JM&A Group’s in-house educational and training facility, the Performance Development Center, has expanded its offerings for dealers throughout the industry. JM&A Group said it was doing that after the successful launch of its initial free virtual training courses. Describing the response to its online, live training courses as “overwhelmingly positive,” JM&A created four new sessions, which […] [Read More]

Digital retailing platform Prodigy is offering a one-to-one concierge shopping service for online car buyers that it says provides online car shoppers the same hands-on experience they get on the showroom floor. Prodigy says the service, called Virtual Showroom, brings that experience to shoppers with the convenience of an Amazon-like checkout process from their homes. […] [Read More]

Auto/Mate says its addition of a remote signing feature to its eDEAL Signature Capture digital contracting tool can help its current eDEAL customers overcome adverse sales conditions and close more deals during state-by-state enforcement of COVID-19 shelter-in-place mandates. Auto/Mate, a business unit of DealerSocket, is offering the feature to its current eDEAL customers as a […] [Read More]

On Friday, the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association announced with “great sadness” the passing of senior vice president of member services Scott Lilja, an executive that NIADA described as a “giant in the used-vehicle industry." NIADA said Lilja, 58, passed away May 3 after a long battle with multiple myeloma. Lilja’s lengthy career in the […] [Read More]

Automotive online services provider Carzato says its new Online Retailing Experience, or ORE, platform is a cross-tier and brand-customizable online car-buying tool. The tool routes high-intent shoppers directly to dealer online retailing tools. Carzato says ORE provides an efficient experience to the car-buyer and generates incremental, high closing leads to the dealers. And it does that […] [Read More]

Automotive industry management consultant Max Zanan says that because of the COVID-19 pandemic, many would-be car buyers worry that furloughs or illness will prevent them from keeping up with their payments. Tough times call for bold action, the consultant said. To help buyers and dealerships, Zanan is offering the Walkaway Vehicle Return Program. The program […] [Read More]

Perhaps another federal government program could eventually help to boost the service drive at dealerships. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Thursday announced that states can apply for funding to help drivers learn about and repair open safety recalls on their vehicles. “Recalls are serious. Recall repairs are completely free […] [Read More]

NOTE: UPDATED with additional OEM CPO incentive info. The certified pre-owned vehicle segment has an array of consumer- and business-facing benefits, and the latter would certainly include automakers and their captive finance arms. CPO can be a lever for captives to boost dealer demand for off-lease volume, through such perks as APR programs and extended […] [Read More]

With its founder and chief executive officer Ernie Garcia saying consumers are spending more time at home “and balancing that with the need to keep moving,” Carvana is offering as-soon-as-next-day touchless home delivery to 100 additional cities across 24 states. The company said it is doing that to provide those needing to purchase a vehicle […] [Read More]

Used-car sales hit another bump mid-week, but started to rebound as the weekend approached, according to a Cox Automotive analysis of used-vehicle sales last week, among other metrics. “We estimate that used was down 50% year-over-year last week, as used sales lost some ground at month-end, presumably in competition with new, but then saw an […] [Read More]