The certified pre-owned vehicle market climbed more than 8 percent in April and approached 233,000 sales for the month, according to Autodata Corp. Releasing figures late Wednesday afternoon, Autodata said there were 232,853 CPO sales last month, which beat year-ago figures by 8.3 percent and pushed the year-to-date tally to 879,211 sales (up 5.9 percent). […] [Read More]

Possibly the death nail in Takata’s airbag inflator business could mean major headaches for franchised dealers and their service departments. Under the Amended Consent Order issued to Takata this week, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is expanding and accelerating the recall of Takata air bag inflators. The company is required to make a […] [Read More]

Though it’s a bit early to tell how increasing off-lease volume impacted certified pre-owned sales in April, the gains have certainly pushed CPO sales in recent years and so far in 2016. But keep this in mind, Kelley Blue Book’s Alec Gutierrez said during a teleconference with reporters on Tuesday: Extra off-lease supply can be […] [Read More]

Dealers who want a new hook to reach their customers and drive traffic to their service departments could leverage the marketing and safety initiative orchestrated by the Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA). Under the banner of National Tire Safety Week 2016, RMA is offering free “Be Tire Smart” brochures and other materials. Participating dealers can join […] [Read More]

While multiple forecasts have new-vehicle sales gaining significant or perhaps record-setting steam in April, the projection for used-vehicle sales to be generated during the fourth month of 2016 contains a year-over-year decline of nearly 4 percent. TrueCar indicated that its used-vehicle forecast for total sales — including turns at franchised and independent dealerships as well […] [Read More]

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and shopping website CarGurus announced an agreement on Wednesday that provides the automaker’s franchised dealers an opportunity to advertise and post their certified pre-owned vehicle inventory on the CarGurus site. Executives highlighted the agreement puts dealer CPO vehicle inventory in front of 20 million monthly unique automotive shoppers on the CarGurus website […] [Read More]

Group 1 Automotive increased its U.S. used-vehicle sales by more than 6 percent in the first quarter, retailing close to 27,000 units. Specifically, it sold  26,831 used retail units, up 6.7 percent year-over-year. Used retail revenue in the U.S. was up 9.1 percent at $558.76 million. Gross margin percentage on used retail sales was 7.8 […] [Read More]

Sonic Automotive reported record first-quarter pre-owned unit sales and its EchoPark standalone used-car outlets moved more than 900 vehicles. Sonic, one of three publicly traded dealer groups to release quarterly results Tuesday, said it retailed 29,333 used cars during the quarter, a 4.3-percent year-over-year improvement. The EchoPark stores sold 941 cars. In a news release, […] [Read More]

More than just the recent decline in the Manheim Used Vehicle Index has Lithia Motors upbeat about supply availability, especially coming on the heels of double-digit gross profit rises within what dealer group executives classify as their core used-vehicle sales segment as well as their certified pre-owned division. “We’re finally getting the cars that we […] [Read More]

Enterprise Car Sales now has four locations in the nation’s third-largest metropolitan area.  The company announced last week that it has opened a store in Palatine, Ill., its fourth location in the Chicago area. The store, which opened to the public in March, is a nearly 5,700-square-foot facility located on a three-acre lot. It can […] [Read More]