Mercedes-Benz USA said it has received approval from the U.S. Department of Labor and Department of Veterans Affairs to become the first luxury automotive manufacturer to offer a Registered Apprenticeship Program. MBUSA’s new 16-week technician training and development program, Mercedes-Benz DRIVE, trains veteran and non-veteran candidates for in-demand technician careers at authorized Mercedes-Benz dealerships. The […] [Read More]

The Chrysler brand and Kango, the app-based, rideshare service for children, recently announced a new partnership that will make a fleet of new Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans available to eligible Kango drivers for lease in San Francisco. The California-based Kango said Chrysler Pacifica Hybrids will be available to its San Francisco Bay area drivers beginning this […] [Read More]

Certified pre-owned vehicle sales fell more than 3 percent in July, but year-to-date numbers still remain slightly ahead of the 2016 pace. That’s according to numbers released Tuesday by Autodata Corp. There were 227,045 CPO sales for the month, which was off 3.2 percent year-over-year but up 2.3 percent from June. Through seven months, there […] [Read More]

Group 1 Automotive leadership offered a bit more explanation as to why used-vehicle retail revenue and gross profit softened during the second quarter with part of the reason why the company saying it had to tap inventory availability at auctions to fulfill its needs. Officials recapped that Q2 retail used-vehicle revenues decreased 4.2 percent on […] [Read More]

Seven Democratic lawmakers are trying again to push legislation that would prohibit the retailing of vehicles with an unfulfilled recall; a plan prompting the two largest dealership associations to reiterate their objections and explain the potential unintended consequences. Amid all the hubbub over healthcare and the revolving door at the White House, late last week […] [Read More]

Fueled in part by its used-vehicle performance, Lithia Motors posted its 27th consecutive quarter of record results, including the highest second quarter revenue and earnings per share in company history. Helping Lithia to those achievements were used-vehicle retail same-store sales increasing by 4 percent. All told, the dealer group retailed a total of 32,171 used […] [Read More]

As Asbury Automotive Group chose to leave its standalone used-car store business, Sonic Automotive’s dedicated used-vehicle rooftops are adding so much to its performance that the company is expanding the segment. Sonic highlighted on Friday that it retailed a record number of used vehicles during the second quarter, turning 30,536 units that contributed $40.0 million in […] [Read More]

Paced by a 25.1 percent jump in used-vehicle retail sales, Penske Automotive Group reported on Thursday that the company posted the highest quarterly income from continuing operations and earnings per share in company history during the second quarter. Penske highlighted Q2 income from continuing operations attributable to common shareholders increased 11.9 percent to $106.0 million, […] [Read More]

Group 1 Automotive established a new record gross profit per unit through its F&I department during the second quarter. But softened used- and new-vehicle sales in areas where the bulk of its dealerships are located — Texas and Oklahoma — left a significant impact on the dealer group’s top-line performance. According to its latest financial […] [Read More]

While it appears new-car sales are continuing to lose steam, Edmunds is projecting that used-vehicle sales in July should climb when compared to the previous month. Edmunds is estimating that 3.4 million used vehicles will be sold this month, which would compute into an estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 39.2 million. For June, […] [Read More]