Disruption With The Auto Industry
In late 2011, TrueCar raised significant debt and equity capital (>$200m) which enabled it to advertise nationally on television. Response from consumers and dealers was strong. Consumer usage increased in response to the television campaign that was developed in conjunction with TrueCar investor Guthy-Renker, but dealer and industry criticism was immediate and well documented in a series of Automotive News articles. Painter, who is commonly associated with vehicle pricing transparency, up-front pricing and the value of big data in auto retail was nearly boycotted by auto dealers and manufacturers over the fear that TrueCar was responsible for massive discounting. The industry resistance lead to nearly a dozen states launching investigations into the companies practices and policies. As a result, Painter and TrueCar underwent a nine-month overhaul to ensure national compliance and cooperation with the industry. It has been widely published that TrueCar went through a business turnaround in 2012 that resulted in a return to profitability after having lost nearly $40mm in the first half of the year. In November 2012, Painter spoke directly to the industry about the current status of TrueCar in an Autoline TV interview and Painter was recently featured in Forbes. In November 2012, TrueCar went back on television with new commercials and a completely new version of its web experience for both dealers and consumers.
Read more about this topic: Scott Painter
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