There have been some big changes to the digital marketing landscape — ones that certainly impact dealers, says Kerri Wise, TrueCar's vice president of dealer marketing. “We're in the era of the empowered consumer,” Wise said in a phone interview with Auto Remarketing. “And I think the consumer is really what's changing. “They have a […] [Read More]

Perhaps just when Volkswagen dealers thought happier customers might be arriving at their service drive and showrooms, OEM officials in Wolfsburg, Germany acknowledged that investigators in that country are conducting a new probe involving Hans Dieter Pötsch, the chair of VW’s supervisory board. The subject of the investigation is alleged market manipulation, according to VW’s […] [Read More]

Enterprise Holdings and its affiliate Enterprise Fleet Management delivered record results in fiscal year 2016. For the 12-month period ended July 31, the company generated $20.9 billion in revenue. That was an 8.1-percent increase over FY 2015, according to a news release. As privately held companies, they do not disclose net income. Enterprise Holdings and […] [Read More]

CarMax has begun its largest hiring effort to date, following an announcement that the company is opening a new Murrieta, Calif. multi-purpose facility in February. The company is hiring more than 250 associates to staff the new location. A majority of the positions available are roles in service operations such as inventory, service advisors and technicians. There […] [Read More]

Sonic Automotive’s standalone used-car store program known as EchoPark Automotive is moving full steam ahead and doesn’t appear to be slowing anytime soon. The hub-and-spoke model that began in Colorado continues to grow, with future stops in the American South. EchoPark now has five locations open, two of which became fully operational in the third […] [Read More]

UPDATED to correct October monthly industry/domestic/Asian/European sales figures Certified pre-owned vehicle sales fell on a year-over-year basis for the second straight month, but are still up 3 percent year-to-date, according to Autodata Corp. With 2.21 million CPO vehicles sold through 10 months of 2016, full-year sales can still beat last year’s 2.55 million sales and mark […] [Read More]

The view appears rosy for pre-owned operations at Sonic Automotive, including expansion in its EchoPark standalone used-car stores. The dealer group had its best-ever quarter for used retail sales and achieved more than 58-percent growth in its EchoPark sales, according to its quarterly earnings release. Sonic retailed 30,933 used cars in the third quarter, an […] [Read More]

Not surprisingly, AutoNation chairman, chief executive officer and president Mike Jackson spent most of the company’s quarterly conference call this past Friday explaining why the dealer group is embarking on an aggressive used-vehicle expansion project. After reiterating what the company announced just before greeting Wall Street observers as well as the group’s third-quarter performance, Jackson […] [Read More]

Global auto sales rose by 10 percent in September — the biggest monthly gain in three years. According to Scotiabank’s recently release Global Auto Report, Asia led the way in September’s increase, with purchases of new vehicles climbing 21 percent higher than a year ago. China saw a 32-percent spike in volumes, marking that country’s […] [Read More]

When Penske Automotive Group hosted its third-quarter earnings call this week, chairman Roger Penske had some pleasing news. Used gross profit per unit in the U.S. was up by $179, he said — “and that’s across all brands.” When asked during the Q&A portion of the call what was driving that kind of performance, especially […] [Read More]