In my previous post I discussed why pre-owned profit margins are under pressure. The factors driving this trend include transparency from the Internet, market-based pricing, and rising overhead costs from new dealership buildings. And that’s not the bad news — the bad news is that the problem is only going to get worse over the […] [Read More]

Domestics continued what has been a strong year for certified pre-owned operations for the Big 3, increasing their combined September CPO sales by more than 25 percent year-over-year, according to Autodata Corp. More specifically, their dealers moved 67,526 certified vehicles during the month for a 25.1 percent hike, pushing the year-to-date sum to 612,560 CPO […] [Read More]

If one needs proof of the value that auto dealerships can potentially bring to the business community at large, just look at the announcement coming out of Berkshire Hathaway on Thursday — and the reaction it got from one of the top leaders of the remarketing business. Berkshire Hathaway — headed by one of the […] [Read More]

Certified pre-owned vehicle sales climbed nearly 20 percent year-over-year in September, capping the best quarter ever for the CPO market, according to Autodata Corp. And one brand, Kia, had its strongest month of all time for certified sales. Overall, there were 188,341 CPO sales last month, marking a 19.7-percent year-over-year gain. This figure pushed year-to-date sales […] [Read More]

Fueled by significant turn increases for vehicles 5 years old and newer as well as financing to subprime borrowers, the used-vehicle industry closed the last month of the third quarter with 4.3 percent sales gain. CNW Research determined September contained more than 3.8 million used-vehicle sales among turns at franchised and independent dealers and private-party […] [Read More]

Following a campaign with the OEM from 2013 that generated more than 21,000 sales, the Costco Auto Program announced it has rolled out another offer with General Motors that will provide deals on 17 of the most-requested models from Costco customers. Through the 2014 Holiday Sales Event — which began Wednesday and runs through Jan. […] [Read More]

General Motors rolled out an ambitious strategic plan on Wednesday, insisting that in 2015, about 27 percent of GM’s global sales volume is expected to come from products new or refreshed within 18 months. Does it mean when that new metal becomes used — or more specifically, certified pre-owned — the growth prospects still will […] [Read More]

One of the greatest challenges facing dealerships right now is that profit margins are increasingly under pressure. Several factors are at play, but it’s clear that the Internet is making it increasingly difficult to earn strong retail gross profits per vehicle. NADA reports that the average retail gross profit for used cars in 2013 was […] [Read More]

After TrueCar announced it has grown its dealer council earlier this week,  the company and U.S. News & World Report revealed today that they have extended their U.S. News car buying program another two years. The program, which has been powered by TrueCar since 2011, offers a negotiation-free car buying and selling platform and is available via […] [Read More]

As Toyota informed the agency it’s recalling approximately 690,000 pickups, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an official investigation of about 4.9 million Chrysler SUVs, trucks and vans stemming from a petition sent by the Center for Auto Safety (CAS). NHTSA indicated in a notice posted on its website on Monday that the defect […] [Read More]