Almost gone are the days of the “Wild West,” where carriers run over hours or hide true shipment statuses. Real estate has rapidly decreased for outfits lacking strong compliance, operations and CRM systems. While it is obvious to see the strengths in more modern dispatch and tracking methods, the compliance piece is just as impactful. […] [Read More]

In the dealership buy-sell market, it’s still the private buyers who are making the biggest waves, but that’s not to say all is quiet on the public retailer front, according to Kerrigan Advisors. The Kerrigan Quarterly Blue Sky Report for Q3 acknowledges that public dealer groups have continued to “focus on non-auto dealership and international investing,” while […] [Read More]

Along with offering five recommendations aimed at helping individuals who might be heading to your franchised store showroom, recent analysis by Swapalease.com showed consumers can often get a better lease deal if they opt for a model from the incoming model year, even in December when end-of-year negotiating intensifies. For example, site officials found that […] [Read More]

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently released its semiannual report to Congress and contained within the nearly 200-page document are the top six debt-collection complaints the regulator received. Here is the percentage breakdown of those six grievance categories consumers reported to the bureau between April 1 and Sept. 30. CFPB officials indicated they received approximately 86,900 debt-collection […] [Read More]

Even as recently as a year or two ago, being able to transport a car to a customer in seven to 10 days was an ideal target. These days, however, that goal is more likely to fall in the three- to five-day range, depending on the distance the car is traveling, says Ready Auto Transport’s […] [Read More]

Two blockbuster dealer group acquisitions this year — Berkshire Hathaway’s purchase of the Van Tuyl Group, along with Lithia Motors buying DCH Auto Group — are proving to be game-changers on the mergers and acquisitions side of the retail auto business. As Erin Kerrigan, founder and managing director of Kerrigan Advisors, said in her firm’s […] [Read More]

Transaction prices were up in 14 of the 15 used-vehicle age groups in the latest quarterly data set from Edmunds.com. But that comes with one big Catch-22. In its Q3 2014 Used Vehicle Market Report, Edmunds said the “one downside to selling more expensive vehicles is longer lot times.” Analysts added, “This is especially true […] [Read More]

New-car sales have picked up nicely, lease returns are aplenty and franchised dealers are trading for more cars — all of which means more used supply entering the market and eventually giving independent dealers like Steve Matthews a boost in inventory. But for a while, that wasn’t the case, as many independents struggled to find […] [Read More]

The November 2014 issue of the NADA Used Car Guide's Perspective featured a retention review, outlining the value retention of several luxury vehicles that are either all-new or heavily revised for the 2014 model year. In the Retention Review, the NADA used retention calculation based on a three-month average (September through November of this year) of NADA’s […] [Read More]

Redesigns. Yes, this term is perhaps more exciting for the new-car market, but it seems waves of updated models impact the used market heavily, as well. In NADA Used Car Guide’s latest white paper, titled, “How Redesigns Affect Used Vehicle Prices,” analysts discovered redesigns can play a large role in how used values pan out […] [Read More]