In a Kelley Blue Book analysis released late last month that pointed to April being “another solid month” for the new-car market, KBB senior analyst Alec Gutierrez attributed some of the sales strength to enticing lease deals. Along with “rising consumer confidence and improving employment conditions,” Gutierrez said in the April 28 report that new-car […] [Read More]

Although final numbers are still being sorted out, April’s used-vehicle sales likely reached a summit just a shade under 4 million, according to CNW Research, which said this would beat year-ago numbers by 3.7 percent. The firm put out its latest Retail Automotive Summary on Wednesday, not long before many automakers were releasing monthly certified […] [Read More]

In one particular piece of The Blue Sky Report from Haig Partners, the firm emphasizes the often strong profitability of a dealer’s pre-owned operation, while also illustrating the importance of that department with this key statistic: The share of total retail unit sales for franchised dealers that used vehicles accounted for in 2013 was more […] [Read More]

New-vehicle incentives are ticking a bit higher compared to this time last year, but analyses from a variety of outlets are showing automakers haven’t emptied their chambers in the incentive department — and as most know, strong incentives can potentially erode used values down the road. Auto Remarketing examined incentive trends from CNW Research, Cars.com and […] [Read More]

Late last week, a trio of Federal Trade Commission staffers released a blog post asserting car shoppers should be able to decide how they shop for their next vehicle, in regards to the ongoing controversy and legal battle Tesla’s direct-to-consumer sales model has sparked in the dealer community. It didn’t take long for NADA to […] [Read More]

Car buying is an expensive proposition. Nobody wants go wrong when it comes to closing such a deal. And this is exactly why women buyers take the time to shop around, research online, and are twice (50 percent) as likely to read car dealer reviews, before they make their final car buying decision. To close […] [Read More]

Recent data from Equifax, summing up 2013 trends, shows that the number of subprime auto financing originations climbed for the fifth year in a row, surpassing 7 million contracts for the first time since 2007. Analysts indicated the number of subprime contracts for 2013 came in at 7.3 million, up from 6.6 million a year […] [Read More]

The string of consecutive year-over-year increases in same-store used retail sales has reached 19 quarters, according to a recent post on Manheim Consulting chief economist Tom Webb’s blog. Market conditions, tough as they may have been, and steep comps couldn’t deter growth for the retailers, whose streak of quarterly gains is now approaching five years. […] [Read More]

Ford Credit’s repossession volume in the first quarter was steady sequentially, but dipped from year-ago numbers, while charge-offs increased in both comparisons, according to metrics from Ford’s 2014 Q1 fixed income presentation that Manheim Consulting chief economist Tom Webb shared on his blog. The data set indicates repos were around 7,000 units in Q1, even […] [Read More]

Though initial projections for April’s used-car sales total vary a bit, it appears the market should well exceed 3 million units sold for the month. TrueCar is forecasting just over 3.4 million used sales for April, with a new-to-used ratio of approximately 1-to-2.5.  Meanwhile, over at Edmunds.com, analysts are projecting 3.08 million used-car sales this […] [Read More]