As quality, performance and safety level out, what makes a winner?

(August 9, 2012) SANTA MONICA, Calif. — This week, the 2012 CAR Management Briefing Seminars will host a discussion based on the Center for Automotive Research's observation: "Automakers are facing new challenges in distinguishing their products in the eyes of the consumer. Industry scores across vehicles today have reached near statistical insignificance in quality, performance and safety."

Long-time automotive journalist Michelle Krebs will represent Edmunds.com on the panel. Her presentation will highlight a variety of ways that Edmunds.com makes it easier for automotive consumers to find the car that meets their every need, and allows the industry to judge how well vehicles stack up against each other.

Examples she'll point to are:

Car reviews: "Gone are the days when car shoppers focus on 0-60 times. Most of today's new car shoppers are much more interested in connectivity and other pragmatic applications of technology, so Edmunds.com's testing team captures such data as the effectiveness of stability control and the utility of infotainment systems in order to help consumers make real world decisions," stated Krebs.

Ad Effectiveness Analysis: "The characters on 'Mad Men' would be blown away by our ability to track advertising effectiveness today. For example, we saw shopping on Edmunds.com for the Cadillac ATS soared 351 percent after the first 60-second commercial aired during Friday's Olympics opening ceremony.

BMW 3 Series had a 12-percent rise in shopping consideration following the opening ceremony, but from a much higher base than the ATS.

This type of analysis makes it easy to see which automakers are distinguishing their vehicles via marketing — an important step toward sales," reported Krebs.

Consumer Purchase Intent: "Once marketing has piqued a shopper's interest, it's up to the product to close the deal. Edmunds.com's "purchase intent" metric looks at shopper behavior and is a good predictor of near-term consumer sales -- critical for automakers to watch," noted Krebs.

To learn more about the benchmarking panel at the 2012 CAR Management Briefing Seminars, click here.