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]

Jerry’s Auto Group in Maryland is joining forces with the local Muscular Dystrophy Association Chapter next week for an inaugural golf classic to help those living with the condition. Scheduled for Monday at Hayfields Country Club in the Hunt Valley area of Baltimore County, Md., the golf event will include the dealership group along with […] [Read More]

While the precise return on investment for reconditioning is certainly up for debate — and economists contacted by Auto Remarketing were averse to putting an exact number on it — the payoff from a dealership’s recon investment raises some interesting issues. How much should dealers be willing to put into making a car retail-ready when […] [Read More]

It appears unlikely that the federal government will intervene any time soon with Tesla Motors’ desire to adopt a direct-to-consumer sales model on a national scale. In a response to a We the People petition created on June 5, Dan Utech, special assistant to the president for energy and climate change, outlined a few reasons […] [Read More]

Manheim and AutoTrader.com recently presented the first-ever National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers (NAMAD) Innovation Award to a dealer who the companies described as having positively impacted organizations and the industry. The 2014 NAMAD Innovation Award went to Steve Ewing, president and chief executive officer of Wade Ford of Smyrna, Ga. The award was presented […] [Read More]

Owners of eight Garden State franchised dealerships already punished by the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs 15 years ago entered into a consent order this week that included a settlement of $1.8 million, plus consumer restitution. New Jersey officials explained the settlement resolves a state investigation into what they described as alleged deceptive sales […] [Read More]

Brake fluid diagnostic purveyor Phoenix Systems announced a new partnership last week to offer the company’s Project Stop Safe system to members of the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association. The goal of the program, which facilitates Phoenix System’s brake fluid safety inspection, is to give NIADA members the opportunity to equip their dealerships with the […] [Read More]