By the time you read this I will have celebrated my first year of retirement.  A wonderful year it has been! Wiring, plumbing, demolition and construction projects went better than expected. (Well, most of them.) Plus, a week in the Caribbean with my wife — thank you Cox Automotive for the retirement gift. For you […] [Read More]

Wantalease.com is noticing the leasing promotions leveraged by automakers and dealerships during the spring are being kept in place as the industry moves into summer. Site officials reported that prices on most of today’s popular leases holding steady compared to May. Wantalease.com noted 36 different vehicles maintained their prices. Only one vehicle is currently offered […] [Read More]

Because of responses like “no,” “out of stock,” and “no appointments,” service providers could be losing almost $23,000 annually per location in revenue, according to insight data released from call analytics provider Marchex. Marchex Institute’s most recent study on auto service agent phone calls with consumers points out how much money stores can often lose […] [Read More]

Operators feeling charitable can help the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association next week. For the sixth consecutive year, ADESA, a business unit of KAR Auction Services, will auction off a premier vehicle during the NIADA Convention and Expo to benefit the NIADA Foundation. This year's vehicle is a silver 2018 Honda Accord sedan with a […] [Read More]

Don’t be surprised if some of the stores along “car row” in your market undergo a major ownership change some time before the end of the year. According to the latest Blue Sky Report released this week, Kerrigan Advisors is expecting 2018 to be an active year for dealership buy/sells with an increasing number of […] [Read More]

Last week, my daughter needed a yellow shirt for a school dance performance. Instead of heading to the store that evening, I turned to Amazon and had it ordered in less than five minutes flat. And when I picked up my coffee at Starbucks the next morning, I ordered it on their mobile app so […] [Read More]

For the fourth consecutive year, Donlen has been named one of Chicago's Best and Brightest Companies to Work For by the National Association for Business Resources (NABR), the company announced Tuesday. In addition to Donlen, NABR also recognized automotive fleet leasing and management company Wheels this year. Donlen, Wheels and other winning companies will be […] [Read More]

The 10.57 million used-car sales in the first quarter was the highest tally in an Edmunds data set of Q1 sales figures going back to 2013. Same goes for the 2.96 million used cars that franchised dealers sold during the opening period of 2018 and the 674,297 certified pre-owned cars they moved. But perhaps the […] [Read More]

In this episode, we catch up with Jim Roche of Xtime, during a show recorded this spring at NADA Show 2018 in Las Vegas.  Roche discusses his debut book, "Fast Lane: How to Accelerate Service Loyalty and Unlock its Profit-Making Potential," customer retention for car dealerships, the modernization of the service department and more. The full discussion […] [Read More]

In its Dealer Sentiment Index for the second quarter, released Monday, Cox Automotive found that franchised dealers continue to be happy with their used-car sales, and they feel better about used than they do about new-car sales. Meanwhile, independent dealers are feeling a bit of an inventory pinch, which has diminished some of their positive […] [Read More]