ORLANDO, Fla. — DrivingSales honored a vast array of companies for their services to the auto industry late last week as it rolled out its inaugural Vendor Ratings Awards at the National Automobile Dealers Association Convention and Expo.

DrivingSales explained that these awards are intended to measure dealer satisfaction with vendors by allowing dealers to publicly rate and review their vendors in a real-time, anonymous, verifiable setting.

Vendors that achieved the highest rankings in dealer satisfaction as determined by the thousands of dealers who are part of the DrivingSales community were eligible to receive "Highest Rated" and "Top Rated" awards.

The 2009 DrivingSales Vendor Ratings Award Winners are:

CRM System

—Autobase: Highest Rated 

—DealerSocket: Top Rated

—CAR Research XRM: Top Rated

Database/Owner Marketing

—OneCommand: Highest Rated

—CIMA Systems: Top Rated

—Cobalt: Top Rated

DMS

—Reynolds and Reynolds: Highest Rated

—ADP Dealer Services: Top Rated

—DealerTrack DMS: Top Rated

Internet Lead Management System

—Dealer.com: Highest Rated

—AVV WebControl: Top Rated

—ADP iLead Control: Top Rated

Inventory Pricing Tools

—vAuto: Highest Rated

—DealerTrack AAX: Top Rated

—HomeNet: Top Rated

Online Vehicle Listings

—AutoTrader.com: Highest Rated

—Cars.com: Top Rated

—Dealix UsedCars.com: Top Rated

Search Engine Optimization Provider

—eXteresAUTO: Highest Rated

—Dealer.com: Top Rated

—Pasch Consulting Group: Top Rated

Web Site Provider

—Dealer.com: Highest Rated

—Cobalt: Top Rated

—Dealer eProcess: Top Rated

Third Party Lead Provider

—Dealix, a Division of Cobalt: Highest Rated

—AutoUSA: Top Rated

—Cars.com: Top Rated

"We would like to congratulate the winners of the first annual DrivingSales Vendor Ratings Awards, all of whom have achieved a standard of excellence in satisfaction that is resonating with the nation's dealers," DrivingSales chief executive officer and founder Jared Hamilton.

"We launched DrivingSales Vendor Ratings to help dealers find and select the best vendor partners based on feedback from those who know best — their colleagues who use them — while at the same time holding vendors accountable to deliver better products for the dealers," Hamilton added.

Along with presentations during the NADA Convention and Expo, award winners are also featured in the inaugural issue of DrivingSales Dealership Innovation Guide. The new publication features practices submitted by the DrivingSales.com community.

"These awards are a natural extension of the collaborative process of DrivingSales.com and the Vendor Rating section inside the DrivingSales community," Hamilton noted.

"We are proud to recognize the top three vendors in each category as ranked by the dealers who use them," he concluded.