More applicants who already have a large amount of debt are taking a toll on approval levels at Swapalease.com. Site officials reported on Wednesday that lease credit approvals during the month of May came in at 60.6 percent — the lowest monthly level of the year and down from January when the approvals rate stood […] [Read More]

The litany of recalls at General Motors this year may wind up costing the automaker a great deal financially, but GM’s stores may actually realize some pretty nice gains — including attractive offers on the dealership buy-sell front. Haig Partners, which released The Blue Sky Report for the first quarter of 2014 on Wednesday, has […] [Read More]

Private dealership groups accounted for more than 83 percent of the dealership acquisitions in the first quarter, but public groups may be showing signs of growth, albeit modest and with caution. That’s according to The Kerrigan Quarterly Blue Sky Report released this week, which said overall buy/sell activity among U.S. dealerships shot up 60 percent […] [Read More]

One of my favorite verses from the Bible comes from Proverbs, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” This is one of my favorite scriptures as it reminds me to keep my inner circle full of positive, forward-thinking people. Those are the ones who challenge me mentally, physically and spiritually. But as life […] [Read More]

"What Women Want" was a great movie about an ad executive starring Mel Gibson who, after an injury, had the ability to read women’s minds. He could do wondrous things in the advertising world marketing and selling to women with that unusual ability. But that was the magic of movies. Knowing what women car buyers […] [Read More]

In the early days, as dealers, we were taught that all vehicles in inventory should be stocked, bucketed, spiffed and priced, and when it hits the ripe old age of 60 or 90 days old, the vehicle should be sent to auction or sold cheap only to have the same process repeated over and over […] [Read More]

Swapalease.com indicated that individuals typically are looking to escape their leases simply because they can no longer afford to make the payments, they’re bored or are ready for a different vehicle, or they’ve had a major lifestyle change such as a new baby on the way. But site officials spotted six new reasons gaining traction. […] [Read More]

Though the economy continues to improve — perhaps pushing many who would otherwise delay their car purchases into showrooms for vehicle replacements — the percentage of older vehicles on the road continues to grow. In fact, according to Experian Automotive data released Wednesday, the percentage of vehicles on the road predating the 2001 model year […] [Read More]

Veteran managers and store principals might remember what happened in the late 1990s when automakers tried strategies to move away from the traditional franchised dealer model with experiments such as the Ford Retail Network and GM Retail Holdings. A new report by auto industry consultant Maryann Keller not only recapped the shortcomings of those approaches, […] [Read More]

The list of 25 most-researched vehicles at KBB.com in May didn’t see much change from April, but one segment in particular seemed to lead the movement that did occur. Kelley Blue Book analysts pointed out that most of change in the list of popular used models was concentrated among SUVs. The Jeep Wrangler was up […] [Read More]