Used-vehicle sales this past month were strong — as were prices, perhaps easing tight margins in the dealership a bit. These stats and more painted a rosy picture for the used industry, even while many are waiting for the shoe to drop in terms of consequences from rising interest rates and an expected wave of off-lease supply. That’s […] [Read More]

When it comes to which consumers are continually gravitating to sport utility vehicles over sedans, household income levels and a vehicle owner's age can determine both consumer preferences and defection rates, according to IHS Markit's latest analysis on loyalty and defection. At a time when consumer preferences for SUVs are steadily increasing, the business information provider […] [Read More]

A semiannual study conducted on how much car shoppers enjoy their online experiences while visiting luxury and mass-market brand websites recently found that Land Rover websites are favored the most among luxury brand shoppers and that Ram is the highest-ranked mass-market brand. Findings from the newly released J.D. Power Manufacturer Website Evaluation Study Cross-Device for summer 2018 are […] [Read More]

Eric Werab, vice president of product management at PointPredictive, revisits two of the most discussed subjects of the year — synthetic ID fraud and auto financing. Learn more about how clever criminals are creating complicated ways to secure vehicles and defraud dealerships and finance companies. The full discussion can be found below. Download and subscribe to […] [Read More]

Lease penetration in the first half of 2018 was relatively steady with year-ago figures, according to data released Monday by Edmunds. Through six months, average lease penetration was at 31.3 percent, compared to 31.2 percent in the first half of 2017. The first-quarter levels were at 31.7 percent in both 2017 and 2018, while second-quarter […] [Read More]

As it turns out, the peak in off-lease car volumes will likely be here sooner than once thought. And the growth in lease returns is slowing down and “no longer posing a threat to the market,” Cox Automotive chief economist Jonathan Smoke said in a call with reporters and analysts earlier this month. Following what’s […] [Read More]

Not only does transaction data show what brands CarMax buyers are most loyal to, a look into their individual buying patterns shows that most customers aren’t very loyal to their car brands at all.  Despite finding that Lexus, followed by Mercedes-Benz and then Ford, have the most loyal drivers among its customers, CarMax found that […] [Read More]

In talking with dealers, Autotrader general manager Jessica Stafford sometimes gets this question: does digital retailing put dealers in danger of losing control of the car-buying process? “And the answer is, no. It’s actually not this battle for control any more. It’s just enablement and access to information,” Stafford said in a phone interview last […] [Read More]

With activity ramping up for trucks and SUVs, Wantalease.com noticed a different compact sedan supplanted the Ford Focus as having the lowest monthly lease price of any new vehicle. According to July metrics shared by the site this week, now available for a monthly lease commitment of just $129 is the Nissan Sentra. That’s $21 […] [Read More]

After taking a look at data from recent shoppers who use their smartphones to visit Cars.com while browsing dealerships lots, the site found that not only are mobile-device shopper visits to dealership lots up, but the data also revealed two other interesting findings: midweek visits are taking traffic from weekend visits from these mobile shoppers, and these car buyers […] [Read More]