Continuing an active end of the year within the commercial financing area, First Business Bank’s floorplan financing team this week announced the promotion of Spencer Brink to portfolio manager of floorplan financing. Brink joined First Business Bank in 2016 as a credit analyst intern, moving into a full-time credit analyst role after graduation from the […] [Read More]

More changes in connection with America’s Group came to light this week. A few days after the company announced Chuck Tapp would become CEO, another news release indicated XL Funding and Auction Credit Enterprises — two floorplan financing companies affiliated with America’s — have joined forces to operate as Axle Funding. The updated name follows the strategic combination of […] [Read More]

When faced with adverse times, we get smarter.  In 2008, we transitioned to digital marketing and began looking at our marketing analytics much closer.  In 2020, digital retailing was forced upon the industry, and we had to use new data to determine how effective the online shopper’s experience was. Modern analytics now serve as the […] [Read More]

Jay Maxwell of the Costco Auto Program returns to the Auto Remarketing Podcast this week In this episode, we talk about the program's latest certified pre-owned incentives, the importance of partnerships between dealers, automakers and third parties in CPO, plus much more. To listen to the conversation, click on the link available below, or visit the Auto […] [Read More]

Initial estimates for used-car retail sales in November are down on both a month-over-month and year-over-year basis, but comparisons to pre-COVID numbers are improving. That’s according to analysis from Cox Automotive, which bases its sales estimates on a same-store set of dealership data from its Dealertrack business unit. Cox estimates there was a … [Read More]

This philanthropic activity roundup includes activities involving EchoPark Automotive, a subsidiary of Sonic Automotive, as well as JM Family Enterprises. EchoPark already collaborated with business mogul, TV personality and motivational speaker Marcus Lemonis to give away one used vehicle in November. This month, the retailer and Lemonis intend to give away three more vehicles. The […] [Read More]

Dealers are not feeling optimistic as the year finishes. Dealer sentiment in the fourth quarter dropped to the lowest level since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Cox Automotive Dealer Sentiment Index (CADSI) released Wednesday. Cox Automotive reported the current market index is below the threshold of 50, coming in at 43 […] [Read More]

Say you have a used-car shopper who is both price-conscious and cautiously approaching fuel efficiency. For an auto retailer, a plug-in hybrid may be the route to entice that consumer and help ease them into the alternative-fuel market, if data from CarMax is any indication. Amid high gas prices earlier this year, CarMax found that […] [Read More]

Some good news for dealers amid the holiday season: prices on wholesale vehicles continue to fall, and it's becoming slightly easier to get these cars on their lots than it was a year ago.  A least two industry indices measuring wholesale vehicle prices have reached their lowest levels in 15 months, respectively. Black Book’s Used […] [Read More]

Shifting consumer trends are changing the way car dealerships do business in the 21st century. As more consumers buy cars online, many dealerships are forced to compensate for thin profit margins, sometimes even by selling company land to make ends meet. These unique challenges underscore the growing need for industry-wide adaptation. The analog tools that […] [Read More]