November was a big month for the U.S., with the Northeast recovering from Hurricane Sandy and President Barack Obama being elected for a second term. And although there is still uncertainty for the future, the economy continues to move upward — right along with used-car prices, according to data from RVI Group. In the company’s […] [Read More]

Westlake Financial Services announced a major update to the DealerCenter website, which is operated by Nowcom Corp., Westlake's sister company under the Hankey Investment Group umbrella. DealerCenter is the business portal that houses Westlake's proprietary Buy Program software as part of a full-fledged online DMS solution. [Read More]

Looking back at November, Canadian new-vehicle sales numbers soared, while used prices continued to rise. According to data from RVI Group, used-car prices this past month climbed by 2.3 percent from October, and 3 percent year-over-year. On the other hand, the ADESA Canada Used Vehicle Price Index was down this past month, reversing the majority […] [Read More]

On the same day Ally Financial said it repaid debt to the FDIC, General Motors announced on Wednesday that the automaker will purchase 200 million shares of GM common stock held by the U.S. Department of the Treasury for $5.5 billion, or $27.50 per share. The share buyback is part of the Treasury’s plan, also […] [Read More]

The Used Car Dealers Association of Ontario is alerting Ontario’s used-car dealers to the changes in the Drive Clean Program set to go into effect in the new year. In the latest UCDA Front Line newsletter, the association highlights the changes which deal mostly with the On-Board Diagnostics test procedures, among other areas. And the […] [Read More]

Reports have surfaced indicating that General Motors has temporarily idled its Chevrolet Malibu plant in Fairfax, Kan.   And this is good news for the automaker when it comes to residual values, says ALG’s Eric Lyman. It won’t just be the Malibu’s values that benefit, either, said the firm’s vice president of partner development and […] [Read More]

Activity at Swapalease.com and findings from a recent GfK Automotive study showed that the appeal of luxury models isn’t carrying the same weight as it did in the past. Where are consumers migrating if they’re not leasing a luxury model? At Swaplease this month, they’re moving toward assumptions of smaller and eco-friendly vehicles. These website […] [Read More]

Third-quarter delinquencies and repossession rates moved in directions Experian Automotive didn’t expect. They all moved lower year-over-year. According to Experian Automotive’s Q3 State of the Automotive Finance Market Analysis, 30-day delinquencies fell to 2.67 percent from 2.78 percent in the year-ago quarter. The development marked the second consecutive year that third quarter 30-day delinquencies stayed […] [Read More]

If findings shared by NADA University on Monday are any indication, the outlook on workforce stability at the nation’s dealerships is a relatively solid one. The education and training arm of the National Automobile Dealer Associated has released the 2012 Dealership Workforce Study Industry Report, which was put together in partnership with Northwood University and […] [Read More]

These days, it seems consumers want to begin discussing a potential purchase with dealership staff far before they make it into the physical store, according to recent analysis from automotive data company Polk. In a recent study commissioned by website chat company Contact At Once, one in three users of auto website chat bought a […] [Read More]