There’s no denying that vehicle recalls can be headaches for all parties involved — the manufacturers, dealers, prospective shoppers and drivers of the affected cars. And media coverage tends to convey as much. But the proactive step, itself, of making a recall is actually positive and can promote vehicle safety in a time where that […] [Read More]

A few surprises top the winners list in the Kelley Blue Book 2014 Brand Image Awards, announced today and based on annual new-car buyer perception data.  Earning Best Overall Brand with the highest average scores among all 12 Brand Watch factors is Honda, for the second year in a row. Brand Watch factors include affordability, […] [Read More]

The lists of used vehicles most researched in March at NADAguides.com as well as Kelley Blue Book’s website reinforced how diverse the customer base is that dealers are trying to serve nowadays. Among the top 10 most-researched used models at NADAguides.com, the first three models were full-size pickups, led by the Ford F-150, then the […] [Read More]

In addition to dissecting April’s “plentiful” new-car incentives and lease deals spurred by the need to move inventory in preparation for the arrival of new vehicles, Cars.com said in an analysis this morning that special manufacturer promotions have driven leasing levels that approach all-time highs. “Relatively slow sales pace in the first quarter of 2014 […] [Read More]

New York’s attorney general recently announced 10 repossession agencies will not repossess vehicles at the request of title-loan companies that Empire State officials believe might be booking illegal contracts with consumers. The agencies that were party to the agreement with attorney general Eric Schneiderman included: —Advanced Recovery of New York (Rochester, N.Y.) —ALSCO of Buffalo […] [Read More]

Manheim Consulting indicated new-vehicle leasing increased by more than 10 percent year-over-year during the first quarter, marking the eighth quarter in a row the market penetration rise has been by at least that amount. During his quarterly conference call on Monday, Manheim chief economist Tom Webb explained how that development might be pointing toward another […] [Read More]

Donlen recently announced plans for its 50th anniversary celebration. The company will hold its celebration events in tandem with the NAFA Institute and Expo 2014, scheduled for April 8-11 in Minneapolis. The company’s main anniversary event will be a 50th birthday celebration planned for April 9, which will include a concert from an undisclosed band. […] [Read More]

Starting with its latest Retail Automotive Summary, CNW Research is now publishing incentive spending data each quarter. And here is what the firm found when dissecting numbers from the first quarter of 2014, as explained in the report. “For the industry, the average sticker price in the first quarter was $36,948, with an average transaction […] [Read More]

With General Motors chief executive officer Mary Barra about to face Congressional hearings about the automaker’s handling of recalls, analysts from both AutoTrader.com and iSeeCars.com each conducted investigations to gauge what kind of impact these kinds of campaigns are having. First, the AutoTrader.com team wanted to see how or if the recent high profile recalls […] [Read More]

Repossession and remarketing services provider Consolidated Asset Recovery Systems recently formed a partnership with MVTRAC, a provider of automatic license plate recognition called The Intelligent Data Network. Officials explained the partnership allows CARS to use this technology to immediately locate vehicles of interest and execute compliant skip-tracing and instant-recoveries through MVTRAC’s ALPR software. Through this […] [Read More]