Cars.com Expands Its Lineup of Resources for the Mobile Shopper with All-New iPad® App

CHICAGO – Cars.com, a leading online resource for buying and selling new and used cars, announced today that it has launched an all-new iPad app focused on new car content, now available for free download from the App Store^SM. The app joins the Cars.com and PickupTrucks.com iPhone® apps, Android apps and mobile websites in the company’s lineup of resources for the mobile car shopper. Lexus has signed on as the Cars.com iPad app’s inaugural sponsor.

“If you talk to web-and-app-savvy smartphone and tablet owners who are planning to buy a car in the next six months, you’ll find that 89 percent of them are still undecided as to what type of vehicle they will purchase*,” said Sharon Knitter, senior director, Mobile. “The launch of our new iPad app is the latest innovation we’ve introduced that is customized for the way mobile car buyers want to shop, providing them with an intuitive and entertaining experience while positioning our advertisers to affect that decision making process.”

The new app includes:

High-definition videos and photos accompanied by information on hundreds of new vehicles
“My Showroom” feature, enabling users to save vehicles for later review and comparison
Expert vehicle reviews from Cars.com’s editorial team
Facebook and Twitter integration, allowing users to share vehicles with their social networks
Side-by-side “drag-and-drop” comparison of up to three vehicles, including a “ghost compare” option that suggests other vehicles for consideration based on the user’s selections.”
Links integrated throughout the app that transition shoppers to www.cars.com, where they can access new and used car inventory, Dealer Reviews and all of the other resources available through Cars.com

“The fact that Lexus was the inaugural advertising sponsor of our iPhone, Android and now iPad apps speaks to the automaker’s understanding of mobile’s growing role in the car buying process – especially for luxury car shoppers,” said Knitter. “Advertising has always been an important part of the car shopping experience, and we’re proud to introduce custom ad units that harness the interactive and exciting features of the iPad to bring that experience onto this new platform.”

The ad units feature rich media technology, including prominent free-form vehicle ads that users can swipe to view 360-degree spins. Other units are integrated throughout the browsing process that, once activated by the user, expand to full screen and feature additional rich media content such as videos, sound and photos.

More than one million users have downloaded the Cars.com app for iPhone since its launch in 2010. The company expects similar downloads of the new iPad app.

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ABOUT CARS.COM

Cars.com was recently named the “Best Overall Customer Experience” by Keynote Systems, the world’s leading Internet usage research company. Cars.com is an online destination for car shoppers that offers 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 price listings, 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 (N.Y.SE: BLC), Gannett Co., Inc. (N.Y.SE: GCI), The McClatchy Company (N.Y.SE: MNI), Tribune Company and the Washington Post Company (N.Y.SE: WPO).

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Apple, iPad, iPhone and iTunes are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc.

Contact: Erin Mays

312.601.5547