The fourth quarter of 2014 wrapped up what was Penske Automotive Group’s most profitable year ever. The company announced Wednesday, revenue in 2014 increased by 18.9 percent to a total of $17.2 billion, $4.4 billion of which was made in Q4.  And in 2014, Penske retailed a grand total of 398,356 new and used vehicles. […] [Read More]

Dealer groups are getting bigger. For example, just since the year began, AutoNation acquired stores in Nevada and Georgia, while Group 1 Automotive reached what it called an “amicable and mutually beneficial settlement agreement” to finalize a deal for a luxury dealership in Florida. KeyBanc Capital Markets focused on three elements while explaining why mergers […] [Read More]

New vehicles won’t be the only debut made by Toyota in Chicago this month. Tuning into the spirit of Valentine’s Day, Toyota has announced Monday it will spreading the love by bringing insulated winter boots and socks to residents of The Salvation Army Evangeline Booth Lodge in Chicago for its “Toyota Walk In My Boots” […] [Read More]

CarMax Inc. announced Tuesday that it has begun the recruitment process to fill over 2,500 positions at its locations in the United States. The majority of the available positions are in sales, with others in service, purchasing and in the business office. The positions will include full- and part-time work schedules as well as day […] [Read More]

The first week of February continued what analysts are calling “mild” depreciation to start off the new year. In January, depreciation rates were mellow, as dealers readied for the tax season. That’s according to Black Book’s latest depreciation report, which shows the average price for a used vehicle for model years 2009-2012 saw prices drop […] [Read More]

Penske Automotive Group announced this week it has renamed its U.S.-based commercial vehicle dealership business to Penske Commercial Vehicles, US. The company also revealed its choice for leadership of this newly defined business branch, picking Richard Shearing as the new president of Penske Commercial Vehicles, US. Shearing is coming over from Daimler Trucks North America, […] [Read More]

A relatively new program within BMW’s certified pre-owned operations that helps dealers retail used loaner and demonstration cars is gaining share in the company’s CPO pie and resonating with dealers and consumers, alike. Called BMW CPO Elite, the program was rolled out in January 2014 and, according to the company’s website, includes newer-model, lower-mileage BMW […] [Read More]

Certified pre-owned sales of Asian-brand vehicles jumped close to 11 percent in January, and European-brand CPO sales moved even higher, improving by nearly 25 percent year-over-year. That’s according to Autodata Corp., which released its monthly breakdown of industry-wide and brand-by-brand CPO sales. Starting with Asian OEMs, their 87,623 CPO sales last month were up 10.9 […] [Read More]

Dealers with Big 3 brands collectively sold nearly 73,000 certified pre-owned vehicles last month and picked up an extra 1.5 percent of market share, according to Autodata Corp. Domestics commanded 37.4 percent of the CPO market in January, the firm said, and their 72,841 certified sales beat year-ago figures by 22.1 percent. Brands within the […] [Read More]

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently shared details about recalls from a half-dozen different makes, adding up to a little more than 200,000 units. The largest portion of that figure is associated with a campaign to correct the system controlling airbags on the Jeep Cherokee from the 2014 and 2015 model-years. Officials indicated Fiat-Chrysler […] [Read More]