By: E&P Staff Cox Enterprises subsidiary Cox Auto is folding two auto books in its AutoTrader/AutoMart unit, in a consolidation reflecting the continuing woes of print automotive classified advertising.
Cox, publisher of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, is folding AutoMart and AutoExtra as print products. It said it will continue to publish its AutoTrader and Truck Trader magazines.
An unspecified number of employees will be offered severance packages, and others will be transferred to the online automotive sites run by AutoTrader.com.
AutoMart.com claims to be the Internet's largest Web site for used car listings by dealers, while AutoExtra.com is said to be the second-largest used vehicle database online.
"Consolidating the majority of our resources into a single AutoTrader.com organization will facilitate long-term growth and also help us maintain a singular focus on serving our consumers and advertisers," Sandy Schwartz, president of Cox Auto Trader, said in a statement.
Cox said the "ongoing shift in emphasis to an online automotive advertising business strategy is in response to the decline in demand for print-based automotive advertising products."
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