Not only are there more franchised dealerships in the United States than there were at the end of 2014, but the average number of new-vehicle sales per dealership is also trending toward an all-time record. That’s according to statistics from Urban Science, which has released its 2015 midyear Automotive Franchise Activity Report. The data shows that the number […] [Read More]

There continues to be a great deal of misconception in sales managers’ thinking about why they’re not able to increase used-vehicle volume. Industry metrics confirm that those dealers not performing at a minimum 1-to-1 new-to-used retail sales ratio are just not participating in the opportunities of the current market. So why do our managers continue […] [Read More]

Dealers with import brands had nice gains in certified pre-owned sales during July, as yearly sales continue down a blistering path. First, Asian brands sold 104,555 certified vehicles in July (up 9.5 percent), according to Autodata Corp. Meanwhile, their year-to-date figures are at 684,778 units through seven months, which beats the year-ago pace by 8.1 percent. […] [Read More]

Domestic automakers increased their certified pre-owned sales by more than 14 percent in July, and one of the Big 3 had its strongest CPO month of all time. According to Autodata Corp., Fiat Chrysler Automobiles had its best month ever for certified sales. Including the Fiat brand, FCA US had 16,710 CPO sales in July, […] [Read More]

Following the record damage caused by the spring flooding in Texas, members of the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association, along with the NIADA Foundation, decided to help. Keith Hagler, a former NIADA president, presented a $15,600 check to the Austin Disaster Relief Network at the First Baptist Church of Taylor on July 30 to aid […] [Read More]

Hyundai Motor America announced today it has chosen a new vice president and chief marketing officer. Picked for the position is Dean Evans, the former chief marketing officer of Subaru of America and a veteran of such companies as LotLinx, Dealer.com and Dealix.com. Evans will now be responsible for all Hyundai marketing and advertising activities in […] [Read More]

It was an eventful second-quarter conference call for TrueCar, one which included reporting an almost $15 million loss during the quarter, as well as plans for chief executive officer and chairman Scott Painter to step down later this year. Though operating results suffered during the last quarter, the company did report an increase to $65.3 […] [Read More]

Lithia Motors announced Wednesday its acquisition of Bitterroot Ford. The store, located in Missoula, Mont., will be renamed Lithia Ford of Missoula. Lithia expects the store to add $50 million in annual revenues to the group’s portfolio. Bryan DeBoer, Lithia’s president and chief executive officer, noted the importance of the acquisition. “This addition marks our […] [Read More]

Industry-wide certified pre-owned sales climbed 11 percent year-over-year in July, and one automaker (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) had its best month ever. That’s according to data and analysis released by Autodata Corp., which pinpointed the total industry CPO figure at 221,891 sales for the month. Through seven months, year-to-date sales are just a shade under 1.5 […] [Read More]

AutoNation announced its July new-vehicle sales results on Tuesday, highlighting a 9-percent year-over-year increase compared to July 2014. The dealer group retailed 29,875 new vehicles in July. On a same-store basis, new-vehicle unit sales increased by 7 percent year over year compared to July 2014. Here’s a segmented breakdown of new-vehicle sales, according to the […] [Read More]