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‘Car and Driver’ Revamps, Moves Print Features Online

Car and Driver magazine will be shifting some of its print features to its website, as the magazine itself is also redesigned, and it’s planning to introduce an ad-supported mobile service.

Car and Driver wants to tap into the growing trend of car customers spending more time doing vehicle research online, and it will be shifting its popular bar graph vehicle comparisons from the print edition to its website, Ad Age reports (via MarketingVox). While the move will help satisfy customers’ need for more information online, it also gives the magazine more space to add more graphical elements to make it more visually appealing.

“We wanted more space in the magazine to be more graphically interesting,” said Csaba Csere, editor-in-chief of Car and Driver, which is part of Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. “And we hope we can drive more people to the web. We can also put more in the bar graph on the web.”

In December, the brand will introduce an ad-supported mobile service that will offer users the chance to buy ringtones and wallpaper. “Ultimately - this will be for next year - we’ll do ambitious functionality so you can get, for example, a capsule review on your phone,” said Marta Wohrle, VP-director of digital media, Hachette.

Car and Driver’s website has plenty of competition for visitors and advertisers. Nielsen/NetRatings estimates that the website’s traffic was just under 600,000 unique visitors in September - behind competing sites Kelley Blue Book (4.8 million uniques), Edmunds.com (4.8 million uniques), AOL Auto (4.7 million uniques), the Primedia Automotive Network (3.2 million uniques) and Cars.com (2.7 million uniques).