Car dealers participating in the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) and who plan to use the NHTSA CARS logo in the marketing and advertising campaigns need to follow new rules published on the NHTSA dealer support website.

Here are the rules as posted on July 18, 2009:

NHTSA will permit the CARS logo to be used in advertisements (print, Web or television), provided:

• The logo is displayed in immediate proximity to a description of the CARS.gov program — and not so it is associated generally with the contents of the entire advertisement.
• The user makes no alterations to the CARS logo, which includes the www.cars.gov internet address.
• Each advertisement utilizing the CARS logo displays the following required disclaimer (which may appear as a pop-up during mouse-over on the Web):“CARS is a program of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (www.cars.gov)”
• Advertisements do not include quotes from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Administrator or any other federal employee.

For additional details, car dealers are suggested to visit: http://www.cars.gov/index.php/dealer/marketing-material/advertising-usage-guidelines