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Car Dealer Ewards 2009: The results

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Time 4:59 pm, November 16, 2009

ewardslogobackgroundTHE wait is over! Today we can finally reveal winners of the Car Dealer Ewards 2009 in association with Autotorq.com.

On our website today – and in the latest issue of Car Dealer Magazine – we announce the worthy winners of our coveted Ewards.

We’ve named the winners in five categories, which include:


Franchised Dealer Website of the Year

Independent Dealer Website of the Year

Car Supermarket Website of the Year


Car Manufacturer Website of the Year

Web innovation of the Year

It’s hard to believe the internet has only been around just over a decade – how we survived before it is beyond us. But there is one thing that is clear: The future of car retailing is online.

A good website can be the difference between no sale and sale; the difference between red and black on your bank statement and the difference between a future or the dole queue.

But getting car retailing right online isn’t easy. Design, user experience, used and new car searches, offers, search engine optimisation – these are all key to a good offering online, but getting the right combination is very tough indeed.

The reason we launched the Car Dealer Ewards last year came about after chatting to dealers just like you.

Most knew they needed to be online, most knew they needed a good website – but they didn’t know how. What exactly does make a good car dealer website? How do you go about setting it up? And just where on earth do you start? All valid and pertinent questions.

So we set about looking for the best examples of those in the automotive industry that have got it right. The dealers large and small and car manufacturers that are blazing a trail on the worldwide web. And this year we’ve done it all over again.

SHORTLISTED


We had nearly 1,000 entries in this year’s Car Dealer Ewards in association with Autotorq.com. We whittled down a shortlist in each of the five categories and then handed those lists over to our judges.

Each an expert in their respective fields, they spent hours poring over your offerings before awarding their points.

In Eurovision style they handed 10 points to the site they liked the best, nine to the runner up, eight to 3rd place and so on. This ensured the winners were decided in the fairest possible way.

The only one we did differently this year was our Web Innovation Eward. All the judges got together at headline sponsor Autotorq’s headquarters in Fulham, London, to nominate their one pick for a site that offers something truly innovative.

After three hours of discussion and analysing the sites the judges voted again – in the same way as the other categories – to give us our winner of the special gong.

Next month we’ll bring you a picture special of the winners with their trophies and a special feature on what the majority of our judges think the future holds for car dealers online. But now the wait is over – who’s won what?

Take me to the Eward results >>

James Baggott's avatar

James is the founder and editor-in-chief of Car Dealer Magazine, and CEO of parent company Baize Group. James has been a motoring journalist for more than 20 years writing about cars and the car industry.



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