The Internet presence of U.S. franchised new car and truck dealers has reached an all-time high this year, according to new survey research from the National Automobile Dealers Association's (NADA) Industry Analysis Division.

NADA's annual survey of Internet utilization found that 92 percent of new car and truck dealerships have Web sites -- up from 91 percent last year and 74 percent in 1999.

Of these sites, 99 percent are interactive, with most allowing car shoppers to view stock and MSRPs, fill out finance forms, and schedule sales and service appointments. Many others provide customers the convenience of ordering online and linking directly to related financial, insurance and auto sites, according to the NADA survey.

"The survey confirms that new car dealers are increasingly using the Internet to make the car-shopping process more convenient for their customers," said NADA Chief Economist Paul Taylor. "As more consumers organize their daily lives using the Internet, franchised new car dealers have made researching, buying and servicing a car online readily available and easy."

Dealers report their most common Web site interactions with customers are responding to requests for price quotes and setting up service and sales appointments.

Of the 8 percent of all dealerships that currently do not have websites, the NADA survey found that nearly half, or 47.3 percent, plan to have an Internet presence within the next six months.