Cars.com is an automotive classified website focused on the United States that launched in June 1998 and now is the second largest automotive classified site. Its headquarters are located in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

History

A 2003 ''

Library Journal ''Library Journal'' is an American trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey. It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional pract ...

'' survey of automobile-related websites described cars.com as ranked the site positively, noting staff-written reviews that are signed, dated, detailed, and illustrated.Caroline Gilman
"Web Watch: Cars"
''

'', January 15, 2003. In 2004 the website announced a partnership with

Kelley Blue Book Kelley Blue Book is an Irvine, California-based vehicle valuation and automotive research company that is recognized by both consumers and the automotive industry. The company is owned by the Cox Automotive subsidiary of Cox Enterprises. Hist ...

and commenced national advertising. In October 2007, it announced plans for its largest marketing campaign ever in early 2008. In the same month,

Yahoo! Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds managed by Apollo Global Mana ...

announced plans to receive listings from Cars.com for their Yahoo! Autos service. Cars.com was previously owned by Classified Ventures, LLC, a joint venture between

Gannett Gannett Co., Inc. () is an American mass media holding company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.The McClatchy Company The McClatchy Company, commonly referred to as simply McClatchy, is an American publishing company incorporated under Delaware's General Corporation Law and based in Sacramento, California. It operates 29 daily newspapers in fourteen states an ...

Tribune Tribune () was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs acted as a check on th ...

Graham Holdings Graham Holdings Company (formerly The Washington Post Company) is a diversified American conglomerate holding company. Headquartered in Arlington County, Virginia, and incorporated in Delaware, it was formerly the owner of '' The Washington Po ...

, and

A.H. Belo DallasNews Corporation, formerly A. H. Belo Corporation (), is a Dallas-based media holding company of The Dallas Morning News and Belo + Company. The current corporation was formed when Belo Corporation separated its broadcasting and publi ...

. On August 5, 2014, Gannett announced that it would buy out the remaining stakes in Classified Ventures it did not already own, for $2.5 billion. In July 2016, Cars.com acquired dealer and service shop rating site DealerRater. Cars.com was included in the spin-off of Gannett's broadcasting properties as Tegna, Inc. On May 4, 2017, Tegna shareholders approved a plan to spin off Cars.com as a new, publicly traded company; they received a share of the new company, which began trading on the

NYSE The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its liste ...

beginning on June 1, 2017, for every 3 Tegna shares they owned. In February 2018, Cars.com announced the acquisition of Dealer Inspire, a

digital marketing Digital marketing is the component of marketing that uses the Internet and online based digital technologies such as desktop computers, mobile phones and other digital media and platforms to promote products and services. Its development duri ...

agency serving automotive dealerships located in Naperville, Illinois.

Marketing

Cars.com has regularly advertised during the Super Bowl, screening adverts in consecutive years.

Television

Since July 1998, Cars.com has been in partnership with the Magliozzis of ''

Car Talk ''Car Talk'' is a radio talk show that was broadcast weekly on National Public Radio (NPR) stations and elsewhere. Its subjects were automobiles and automotive repair, often discussed humorously. It was hosted by brothers Tom and Ray Maglioz ...

'' and the website includes a Cartalk advice section. Cars.com also partners with

MotorWeek ''MotorWeek'' is an automotive news and information program focused on car road tests, previews, and maintenance tips. The program is produced by Maryland Public Television for PBS and also airs on the commercial cable/satellite channel MAVTV. ...

on PBS to provide online access to MotorWeek reviews.

References

{{Authority control Online automotive companies of the United States Online marketplaces of the United States Internet properties established in 1998 Retail companies established in 1998 Automotive websites 2014 mergers and acquisitions Corporate spin-offs Former Gannett subsidiaries Companies based in Chicago 2017 initial public offerings Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange