With all the talk lately of buying cars completely online — and an apparent willingness from consumers to take this leap — shoppers low in the sale funnel, or early in their vehicle consideration process, still seem to favor dealerships. An Autolist survey, the results of which were released in conjunction with the recent NADA Show […] [Read More]

Dealers are changing their sales process and upgrading technology, not only to boost close rates and customer satisfaction — but also to help retain staff — says new dealer research concerning turnover and sales processes. A sizable amount of dealers hold that both sales process and technology changes can combat the biggest factors that lead to […] [Read More]

Dealers should direct their attention to reaching online car shoppers as early as possible and enhancing their in-store experience to best navigate United States consumers’ car-buying behavior, says a recent study. With car buyers spending a total of four less days in market for a car compared to last year, dealers have less to time to […] [Read More]

According to the Edmunds Used Car Report, SUVs and trucks made up 47 percent of sales of 3-year-old vehicles in 2017. And in total, off-lease supply boosted the used market to reach 39.2 million sales last year — a record high. And as increases in off-lease supply begin to put long expected pressure on residual values, this […] [Read More]

As 2017 came to a close, auto dealership values fell a bit, and the number of dealerships sold in the U.S. for the year was down, but the tides could be turning in 2018. According to the year-end 2017 edition of the Haig Report, a report released by Haig Partners that studies M&A activity among […] [Read More]

Pre-owned vehicles sales reached a record high last year of 39.2 million, according to the 2017 Edmunds Used Car Report.  This was up 1.6 percent from 2016. And for perspective on how much used sales growth the industry has experienced in the past five years, that number represents a 4.3-percent increase from 2012. So, why the record highs […] [Read More]

NextGear Capital introduced this week it's new Rapid Pay tool — a feature built to streamline and speed up funding within its Account Portal platform. This follows the company’s recent February announcement regarding the release of Account Portal’s AutoPay feature. Rapid Pay is designed to simplify the funding process for eligible dealers who want to floor plan […] [Read More]

Fraud is very much on the minds of finance companies nowadays. And for good reason, as LexisNexis Risk Solutions put a figure on how much fraud added to finance companies’ operational costs. According to the study titled, “2017 True Cost of Fraud for Financial Services," LexisNexis Risk Solutions found that for every dollar of fraud, financial […] [Read More]

First, I would like to thank Auto Remarketing and Cherokee Media Group for providing me this platform to weigh in on various economic and industry trends. But why choose a “Monty Python” line as the title?  Because it is my hope this column will offer a differing perspective. Not to be a contrarian just for […] [Read More]

In Hollywood, it is awards season (at the time I’m writing this in February) and on the basketball hardwood, it’s tournament time (by the time you’re reading this in March). In the auto industry, it’s convention/conference season. Not only have the auto shows been in full swing, but perhaps the largest auto industry event of […] [Read More]