should I do it? You think he wants to offer me a job? Perhaps fly me in to show me his operations to try to prove to me that he is legit? Please let me know your thoughts and opinions. If anything comes out of this to anyone is that even little ole me can get the personal attention of someone as huge as Scott Painter. This comes to show you that if you use the internet the right way you can get attention from the way up.

Comment by Brett Duprey on December 12, 2011 at 8:15pm: Hats off to the employee that sent you the email. It is just a matter of time before Dealer Track and True Car spin a web that they cannot get out of. They cannot expect positive long lasting results, with unethical business practices, it just doesn't work that way.

Comment by Keith Shetterly on December 12, 2011 at 10:16am: Yeah, well, I commented this on that page: "

Essentially, you've gotten big enough to grow beyond your statements here on dealers' data, then?http://www.techcrunch50.com/2008/presenter.php?presenter=95 Well, all that means is that now it's a data shell game, considering all your partnerships--in the end, the dealers SELL the car so collecting SOLD data and using it for the pricing curve on TrueCar.com IS repurposing dealers' SALES data against them in the marketplace. And there are many, many more than me that understand that. Even AutoNation has now said you are on a drive to the bottom. As did Honda. Thanks."

Comment by James A. Ziegler on December 12, 2011 at 9:50am: You'll get a real kick out of Painter's letter to dealers... http://blog.truecar.com/2011/12/12/an-open-letter-to-the-automotive...

I will post another BIGGER Blog this week...

Comment by Rob Fontano on December 12, 2011 at 9:48am: Here is a tweet I made last night regarding TrueCars data collection and here is their response. Here is a link to the data polling agreement that dealers sign. http://robfontano.com/2011/12/zag-true-car-dms-data-polling-form-pdf/

True car is either starting to believe their own press or they had better look up the word "transparency" on dictionary.com.

Comment by Pete Obuchon on December 12, 2011 at 9:32am: Again... Don't forget that through DealerTrack Truecar will also have access to our F&I profit through their Menu system including service contract markup, gap profit and Credit Life. This will be another huge profit leak for us.

Comment by Rob Fontano on December 11, 2011 at 3:46pm: TrueCar seeks a perfect machine with all of the parts in place to replace the traditional dealer. The problem we have here is that we have only reached maybe 10% of the dealers in the country. Most simply cannot wrap their minds around this. We need to figure out how to get this in front of every dealer in the country in a clear concise message. If we don't we'll get creamed in the fourth quarter.