SANTA MONICA, Calif. -

Revealed Tuesday, TrueCar has made it on to Red Herring’s list of Top 100 North American Companies. By making it onto the list, TrueCar has joined the likes of entrepreneurial giants the publication gave early nods to, such as Facebook, Twitter and Google.

Red Herring — which covers innovation, technology, financing and entrepreneurial activity — each year recognizes the leading private companies from throughout the world and “celebrates those innovators across their respective industries.”

"Choosing the companies with the strongest potential was by no means a small feat," said Alex Vieux, publisher and chief executive officer of Red Herring.

"After rigorous contemplation and discussion, we narrowed our list down from hundreds of candidates from across North America to the Top 100 winners.

"We believe TrueCar embodies the vision, drive and innovation that define a successful entrepreneurial venture. TrueCar should be proud of its accomplishment, as the competition was very strong,” he continued.

Red Herring editors were also some of the first to recognize companies such as Facebook, Twitter, Google, Yahoo!, Skype, Salesforce.com, YouTube and eBay, company officials noted.

"We are honored to be added to the list of prestigious companies that have been recognized by Red Herring ," said TrueCar Founder and CEO Scott Painter.

"What all these great companies share in common is their dedication to innovation and significantly improving people’s lives — something we are committed to here at TrueCar,” he stressed.

In choosing its Top 100, Red Herring’s editorial staff evaluates aspects of private companies, such as financial performance, technology innovation, management quality, strategy and market penetration.

Editors stressed, “This assessment of business and technology potential is complemented by a review of the track record and standing of startups relative to their sector peers, allowing Red Herring to see past the ‘buzz’ and make the list a valuable instrument of discovery and advocacy for the most promising new business models in North America.”

It was also noted that TrueCar made it on to the list due to its efforts in “creating an intelligent automotive marketplace where complex, real-world price and transaction data is collected, analyzed and presented to everyday consumers in easy-to-understand info-graphics.”

TrueCar works with a nationwide network of more than 5,000 certified dealers and powers the car buying marketplace for more than 60 affinity partners, providing its gateway and resources to more than 1 million in-market automobile shoppers each month. These organizations include the USAA, AAA and American Express, according to company officials.