CHICAGO -

Cars.com revealed late Monday that Kia Motor Co. and Scion have both partnered with the site to promote their certified pre‐owned vehicles.

As part of the program, both Kia and Scion will sponsor certified branding and the listing of all certified inventory on Cars.com at no cost to dealers, accompanied by information for consumers explaining the respective company’s CPO vehicle program.

“Cars.com receives 24 million visits from in‐market consumers per month to its desktop site and mobile properties, providing one of the largest audiences of highly qualified, ready‐to‐buy car shoppers in the industry,” said Tom Loveless, executive vice president, sales at Kia Motors America.

“Our goal in listing our dealers’ Kia Certified Pre‐Owned vehicles and raising visibility for the Kia Certified Pre‐Owned program on the site overall is to drive more consumer consideration of our dealerships, and provide opportunities for them to grow their business," Loveless continued.

Owen Peacock, Scion national marketing and communications manager, expressed his enthusiasm for the partnership, as well, noting, “Scion is excited to have our Scion Certified Pre‐Owned program promoted with Cars.com as we continue to attract new buyers to our award‐winning products.”

And Cars.com officials said they continue to see more and more shoppers turning to CPO.

“With their like‐new warranties and quality assurance, we’re seeing certified pre‐owned vehicles gaining interest
among car shoppers on our site — and they’re willing to pay more for that peace of mind,” said Brendan Dougherty, senior manager of advertising solutions at Cars.com. “Kia dealers are in a great position to use this program to their advantage to differentiate their inventory and their stores on Cars.com.”

And the same goes for Scion.

“Certified pre‐owned vehicles are gaining interest among shoppers on our site because they provide many of the
benefits of a new vehicle — like a manufacturer‐backed warranty and quality assurance — at a value,” Dougherty said. “This program is a great benefit to Scion dealers because it can positively impact shopper consideration of their vehicles and differentiate their dealerships.”

Cars.com also offered some numbers regarding growing consumer interest in CPO inventory.

“Many CPO shoppers consider certified pre‐owned vehicles a more affordable alternative to buying new — nine in 10 luxury CPO shoppers and eight in 10 non‐luxury shoppers are cross‐shopping new vehicles. Seventy percent of all CPO shoppers are also open to buying a non‐certified used vehicle,” Cars.com officials shared.

Moreover, according to a recent Cars.com study, more than half of online CPO shoppers believe a CPO vehicle is worth an extra $1,000 to $2,500 over the price of a non‐certified used vehicle.

For more information, Toyota/Scion dealers can see http://dealers.cars.com/Scion, and Kia dealers can visit http://dealers.cars.com/Kia.