J.D. Byrider announced Tuesday that it has been acquired by private equity firm Altamont Capital Partners. Altamont plans to provide Byrider with strategic direction, experienced resources and additional capital to support its growth and franchise expansion initiatives. The purchase of Byrider is Altamont’s first investment from its $500 million fund, which closed late last year. The firm said […] [Read More]

Not long after the automaker declared it was paying back government bailouts and posted quarterly net income for the first time since bankruptcy, Chrysler Group chief executive officer Sergio Marchionne had more positive financial news to share Tuesday. Standard & Poor’s issued a preliminary B+ credit rating for Chrysler. Also coming Tuesday, the automaker learned Moody’s issued […] [Read More]

Even in the midst of rising fuel costs and their impact on purchasing decisions, new-vehicle transaction prices last month reached the highest level for any April on record, according to TrueCar.com. The site attributes this surge to a trio of factors, one of which was plunging incentives. And while this combination of higher transaction prices and […] [Read More]

Innovative Funding Services and LeasePlan USA announced they have formed a partnership.  IFS specializes in providing fleet customers with the opportunity to purchase vehicles and offers a variety of financing options through its lender partnerships, as well as commercial loan possibilities. Meanwhile, LeasePlan provides fleet and vehicle management solutions. It manages 1.3 million vehicles throughout the world. […] [Read More]

Franchise dealers enjoyed their strongest April for used-car sales in five years, according to CNW Research. Meanwhile, independent dealers saw an increase greater than 17 percent on a year-over-year basis. Specifically, franchise dealers moved 1.32 million used vehicles, which is 10.7-percent stronger than April 2010 figures, CNW’s Art Spinella reported. As for  independent dealers, their used sales reached 1.33 million units, […] [Read More]

Potential legislation that could significantly change how Illinois repossession agents operate continues to make its way through the state’s General Assembly. According to information on the state government’s website, Illinois Senate bill No. 1306, known as the Collateral Recovery Act, is already on the docket within the House’s Judiciary Civil Law Committee for more possible […] [Read More]

All Technology Recovery, a full-service repossession facilitation and management company, recently reached a partnership with Regional Acceptance. Regional Acceptance is utilizing the national network of collateral recovery professionals to provide repossession facilitation. All Technology Recovery intends to provide 24/7 support on LPR2.0 scans for Regional Acceptance. Through All Technology Recovery’s network, officials emphasized that lenders can […] [Read More]

After rocketing past the 20-percent mark for much of the winter, the leasing market made a “reversion back to normal levels” during March and the first few weeks of April, according to J.D. Power and Associates senior director Thomas King, who shared some insight on Friday with Auto Remarketing about the leasing trends spotted through […] [Read More]

Vehicle-sharing company car2go made its Canadian debut this week in Vancouver, and company officials said that Canadian members will be able to enjoy a fleet of 225 “car2go edition” smart cars beginning in June. Car2go Canada Ltd. is a subsidiary of Daimler North American Corp. Here is how car2go is designed to work. Officials call […] [Read More]

The 2011 U.S. Green Automotive Study released this week by J.D. Power and Associates doesn’t give franchise dealers that are pushing hybrid and electric vehicles a favorable sales outlook. J.D. Power claims growth of alternative powertrain vehicles sales will be limited by consumer concerns about costs as well as functionality. Despite a rapid increase in […] [Read More]