During a span that included recalls and ramifications from the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, Kelley Blue Book discovered the Toyota brand dominates new-vehicle shopping activity on Kbb.com when examining shopper loyalty and share-of-voice data from the past three years. Since the first quarter of 2010, KBB indicated, Toyota has claimed the top spot for shopper […] [Read More]

Toyota dealership employees will have a new place to train, as the OEM broke ground last week on a new classroom and service bay facility. Executives and associates at the Chicago Regional Office of Toyota Motor Sales, USA broke ground on the $4.9 million training center in Aurora, Ill., as part of a campus-wide building […] [Read More]

As organizers gear up for the second-ever event, small group breakout sessions are new to the Re3 Conference this year. Conference chairman Bill Zadeits said these sessions will offer attendees the opportunity to focus more closely on the technology and data topics of interest to them. During each of two workshop sessions, attendees will be […] [Read More]

Along with being listed among the Alberta Venture 250 for the first time, Carfinco Financial Group revealed this week that it is setting a record pace for loan originations during the first two months of the third quarter. Carfinco indicated its loan originations in July totaled $13.0 million, and the company said August was a […] [Read More]

According to a recent online survey from J.D. Power and Associates,  Canadian shoppers in the market for a new ride expect to go through four steps during the purchase-process and apparently, they have a very definitive timeframe in mind for each dealership interaction. And 15 minutes might be the magic ticket. [Read More]

Football season is now fully under way, following Wednesday night’s NFL season opener coming after the college campaign kicked off during the holiday weekend. And in the midst of this pigskin hoopla, Cars.com announced its list of the top vehicles for the 2012 tailgating season. The top tailgating car of the season according to Cars.com […] [Read More]

Private-party sales showed the greatest increase, franchised dealers increased used sales by more than 3 percent and independents saw their used sales fall 6.6 percent. That’s the word from CNW Research, which said Tuesday that, overall, August used-vehicle sales reached 3.87 million units for a 1.5-percent year-over-year uptick. Breaking it down, franchised dealers moved 1.48 […] [Read More]

When it comes to sourcing supply, the outlook for the certified pre-owned industry looks bright, says Toyota’s Brad Heagy. He told Auto Remarketing that he believes the industry is past the peak in used values and over the trough in used availability, and that trade-in supply may be on the verge of increasing. “I would […] [Read More]

The continuing education program designed to train the next generation of auction industry professionals now has an exclusive new sponsor, one who has signed a multi-year agreement. Announcing its sponsorship of the Auction Academy is Dealer Services Corp. of Indiana, which has signed on as exclusive Floorplan Finance Industry Segment Sponsor. Auction Academy, which was […] [Read More]

In an effort to secure enough used inventory to the meet the needs of its customers, an Illinois BMW dealership is reaching out to area consumers in hopes to buy $3 million worth of used vehicles this month. Bill Jacobs BMW of Naperville, Ill., launched its “Major Buy Back Event” on Friday and is looking […] [Read More]