CHICAGO – Cars.com announced it will expand its offering for truck buyers and advertisers with its acquisition of PickupTrucks.com, an authoritative web source for pickup truck news and information. Launched in 1995, by renowned truck writer and site editor Mike Levine, PickupTrucks.com delivers unbiased content, tools and information exclusively about pickup trucks to meet the specialized needs of truck buyers and owners.

Currently, new pickup truck sales represent 17 percent of all new light vehicle sales and 14 percent of total used vehicle sales making it an extremely important vehicle segment for advertisers. Through its acquisition of PickupTrucks.com, Cars.com is now positioned to help its advertisers more effectively reach a targeted audience of truck shoppers.

“PickupTrucks.com allows Cars.com to act upon a strategy to grow our presence in the truck market and quickly expand our current truck offering to drive even more value for consumers and our advertising partners,” said Cars.com President Mitch Golub. “With this acquisition, we will be able to deliver a highly-engaged audience to automotive manufacturers and dealer advertisers seeking to reach in-market truck buyers.”

PickupTrucks.com will continue to operate as a stand alone website focused on the pickup truck market and continue under the leadership of site editor Mike Levine. In addition to the site’s comprehensive truck reviews, news and ratings, thousands of new and used pickup truck listings from Cars.com will now be searchable on PickupTrucks.com.

“We’re thrilled to have someone of Mike Levine’s character, quality and integrity join the Cars.com family,” added Golub. “Levine is considered one the country’s foremost experts on pickup trucks, recognized by leading automotive blogs and news outlets, truck manufacturers and the pickup community for his insight and expertise in this segment. We look forward to working with him as he continues to grow PickupTrucks.com with even more of the unbiased content that established him as the pickup truck authority.”

“The affiliation with Cars.com, one of the most popular destinations in online vehicle shopping, will bring a wider audience and additional resources so we can continue growth of the PickupTrucks.com site,” said Mike Levine. “Our site users and fans can expect more specialized truck content and functionality to help them make the right truck-buying decision.”

What started as a college project for Levine grew into a life-long passion for pickup trucks. He recognized that an expanding number of truck makes, models and configurations, combined with varied consumer applications, from business to recreation, created a need for unbiased information that truck buyers could use to make informed purchase decisions.

Currently, the site is a top destination for truck buyers ranging from contractors to weekend towers, helping them to determine which truck best meets their unique vehicle use requirements.