Volkswagen Group of America previously made arrangements for restitution with owners of vehicles involved with “Dieselgate.” On Thursday, the automaker released its plans to rectify the situation with its franchised dealerships. Volkswagen announced it has reached an agreement in principle to resolve the claims of VW-branded franchise dealers in the United States relating to TDI […] [Read More]

With Enterprise Holdings sending resources as well, National Automobile Dealers Association president Peter Welch and National Automobile Dealers Charitable Foundation chairman Annette Sykora arrived in the flood-ravaged areas of Louisiana’s capital city and announced they would seek to raise $2 million for franchised dealership families displaced by devastating flooding. Welch and Sykora are meeting with […] [Read More]

Jumpstart Automotive Group has unveiled a new logo and announced it is changing its name back to Jumpstart Automotive Media. The changes come on the heels of Jumpstart’s becoming part of the the newly formed Hearst Autos, joining such consumer brands as Car and Driver and Road & Track. “The formation of the Hearst Autos […] [Read More]

When buying a vehicle, people basically have three options: new, non-certified used or certified used. While everyone knows what a new vehicle is, many people are unsure of the differences between a certified and non-certified used vehicle, and the pros and cons of each. Savvy buyers look for the certified pre-owned (CPO) label, and dealers […] [Read More]

Certified pre-owned sales continue to climb and hit records. And used-car inventories are getting younger at franchised dealerships, with 58 percent of their used-car inventory in the second quarter at 3 years old or newer, according to Edmunds.com. In its Q2 2016 Used Vehicle Market Report, Edmunds said 22.6 percent of franchised dealers’ used-car sales in the second quarter […] [Read More]

Rapid Recon founder and chief executive officer Dennis McGinn pinpointed what he called five common mistakes that go undetected and unresolved in vehicle reconditioning that can cost dealers gross margin and erode their ability to be more competitive. “As the industry tightens over the months ahead, fixing these five broken processes now will increase reconditioning’s […] [Read More]

Security breaches can devastate a business, and dealerships — with their cast stores of customer information — are no exception. Citing data from a recent survey conducted by Osterman Research, Helion Technologies announced that 75 percent of small businesses have experienced security breaches in the last 12 months. The findings were published in a July report […] [Read More]

The National Automobile Dealers Association said thousands of store employees have suffered devastating losses from the recent flooding in Louisiana where storms left more than 20 inches of rain in some places. In light of NADA officials stressing that the need for financial assistance “is great and will last for many weeks to come,” the […] [Read More]

According to a recent study by the Sierra Club, electric vehicles are not widely available on most lots. The demand is there, but the study informs that dealerships are not keeping electric vehicles in inventory, salespeople are not prepared and educated to talk about them, or the vehicles are not charged or unavailable for a test drive. […] [Read More]

April through June represented the best second quarter ever for certified pre-owned sales, according to Edmunds.com, which said dealers sold 678,169 CPO units. This beat year-ago figures by 2.6 percent.  Used-car inventories are getting younger at franchised dealerships, cars are coming off lease and CPO sales continue to break records.   Certified has become a bigger part […] [Read More]