More than 70 percent of respondents in a recent Xtime study considered cost estimates “extremely important” or “very important” when scheduling service appointments. In fact, the assurance that they are getting a transparent estimate outranked all other factors among the 668 drivers surveyed, including the ability to choose the time or day of the appointment, […] [Read More]

BMW sold a record 11,877 certified pre-owned vehicles in July, beating year-ago figures by 23.1 percent, the company said in a news release Tuesday. Meanwhile, the MINI brand at BMW Group U.S. posted a July record 1,197 CPO sales, which beat year-ago sales by 8 percent. Among other brands reporting July CPO results so far, Mercedes-Benz […] [Read More]

Back in April, Manheim announced it was expanding its Retail Solutions operations to provide clients greater access to high-quality services that can produce retail-ready vehicles. During a discussion about its second-quarter results last week, Sonic Automotive described how Manheim is a “great business partner for us,” especially as the dealer group is looking to gain […] [Read More]

For each used vehicle it retails, Group 1 Automotive has been generating an average gross profit in the neighborhood of $1,500, and you can expect that to remain steady in the second half of the year. In the company’s latest quarterly earnings call with investors, Group 1 said used-vehicle prices in car segments have been […] [Read More]

Lithia Motors watched its retail used-vehicle sales figure overall and on a same-store basis climb by double digits year-over-year in the second quarter, which turned out to be the highest second quarter for adjusted net income in company history. Lithia reported that it turned 12.3 percent more used vehicles during Q2 as all of the […] [Read More]

The industry isn’t “over the cliff” at this point, but AutoNation chief executive officer Mike Jackson reiterated concerns he made earlier this year about too much incentivizing in the new-vehicle market, stressing that it’s an “unsustainable” model. During the Q&A portion of Friday’s quarterly earnings call, Jackson responded to an analyst expressing concern about record new-car […] [Read More]

Penske Automotive Group has ramped up its supply of “young, used vehicles.” During a conference call Thursday to discuss the company’s second-quarter earnings results, chief executive officer Roger Penske noted that in an effort to provide service customers on the premium luxury side with loaner cars, the auto group has grown its loaner car fleet to […] [Read More]

Look for used-car sales to finish July near the 3.4 million mark, as forecasts from Edmunds.com and TrueCar each landed in that neighborhood. Edmunds estimates July’s used-car sales tally at 3.4 million, resulting in a 38.7 million SAAR. Last month, there were 3.2 million used-car sales, with a resulting SAAR of 38.7 million, the company […] [Read More]

Asbury Automotive Group is being affected by stop-sales related to the ongoing Takata airbag recall to the point that some company stores are running out of available space to park them. The company on Tuesday reported a 4 percent dip in used vehicle retail revenue during the second quarter, with unit sales down 5 percent on […] [Read More]

The settlement plan involving Volkswagen and Audi 2.0L TDI vehicles in the United States cleared another hurdle on Wednesday when Judge Charles Breyer of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted preliminary approval of the agreement reached on June 28 with private plaintiffs represented by the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee (PSC) to […] [Read More]