ONTARIO, Calif. —  CUDL, the administrator of a credit union lending network, announced that its AutoSMART Program and Website, www.cudlautosmart.com, was presented with Summit International’s 2009 Marketing Effectiveness Award (MEA).

CUDL’s AutoSMART Program and Website, which competed against more than 500 entries globally in the consumer services product campaign category, was recognized for outstanding achievement in the areas of marketing strategy and effectiveness. This is CUDL’s second Summit MEA award in three years for the AutoSMART program.

Developed specifically for credit unions and their member base, the AutoSMART Program and Website provides CUDL’s 700+ partnering credit unions a flexible, versatile vehicle shopping and research site that they can brand, customize, and market to members as their own.

For the 20 million CUDL credit union members, the AutoSMART Website and companion quarterly magazine, AutoSMART, provide online vehicle shopping resources and insight into financing and car care tips.

Through the CUDL AutoSMART program, more than 8,000 auto dealers have the ability to post their vehicle inventories online, both locally and nationally, providing an additional advertising source to drive new customer opportunities. Currently, over 510,000 vehicles from dealer inventories nationwide are listed on the AutoSMART website.

“Our goal is to provide our credit union partners with a program and online resource that will both help increase member retention and grow their auto loan portfolio, while also providing members with the most sophisticated, complete vehicle research and shopping website available today,” said Mike Federoff, CUDL’s associate vice president of products. “For dealers, the AutoSMART site provides an ideal opportunity to connect with credit unions and their car buying members in order to expand into new markets and grow their customer base.”