BLC Belo Corp.

CHICAGO, Sept. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Despite an end to the Cash for Clunkers program, Cars.com reports site traffic and consumer contacts to dealers remain strong, bucking industry predictions that there would be a large decline in shopping activity following the program. While the Cash for Clunkers program was a boon for new car shopping on Cars.com - doubling consumer contacts to dealers for new cars when compared pre Cash for Clunkers activity - post Cash for Clunkers contacts to dealers have remained equal to the amount of activity the site was experiencing before the program started. "We had been experiencing a significant amount of new car activity on the site prior to the launch of the program and that activity has remained strong now that the program has ended," said president of Cars.com Mitch Golub. "While there has been a leveling of shopping activity since the program ended, we haven't seen the huge drop off that has been predicted." Consumer activity for used cars continues to be strong as well. Consumer contacts with dealers during the Cash for Clunkers program was up 6 percent over pre Cash for Clunkers levels showing that the program had a positive impact on the automotive industry in general and not just the new car market. The site's used car shopping activity post Cash for Clunkers is currently 2 percent above pre Cash for Clunker activity. "It's clear from looking at the traffic on our site and the resulting vehicle sales reports that the program solicited its desired response in new car shopping and certainly had a halo effect on the used car market," added Golub. "We believe this program helped to revitalize the marketplace and brought consumers back to market in a big way. We are encouraged to see site activity remain strong and are hopeful that this trend will continue throughout the fourth quarter and into 2010." For more information, visit http://www.cars.com/. About Cars.com Cars.com is the leading destination for online car shoppers, offering credible, easy-to-understand information from consumers and experts to help buyers formulate opinions on what to buy, where to buy and how much to pay for a car. With comprehensive pricing information, side-by-side comparison tools, photo galleries, videos, unbiased editorial content and a large selection of new- and used-car inventory, Cars.com puts millions of car buyers in control of their shopping process with the information they need to make confident buying decisions. Launched in June 1998, Cars.com is a division of Classified Ventures, LLC, which is owned by leading media companies, including Belo (NYSE:BLC), Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI), The McClatchy Company (NYSE:MNI), Tribune Company and The Washington Post Company (NYSE:WPO). DATASOURCE: Cars.com CONTACT: Jackie Brennan, Associate Public Relations Manager, +1-312-601-6229, mobile, +1-219-577-6106, , or Steve Nolan, Public Relations Manager, +1-312-601-5163, mobile, +1-630-310-2468, , both of Cars.com Web Site: http://www.cars.com/

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