The wintry weather that has wielded its wrath throughout the U.S. in early 2014 appears to have varying impacts among publicly traded dealer groups. In a conference call with Wall Street analysts this week, Sonic Automotive executives said that the weather will likely have a modest downward impact on earnings, but it’s nothing “catastrophic” and […] [Read More]

Overseas markets are proving to be fertile grounds for lease transfers from the U.S., particularly in a few Western European nations, according to data released Tuesday by online lease marketplace Swapalease.com. The site believes it’s becoming more common to see takeovers of U.S. leases occur solely for shipping the cars overseas once the term ends. […] [Read More]

There were more than 200 acquisitions made by U.S. dealerships in 2013, and the leading franchises in these purchases were Chrysler and Jeep brands. That’s according to “The 2014 Dealership Acquisition Report” from The Banks Report. Overall, U.S. dealers bought 202 dealerships last year, 180 of which were in the U.S. The remaining 22 were […] [Read More]

This January, a luxury SUV knocked a luxury coupe off its post as scarcest certified pre-owned vehicle in the nation. This past month, the CPO Cadillac Escalade EXT took the top spot on the national scarcity list, pushing the certified Porsche Cayman down to No. 2. This is according to the latest installment of vehicle […] [Read More]

Honda took the top three spots on Kelley Blue Book’s list of 25 most-researched vehicles on KBB.com during January, but it was Toyota leading the way with five of its models cracking the rankings. Ford was next in line with four, while Honda and Jeep were each represented by three vehicles in the top 25. […] [Read More]

Rendering of the AutoTrader.com Team Penske No. 22 Ford Fusion that will be driven by NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Joey Logano at the July 13 race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. (PRNewsFoto/AutoTrader.com). SOURCE: AutoTrader.com The AutoTrader Group is adding a few “Days of Thunder” and “Talladega Nights” to its calendar. Two of the group’s companies […] [Read More]

If dealers are trying to lure customers to their lots with deals, they might want to take a look at this recent list from U.S. News & World Report. The company released its choices for the "2014 Best Cars for the Money," which highlighted cars vehicles in 21 categories — from subcompact cars to full […] [Read More]

Cars.com is predicting an increase in lease incentive spending for 2014, and it appears that trend already began to play out in the opening month of the year. Chief analyst Jesse Toprak said the average leasing incentive per vehicle leased in January was up 4.3 percent year-over-year at $3,612. This follows a 5.1-percent rise for […] [Read More]

The severe winter weather is not only impacting shopping activity levels and prices in the used-car market, but it also appears to be influencing the types of used vehicles consumers are going after, especially in the icy Midwest. That’s according to the latest Hot Used-Car Report from Kelley Blue Book, which found that full-size SUVs, […] [Read More]

If managed correctly, these high lease penetration rates the industry is seeing might actually be a good thing. In spite of apparent trepidation by some in the business, several analysts at last month’s NADA Convention & Expo were pointing to a healthy leasing market, one that is likely beneficial for consumers, dealers and automakers, alike […] [Read More]