After 31 years with Larry H. Miller Group of Companies, including the last four years as chief executive officer, Clark Whitworth is leaving Larry H. Miller Group to serve as a mission president for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Whitworth will stay on as chief executive officer through the transition process as […] [Read More]

In the second of six sessions recorded at Used Car Week for the Auto Remarketing Podcast, Joe Overby moderates the Off-Lease Effect panel discussion on the CPO market with Don Luke of Bill Luke Chrysler Jeep Dodge, Eric Shoemaker of Trophy Nissan and Basem Tartir of Mazda. The full discussion can be found below. And […] [Read More]

As it turns out, that car shopper at the dealership does want the salesperson by their side. Roadster, a commerce solutions provider for car dealers, partnered with Survata and Talk Shoppe for a study that surveyed more than 1,500 consumers and eight dealers across six brands. The gist of their findings is that while using technology […] [Read More]

We are getting closer to becoming a one-price society. Why? Because people want things automated. Rick Ricart believes that, but the president of  Ricart Automotive Group in Columbus, Ohio, also feels that if buyers want automated and fast transactions, then those buyers give up negotiation. “That’s what the trade-off is,” said Ricart, whose grandfather started […] [Read More]

In 2016, when Ricart Automotive sold 8,000-plus used vehicles, Rick Ricart figured: “We really don’t need to sell more used cars; we need to do a better job with the number we’re selling” and gross profits. But when the dealership group sold virtually the same number of used vehicles in 2017, Ricart concluded that those […] [Read More]

Thousands of viewers in person and watching on television saw an exciting NCAA football game as the Tulane Green Wave defeated the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns, 41-24, in the AutoNation Cure Bowl at Camping World Stadium in Orlando this past Dec. 15. But for automotive retailer AutoNation, the game served as great publicity. Sports fans saw […] [Read More]

There are lots of opportunities for innovation in the used-car space for dealers. In fact, some may say it is a hotbed for new ideas.  “I think a lot of the most exciting trends in automotive buying are going to be led by used-car retail,” Aaron Krane, the chief executive of Drive Motors, which develops online […] [Read More]

A walk through the customer-facing side of the EchoPark Automotive store in Charlotte, N.C., has the feel of a cafe, not a car dealership. The employee work area, separated from the consumer-facing front, has the trappings of a young, tech-leaning startup. But the innovation of this store and its fellow EchoPark locations go well beyond […] [Read More]

As a master impressionist and a man of many characters from his “Saturday Night Live” days and beyond, Dana Carvey, one of the keynote speakers at NADA Show 2019, has had to wear many hats, so to speak. So too does the franchised car dealer. Just as Carvey’s repertoire has ranged from characters like “Garth […] [Read More]

When the 2019 leadership of the National Automobile Dealers Association was announced in October, incoming chairman Charlie Gilchrist said in a news release that dealers “are facing many challenges, but we will also have many opportunities as we journey throughout the year.” Topping that list of challenges, Gilchrist said in an emailed Q&A with Auto […] [Read More]