Schaumburg, Ill. — According to recent research from Experian Automotive, dealers are increasing their use of AutoCheck vehicle history reports with the AutoCheck Score to instill more confidence in their customers and make better decisions on their own used-vehicle inventories. In other company news, Experian announced new mapping capabilities to its AutoCount Dealer Report to help auto dealers make more targeted marketing decisions through a quick and easy visual understanding of their business’ overall performance and how it measures up to competing dealerships.

Since its launch in 2007, the AutoCheck Score has significantly bolstered confidence in used vehicles. In a recent survey, 88 percent of dealers cited the AutoCheck Score as providing more consumer confidence in the used vehicles they stock. Additionally, 83 percent of dealers felt the AutoCheck Score gave them more confidence in their own used inventories. Dealers have found the most benefit in using AutoCheck reports as part of closing used-vehicle sales, during the trade-in/appraisal process and when purchasing used vehicles at an auction.

AutoCheck reports now feature a new enhancement showing the breakdown of the most important factors directly contributing to a vehicle’s AutoCheck Score. Available to all AutoCheck customers, this enhancement provides a snapshot of up to three positive and three negative factors that most influence the AutoCheck Score. These factors give dealers an even easier way to understand and describe the AutoCheck Score, helping them and their customers make the best used-vehicle decisions possible.

According to research conducted by the Blackstone Group, the level of confidence consumers have in the used vehicle they plan to buy is a key contributor to whether they make a purchase. When polled on the role the AutoCheck Score plays in their level of confidence, 80 percent of respondents said that the AutoCheck Score made them feel more confident in the vehicle. Additionally, 77 percent of respondents felt more confident in the information in the vehicle history report, with a significant majority of all respondents preferring the AutoCheck report with the AutoCheck Score to competitive vehicle history products.

The AutoCheck Score — a number between one and 100 — factors key areas of a vehicle’s history, including reported title brands, auction announcements, reported mileage, number of owners, reported accident and accident severity, and theft and repossession history. By weighing all these information points, the AutoCheck Score provides a clear understanding of the full vehicle history report and the ability to compare against similar vehicles.

In other news, for the first time and at no additional cost, all AutoCount Dealer Report customers will receive regularly distributed, detailed mapping of their market performance and competitive market share. The new AutoCount mapping feature provides two easy-to-understand, geographic breakdowns by ZIP code of the dealer’s chosen market over a three-month period. First, dealers can view their sales distribution by volume and by ZIP code in order to quickly identify their biggest areas for opportunity. Next, a total-market opportunity map helps dealers understand their percentage of overall sales for the market and where they rank above, at or below their market average.

The new mapping function is incorporated into the AutoCount Dealer Executive Summary, which was introduced earlier this year. Providing a graphically formatted, at-a-glance view of the market, the Dealer Executive Summary helps dealers better utilize the information in their market reports through visual representations of the key factors that matter most to dealers, such as top-selling new and used vehicles and top-selling dealers by market.

Experian Automotive’s AutoCount market reporting helps dealers and lenders quickly make effective decisions about expansion, retention, competition and brand positioning with the fastest data availability in the industry. Data is available within two weeks after the close of the month.