License plate recognition provider PlateSmart Technologies recently reached an exclusive licensing agreement with PRA Location Services to provide LPR technology for the company’s repossession and recovery services nationwide. Officials highlighted PlateSmart partnered with PRA Location Services, a business of PRA Group, as the exclusive licensee to the repossession and recovery vertical because of PRALS’ position […] [Read More]

The same economic drivers helping to lift the new-car market are also benefitting the used-car market, said NADA chief economist Steven Szakaly, whose analysis points out three key metrics pushing demand. “Just like the new-vehicle market, we continue to see healthy demand for used cars,” Szakaly said in an analysis released by the National Automobile Dealers […] [Read More]

A recent study conducted by DealerSocket suggests that viewing your fixed operations as a percentage of your dealership’s total revenue may be the wrong approach. In fact, the study shows that even though the average dealership’s fixed ops only accounts for 12 percent of the store’s total revenue, when you look at a dealership’s net profits, their […] [Read More]

The first three months of 2015 represented the best quarter ever for certified pre-owned sales, according to Autodata Corp., which said dealers moved 614,450 CPO vehicles in Q1. Not only did that follow the fourth straight year of record CPO sales, it also followed a fourth quarter in which leasing’s penetration of all new vehicles […] [Read More]

Announcing the second relationship with an automaker in less than a week, Ally Financial forged a new alliance with Aston Martin The Americas on Friday by launching a closed ended lease and retail finance program to U.S. customers. Ally has been named the preferred financing source for the British luxury automaker and will offer its […] [Read More]

Reviews have literally changed the way consumers find your business, whether you’re a car dealership or a dentist. According to a survey by Dimensional Research, a staggering 90 percent of respondents said that a positive review influenced their purchase decision. More challenging for dealerships is the notion that the sheer number of reviews plays significantly in the […] [Read More]

Service provider WebRecon determined vehicle financing cases still only represented a small amount of the complaints recently sent to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. WebRecon chief executive officer Jack Gordon reviewed the regulator’s database and found the CFPB received 3,380 complaints associated with debt collection in February. While the total amount represented a 3.1-percent jump […] [Read More]

Based on projections from industry analysts released Monday, expect used-car sales for April to finish north of 3 million units. Edmunds.com is calling for approximately 3.2 million used-car sales for the month. Although this would be down from the 3.5 million used sales in March, the resulting used SAAR for April (36.7 million) would edge […] [Read More]

With Earth Day being commemorated on Wednesday, both Edmunds.com and Experian Automotive uncovered a wide array of trends associated with hybrid and electric vehicles — with much of the analysis showing the lack of appeal for these units as well as diminishing financing opportunities if the consumer even purchased one of these models. Edmunds determined […] [Read More]

Asbury Automotive Group’s management expects the retailer’s Q auto program to show run rate profitability by the end of the year and said the standalone used-car outlet program is actually ahead of schedule on the financial side. In his early remarks during Tuesday’s first quarter earnings conference call, Asbury senior vice president and chief financial […] [Read More]