In addition to announcing an update to its forecasting model, ALG said Monday that  while it is projecting a modest decline in residual values,its latest forecast still bests “historical norms.” The latest ALG Industry Report is calling for a 0.5-perecentage-point drop in 36-month residual values; however, this “compares favorably” to the 0.9-percentage-point decline projected from […] [Read More]

Strategic Vision has announced its list of best-quality vehicles for 2013, in the 18th annual Total Quality Index. Named best overall corporation in Total Quality for the eighth consecutive year was Volkswagen Group of America. That company’s luxury brand, Audi, tied with Lexus for best individual brand. Ford Motor Co. ranked second, followed by a […] [Read More]

In light of what analysts believe to be younger, less-brand-loyal consumers, Jumpstart Automotive Group discovered the Big Three scored big with online shoppers during the first quarter. Jumpstart’s quarterly report highlighted the vehicle segments, makes, and models that captured the largest share of online auto shoppers during Q1, assessing traffic figures from the company’s 12 […] [Read More]

While the two vehicles topping the list of 15 most-researched used vehicles on NADAguides.com during April may not come as much of a shock, the third-ranked vehicle apparently made quite a surge last month. After the usual suspects — the Ford F-150 in first and the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 in second — placing No. 3 […] [Read More]

Customer retention is crucial to dealership and OEM success, and Subaru stores may be feeling the positive effects of increasing customer loyalty, according to KBB.com data released this week. According to the site, Subaru "steadily climbed" in shopper loyalty for Q1, moving up to the No. 3 position for shopper loyalty, behind Toyota (No. 1) […] [Read More]

The used-car market is thriving, and smart dealers are focusing their communication and sales efforts on women who make up 53 percent of all used-car sales and influence a much higher percentage of all purchases. Women today are exercising more control over their personal finances and the contractual dealings they enter into. It’s no secret […] [Read More]

Are you still paying your sales team on gross? If you are, you are not alone. This approach still is used by many dealerships across the nation. When these pay plans were developed consumers had little knowledge of how our business worked, and it was tough to really shop all the competition. Do you remember […] [Read More]

Breaking down the 38 percent of consumers who intend to purchase or lease a vehicle within the next three months, data from Phoenix Marketing International’s latest Automotive Brand and Advertising Audit took eight car-shopping attributes and diagrammed the prevalency of each within this contingent. The firm found that more than 60 percent of those intenders […] [Read More]

As vehicle product quality continues to improve across the board, dealers must look to other areas of their stores to differentiate themselves from competitors. In J.D. Power and Associates' May Automotive Analyst note, for Canada  Virginia Connell cites a “remarkable shift in the automotive market that squarely hands the advantage to consumers.” [Read More]

As economic recovery continues on a strong path in the U.S., findings from the 2013 Harris Poll EquiTrend study show that consumers’ perceptions of automotive brands continue to improve. In fact, the study — which assesed 30 brands this year — found that both the luxury and full-line auto categories improved, perhaps a sign of […] [Read More]