The Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association has named Robert Vail as its new chairman. Vail, the current president of the Vail Auto Group in Bedford Hill, N.Y., has been a member of the GNYADA board of directors since 1993 as well as holding several positions on both the executive and finance committees for the […] [Read More]

When Sonic Automotive held its conference call to discuss second-quarter results on Tuesday, on top of a record used-sales performance, the focus was on a series of initiatives the dealer group is either rolling out or beginning to reap the benefits of this year. During the call, investor interest circled around Sonic’s True Price strategy, […] [Read More]

Asbury Automotive Group announced across-the-board gross profit increases including a 7-percent increase on the used-car side. The company retailed 18,840 used vehicles in the second quarter, which proved to be 1,137 more used vehicles sold than in the second quarter of 2013, a 6-percent increase. Total used retail gross profit came in at $33.7 million, up […] [Read More]

In recent months, an independent dealer has typically generated an average premium in the neighborhood of $700 when he or she chooses to certify a car with a non-OEM program versus not certifying the vehicle at all.   That’s according to June’s Retail Automotive Summary from CNW Research, which also said that more than four-fifths […] [Read More]

There were 2.11 million certified pre-owned vehicles sold in 2013, up from 1.83 million in 2012, and 2014 is expected to be an even bigger year for certified sales, with Manheim Consulting putting a target on the 4 million mark. Are you making the most of this growing market? To help dealers answer that question […] [Read More]

As the public dealer groups began reporting their second-quarter performances in full force, Sonic Automotive revealed it reached an all-time high for used sales. The company sold a record 28,514 pre-owned units in Q2. Pre-owned units sales per store per month were up, as well, reaching 100 units in May and 93 units for the […] [Read More]

Group 1 Automotive announced this week the acquisition of two dealerships located in Houston: Munday Chevrolet and Munday Mazda. The two dealerships, which will continue to do business with their current names, are estimated to yield $225 million annually. Earl Hesterberg, the president and chief executive officer of Group 1, believes the acquisition of two […] [Read More]

Experian Automotive announced this week that it will be working with American Honda Motor Co. to provide vehicle history reports for both Honda’s and Acura’s certified pre-owned programs. In order to be certified, pre-owned Hondas and Acuras will be further evaluated using Experian Automotive’s AutoCheck vehicle history reports, as part of the agreement between the […] [Read More]

Ascertaining specific figures as to what is the prudent amount to spend on reconditioning can be a bit of a challenge, according to industry experts who crunch wholesale numbers for a living. While neither ADESA’s Tom Kontos nor Manheim’s Tom Webb shared a specific dollar amount with Auto Remarketing, each economist did explain how grade […] [Read More]

Both second quarter and first-half used-vehicle sales for AutoNation beat year-ago figures, but the improvements in used-car gross profits per vehicle were even more impressive. AutoNation moved 52,565 used retail units in Q2 for a 1.0-percent year-over-year gain, and it sold 104,792 used retail vehicles through six months of the year, which beats the year-ago […] [Read More]