Avis Budget Group confirmed Wednesday in its latest filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it will no longer pursue a $1.5 billion acquisition of Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group. As to the reason why, Avis officials stated, “We have made significant progress toward obtaining U.S. regulatory clearance for the acquisition of DTAG, and we […] [Read More]

General Motors was an early adopter in the certified pre-owned business when it began picking up steam in the 1990s, and these days, GM typically leads the pack in terms of overall CPO sales. But for one store, in particular, the core values of certification have been a part of the dealership’s mantra for more […] [Read More]

The Used Car Week Conferences — the National Remarketing Conference, the CPO Forum and the all-new Re3 Conference — today announced the launch of UsedCarWeek.biz, a one-stop portal for information about all three conferences. The Used Car Week is a weeklong series of three dynamic conferences for the used-vehicle industry, all in one location during […] [Read More]

It appears prices were surging in the certified pre-owned market during August, as AutoTrader.com reported Tuesday that 18 of the site’s 20 most popular CPO models saw their asking prices go up from a year ago. What’s more, 14 of those 18 increases were more than $1,000, the site pointed out. [Read More]

Vehicle rental companies are a vital source of late-model used-vehicle inventory, and the outlook and opportunities in the rental remarketing world are of key importance to dealers and remarketers throughout the industry. The 2011 National Remarketing Conference will focus on this important industry segment during a panel discussion on Nov. 17. Representatives from the nation’s […] [Read More]

What might sound like depressing economic news for consumers actually could be uplifting topics for used-vehicle dealers. Jonathan Banks, executive automotive analyst for NADA Used Car Guide, explained why the recent drumbeat of faltering employment levels and wavering consumer confidence will likely only continue to push potential buyers over to the used department rather than new-retail showrooms. […] [Read More]

Kelley Blue Book is turning to consumer-generated “diary” blogging for a new study that it hopes can shed some light on what makes car shoppers tick and how technology may need to adapt to their needs. KBB is looking for as many as 16 prospective new- or used-car buyers to keep a virtual diary of their […] [Read More]

Hertz Global Holdings still wants to make a deal with Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group. So late last week, Hertz again announced it extended the expiration date of its exchange offer for all outstanding shares of Dollar Thrifty. The offer is for $57.60 in cash and 0.8546 shares of Hertz common stock. Hertz indicated the exchange […] [Read More]

The brand-new Re3 Conference — Recovery, Repossession and Remarketing — will tackle a key topic for the repossession industry with its second panel discussion. The session, titled “Selling Repos Directly from Agent Lots: The good, the bad, and the opportunity,” will feature: —Brent Huisman, vice president, asset remarketing, Santander —Zach Hallowell, business line director, OPENLANE […] [Read More]

Streamlining data analysis for an industry not accustomed to such a process is taking the American Recovery Association and Subprime Analytics a little more time than they originally anticipated. But what’s being organized — ARA’s second-ever Industry Scorecard — has executive director Les McCook and Subprime Analytics president Ken Shilson greatly excited about the project’s […] [Read More]