At GSFSGroup, Jeff Parent succeeds Steve Amos as president, who retired last week after a tenure of nine years. During his leadership, Amos championed the launch of eContracting and Dealer Executive Dashboard, a flexible online data solution to help maximize dealer profitability,  the provider and administrator of F&I products and reinsurance structures for the auto […] [Read More]

During Super Bowl LI on Sunday, media, insights and marketing solutions company Jumpstart Automotive Media monitored auto shoppers visiting its portfolio of publishers in a time-trended series to see how traffic fluctuated when ads aired. Alfa Romeo, Ford, and Kia saw the highest share of traffic throughout the game according to the data and insights […] [Read More]

Payment technology and services provider BillingTree recently appointed former SunTrust and FactorTrust executive Barton “Chip” Bright as general counsel and chief compliance officer. The company said Bright will lead the compliance and risk teams at BillingTree which monitor not only internal compliance concerns, but also ensure customers in all markets have the tools to remain […] [Read More]

Kelley Blue Book released its 5-Year Cost to Own awards on Wednesday, and taking the top spots were brands that are no strangers to this list. Subaru earned the brand-level award for the second time in three years, while Acura received the top luxury mark for the second straight year. KBB based the awards on its 5-Year […] [Read More]

On Tuesday, U.S. News & World Report announced the winners of its 2017 Best Cars for the Money awards, which recognize vehicles that provide consumers with the best combination of quality and value within 20 automotive categories. Methodology for determining winners includes merging quality and value data into a composite score. Within the 20 categories, […] [Read More]

On New Year’s Eve, I was lucky enough to ring in 2017 in Athens, Greece. It was the trip of a lifetime: watching spectacular fireworks over the ancient Acropolis and the Parthenon, and experiencing the flavor of modern-day Athens. But, of course, the car guy in me had one big question: What’s it like to […] [Read More]

There will likely be a record 3.6 million off-lease vehicles this year, according to Manheim’s 2017 Used Car Market Report. “And that’s not even close to the peak,” Cox Automotive Inventory Solutions president Janet Barnard said during a press conference here at the NADA Convention & Expo. That, she said, will happen in 2020, when […] [Read More]

Did you punch in the search term “Alfa Romeo” during Sunday night’s Super Bowl? If so, you probably weren’t alone. Online traffic for the Italian car brand — one of nine automakers to air ads during the game, according to Cars.com — skyrocketed, say analyses released Monday. There was a 1,179-percent spike in visits to […] [Read More]

Much of the CEO panel discussion during the Vehicle Finance Conference hosted by the American Financial Services Association revolved around underwriting, originations, compliance and other matters associated with a finalized retail installment contract needed for delivery at the dealership. However, moderator Charlie Vogelheim, who is the host at Motor Trend Audio and a partner at TPC […] [Read More]

When marketing a product, understand your audience. Blend in some social media. Sounds simple enough, right? But when you’re dropping $5 million on a 30-second Super Bowl ad — which Experian points out is the going rate this year — that simple strategy becomes a tad more important. “Because this is one of the most sought-after advertising […] [Read More]