Consumer Reports claims it is financially independent from the products and services it evaluates. Its relationship with the car industry has become very close, however. The nonprofit has set up a system whereby its subscribers can get discounts on vehicles, but only from “participating dealers” that are part of the Truecar Inc. (NYSE: TRUE) dealer network. Truecar makes money on these transactions. So does Consumer Reports, which only offers the service to subscribers. The organization says the money from the transactions goes to supporting its testing programs.
Source: 24/7 Wall ST