While often the reference for used-vehicle sales data, CNW Research late last week shared projections about how July new-vehicles sales might settle and why. CNW thinks there will be 1.105 million new sales this month, a figure that would represent a 5.3-percent rise from July of last year. President Art Spinella used that July prediction […] [Read More]

The auto buyer landscape may be shifting toward a younger generation these days, but Baby Boomers still yield quite a bit of power. Many in this generation — those buyers born between 1947 and 1965 — have greater flexibility when it comes to time and money, thanks to an empty nest at home and more […] [Read More]

WomenCertified is calling for dealers throughout the country to nominate their respective stores for an upcoming listing that will honor those that show the most remarkable customer service. To vie for a spot on the list of Top Dealerships for Outstanding Customer Experience by WomenCertified, dealers can go to www.womencertified.com/topdealerships and fill out the form. WomenCertified […] [Read More]

Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group announced late last week that one of its subsidiaries has priced a group of rental car asset-backed notes to raise more capital. Oklahoma based Rental Car Finance Corp. priced $500 million in aggregate principal amount of medium-term Series 2011-1 rental car asset-backed notes. Company officials state that the notes will be […] [Read More]

Ontario dealer Al Revell no longer buys any vehicle at the physical auction. Instead, the co-owner of Revell Ford Lincoln in Verona, Ontario takes care of all his store’s wholesale buying needs through OPENLANE. A case study on Revell’s store from OPENLANE revealed that a few years ago, Ford was steering its dealers to utilize […] [Read More]

Acknowledging it won’t recoup the full amount owed by the Old Chrysler, the U.S. Department of the Treasury said Thursday it received $560 million in proceeds from the sale of its remaining stake in Chrysler Group to Fiat. With the closing of this transaction, the Treasury declared that it has fully exited its investment in […] [Read More]

So far this month, although new retail sales have picked up the pace from June and May, various downward pressures appear to be keeping sales at bay. The market still hasn’t returned to the strength it saw during the first few months of 2011, according to J.D. Power and Associates. The firm is forecasting July […] [Read More]

About eight months after rolling out its initial public offering, General Motors revealed a quarterly dividend on its preferred stock this week. GM’s board of directors approved a $0.59375 per share divided on the company’s Series B mandatory convertible junior preferred stock, officials noted. Series B holders of record as of Aug. 15 will be […] [Read More]

Kelley Blue Book’s Jack Nerad gathered his thoughts Wednesday and made a stiff rebuttal to the recent proclamation issued by the White House and federal regulators about future Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards. Nerad first recapped that automakers have been told they should roll out lineups with the CAFE levels reaching 56 miles per gallon. […] [Read More]

R.L. Polk & Co. revealed Wednesday that it has appointed a director of forecasting for the Americas. Hired to the position is Anthony Pratt, who most recently was head of PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Autofacts team. Pratt’s duties in the new role include overseeing Polk’s forecasting operations in the Americas. He will also head up showcasing, selling and delivering […] [Read More]