September marked the fourth straight time new-vehicle transaction prices have fallen on a sequential basis, resulting in a five-month low for what new cars are fetching, according to TrueCar. Specifically, the average new-car transaction price was $29,439 during the month. This is 1.2-percent higher than the year-ago figure but is off modestly (0.1 percent) from […] [Read More]

Dealers looking for off-lease units might want to mark March 2013 on their calendars. That’s when Kelley Blue Book thinks wholesale volumes for these valuable used units might finally edge higher. The reason KBB believes it will be about 18 months before off-lease availability increases is that’s when a larger amount of leased units begin […] [Read More]

Despite the high unemployment numbers and weak consumer confidence that plagued the economy, new-car sales saw nearly a double-digit rise as shoppers continued to flock to dealer lots, according to the American International Automobile Dealers Association. And while the most dramatic gains were spotted among the Big 3 OEMs, import brands enjoyed more than a […] [Read More]

KAR Auction Services revealed late Monday afternoon that its deal to buy OPENLANE has officially closed. The acquisition — which was announced in August — is now final. “Finalizing the acquisition of OPENLANE is great news for our employees, customers and other stakeholders, and we’re very excited to be able to move forward today as a unified […] [Read More]

Franchised dealers enjoyed more than an 11-percent year-over-year lift in used-vehicle sales during September, according to CNW Research, which attributed the spike to a major dose of incentives and strong trade-in values. The spike by franchised stores helped move the industry to an overall used sales total of 3.23 million units, up 4.6 percent year-over-year. […] [Read More]

Edmunds.com spotted that at least one foreign automaker is ramping up incentives like analysts have predicted. With its production of new models now back to normal, the site determined Honda’s average incentive spend grew to $1,871 per vehicle last month, a 12.3 percent increase over its average incentive spend in August. Echoing reasons analysts gave […] [Read More]

LeasePlan USA announced Monday that one of its own has been elected as vice president of the International Automotive Remarketers Alliance. As the organization’s VP, LeasePlan USA’s director of remarketing Levi McCoy will serve on the board of directors, which meets regularly to discuss and resolve issues regarding the IARA’s service to its membership base. […] [Read More]

Renovo Services recently brought in a former executive from PAR North America to be its vice president of customers. Tapped for the role is Annie Lowell, who most recently was executive sales director at PAR North America. Renovo is looking to Lowell to oversee the national sales function as well as grow existing relationships and […] [Read More]

Not only is the Illinois Recovery Association ready to celebrate its 10th anniversary, the organization is using its annual meeting to discuss how the recently passed Collateral Recovery Act is going to affect repo agencies in the state. The association is meeting Friday at the Embassy Suites in East Peoria, Ill. IRA intends to use […] [Read More]

It was announced late last week Mark Kaczynski, who currently serves as controller of sales and marketing at Nissan Americas, will succeed Steve Lambert as president of Nissan Motors Acceptance Corp. Lambert will be taking on the role of vice president of information systems. These appointments take effect Dec. 1, following a transition process that […] [Read More]