Dealers are paying high-dollar to get the supply needed “to meet the surge in demand for used cars,” leading to a more than 16% rise in the average value trade-ins are fetching, according to Edmunds. And while they’re shelling out money to get used inventory, it may be the most efficient route for dealers to find […] [Read More]

Alex Fraser, a well-respected auto industry veteran, once said “never bet against a car dealer” during a NADA panel Q&A. He humbly gave credit for the quote to his friend, Todd August. It appears both gentlemen may have just been validated.  Analysts have recently issued investment advice that would be unthinkable just a few months […] [Read More]

In March of this year, I wrote a piece on “Eight Reasons for Pre-Owned Optimism.” It was a sparsely shared sentiment at the time and admittedly, my finger was twitching before I hit send. I knew if I was wrong it would be in print forever, but I felt I had to give my “glass-half-full” […] [Read More]

The coronavirus outbreak will finally accelerate the growth of online purchases within the automotive industry. Today, the march to digital is still taking place at a surprisingly restrained rate. Over the last few weeks, I’ve spoken with 50 car dealerships and only three felt that their digital efforts were meaningfully driving online sales results. The […] [Read More]

While some industry metrics are moving more significantly, Swapalease.com is seeing only modest changes in approval rates for consumers using its site to secure a short-term transportation solution. Site officials reported earlier this week that lease credit applicants registered a 65.1% approval rate in July, a slight decline from the June rate of 67.1%. Swapalease noticed […] [Read More]

Understandably, dealerships and finance companies are currently at the point of the month when they’re likely focused on sustaining sales momentum generated during the first half of the sales period or looking to rebound before the calendar turns the page. However, two surveys originating from the real-estate world might provide some optimism about the longer-term […] [Read More]

In the initial quarantine period of the COVID-19 pandemic in March and April, the rush to move vehicles off lots caused dealers to shy away from certified pre-owned (CPO) strategies. As a result, CPO sales dropped by 39.5% in the first quarter of 2020. Sales did climb back to finish the first half of the […] [Read More]

It was another record for the Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index. This metric measuring wholesale used-car prices has now hit all-time highs for two straight months, as a near 6% sequential lift in wholesale values pushed the index to 158.0, according to parent company Cox Automotive. That reading beats year-ago figures by 12.5% and is […] [Read More]

Our friends from Black Book join us for this episode of the Auto Remarketing Podcast. We talk with Susan Moritz, Alex Yurchenko and Laura Wehunt about the ebb-and-flow of the retail and wholesale used-car markets, the COVID-19 impacts on the ancillary services piece of the industry and current projects at Black Book. To listen to this […] [Read More]

While some “details were generally encouraging,” experts are continuing to project that it will take some time before dealerships and finance companies see the amount of gainfully employed workers making vehicle purchases as they did back in February. Those experts dissected the July jobs data from the U.S. Department of Labor, which reported on Friday […] [Read More]