An independent dealership expert is gaining steam with his new consulting firm launched earlier this year. SmartGroups, which launched early this year by dealer educator Justin Osburn, already has multiple groups in place for small stores and for the nation’s largest independent dealers. The latest group, known as Poseidon, will hold its first meeting Oct. […] [Read More]

CarMax wants to boost its workforce, so the used-vehicle retailer is set to host a major hiring event at 15 of its locations nationwide on Thursday. The company said in a news release that it will be interviewing candidates for a variety of positions, including technicians, detailers, painters, supply associates and more. CarMax indicated there will be […] [Read More]

Here’s at least one place in the automotive landscape that’s currently stable. On Thursday, Urban Science announced highlights from its 2022 midyear Franchise Activity Report (FAR), which shows continued stability for the U.S. automotive retail franchised dealership network despite continued inventory shortages during the first six months of the year. As of July 1, Urban […] [Read More]

This week, two of the publicly traded dealer groups made moves, as Sonic Automotive acquired another store, and Group 1 Automotive shared an announcement for its shareholders. And another former star with the New York Yankees is opening a Honda dealership. On Wednesday, Sonic announced it has acquired Audi Owings Mills, marking the company’s eighth […] [Read More]

Cox Automotive spotted multiple used-vehicle retail sales metrics softening in July on both a sequential and year-over-year comparison. And experts see rough sledding for used-vehicle retailing for the rest of the year. According to Cox Automotive estimates shared on Tuesday via a Data Point, July total used-vehicle sales landed near … [Read More]

On Monday, Universal Technical Institute (UTI) launched the first session of its new BMW FastTrack technician training program at the Exton, Pa. campus, making it the fifth UTI location to begin offering the 12-week advanced training program. A collaboration between the German automaker and UTI, a leading provider of automotive technician training, BMW FastTrack provides […] [Read More]

The decision and plan for Shift and CarLotz to merge came together rather quickly — it was only about four weeks ago that CarLotz chief executive Lev Peker said he got a call from Shift CEO George Arison floating a potential combination. Determining what that combined company will ultimately look like, however, will take some […] [Read More]

Shift and CarLotz have agreed to merge. The companies said in a release late Tuesday afternoon they have entered a definitive agreement to combine in a stock-for-stock merger, with the combined company set to trade under the SFT ticker on Nasdaq. Shift is an end-to-end used-car ecommerce platform, and CarLotz is a consignment-to-retail used-car marketplace […] [Read More]

Electric vehicle subscription company Autonomy has placed a $1.2 billion fleet order for 23,000 EVs from 17 automakers across the world to broaden its subscription fleet. When Autonomy launched its EV subscription platform less than a year ago, it began by offering the Tesla Model 3, later adding the Model Y, with additional models from the […] [Read More]

As a bipartisan proposal sits on Capitol Hill to combat rising catalytic convertor theft in the U.S., Church Mutual Insurance Co. offered more data and dollar figures on Tuesday to illustrate how much of a problem it is. The insurer of non-profits, schools and houses of worship said it has covered nearly $3 million in […] [Read More]