Auto Dealer Monthly Magazine is the daily operations publication serving the retail automotive industry. This automotive publication serves dealer principals, officers and general managers with the latest best practices.
Issue link: http://autodealermonthly.epubxp.com/i/84037
2004 JANUARY Auto Dealer Monthly publishes its inaugural issue of Auto Dealer Monthly magazine and delivers to 15,000 auto dealers nationally. One year later, it grows to 30,000 subscribers. Mark Zuckerberg and co- founders Dustin Moskovitz, Chris Hughes and Eduardo Saverin launch Facebook from their Harvard dorm room. Just a few short years later, social media like Facebook would help change the face of auto sales. APRIL The last Oldsmobile, the oldest existing American auto brand at the time, rolls off the line. SEPTEMBER The 2005 Ford Escape Hybrid becomes not only the first main- stream crossover SUV to be pro- duced but also the first to come from a domestic automaker. 2005 APRIL Auto Dealer Monthly publishes the results of the first-ever Dealers' Choice Awards. AUGUST President Bush signs into law the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which includes a tax credit for consumers who purchase a 22 AUGUST Auto Dealer Monthly launches a digital edition of Auto Dealer Monthly magazine, becoming the first auto industry publica- tion to offer identical print and digital magazines to subscribers. SEPTEMBER Senior Boeing executive Alan Mulally takes over as CEO of Ford Motor Co., succeeding Bill Ford, great-grandson of company founder Henry Ford. OCTOBER Shareholders of The Reynolds and Reynolds Company approved the merger agreement with Universal hybrid vehicle on or after Jan. 1, 2006. Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Louisiana as a Category 3 hurricane. It was one of the most devastating storms to impact the United States over the last 100 years and caused widespread damage along the Gulf Coast. The hurricane would be recorded as the most destructive storm in terms of economic loss, and it caused a major disruption to the nation's oil industry that would be felt at gas pumps throughout the country. SEPTEMBER Less than a month after Hurricane Katrina, Hurri- cane Rita causes further damage to the Gulf Coast region, exacerbating oil disruptions. DECEMBER Auto Dealer Monthly publishes the Dealership Compensation Plan Reference book which included 241 dealership pay plans. Hurricane Rita in the United States in August 2005, a tsunami in Japan in March 2011, and massive flooding in Thailand in October 2011 all had devastating effects on the auto Industry. mPower Auto, an inventory management solu- tion, launched in 2005. mPower Auto would eventually become VAuto. 2006 JUNE Auto Dealer Monthly recognizes the Independent Retailer of the Year and the Top 50 Independent Retailers for the first time. JUNE Twitter—originally known as "Twttr"— a service that allows users to post 140-character messages to a group of "follow- ers," is launched to the public. It becomes another form of so- cial media to affect automotive sales.