The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration sent General Motors a 27-page special order demanding more specifics regarding the recall of more than 1.3 million units because of ignition problems. According to the order, GM has until April 3 to give NHTSA answers and clarifications to more than 100 questions regarding how the automaker handled the […] [Read More]

Did your franchised dealership perform particularly well with customers on Edmunds.com? If so, your store’s name might have made the cut for the second annual Five Star Dealer Awards. Edmunds.com is honoring a group of more than 250 dealers who have earned a five-star rating on the site’s Dealer Ratings and Review page. A total […] [Read More]

Sales for a couple domestic nameplates fell a bit this past month due in part to winter weather sweeping through most of the East Coast and Midwest. Both Ford and General Motors suffered a bit of a decline in February, but spring is just around the corner — and it will likely bring a stronger […] [Read More]

Earlier this week, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration closed a nearly year-long preliminary evaluation to investigate allegations of electronic throttle body (ETB) failures resulting in sudden reduction of engine power in four different models: the Ford Escape and Fusion and Mercury Mariner and Milan. During this investigation of nearly 1.6 million units from the […] [Read More]

AutoNation’s new chief financial officer is entering the position with the company off to a good year, as the dealer group revealed its choice for CFO as well as a 4-percent year-over-year increase in new-vehicle sales this past month — notching its best February for new-vehicle sales since 2007. AutoNation — which sold 21,987 new-vehicles […] [Read More]

Turning online shoppers into on-the-lot buyers is the goal, as two companies team up to help dealers boost sales.   Dealers subscribing to Carfax can now offer their prospective buyers access to Carfax Vehicle History Reports within HookLogic products Web2Show and Lead2Show, HookLogic has announced. Links to Carfax Reports can be sent within the customer confirmation […] [Read More]

Auto/Mate Dealership Systems announced Monday that DealerSocket has completed integration with its dealership management system. Dealers who use both solutions can benefit from improved sales efficiency with real-time, bi-directional updates of customer, vehicle and deal information in both systems, company officials said. “Both Auto/Mate and DealerSocket use an open API to integrate with other vendors, […] [Read More]

How consistent and accurate is your online marketing presence? A new assessment tool aims to let you know. On Monday, Maritz Dealers Solutions/Opportunity Max announced the release of its new digital marketing review service, called WEBCHECK√, designed to examine a dealership’s digital assets to check the consistency and accuracy of its overall online marketing presence. […] [Read More]

International transportation services company Penske Automotive Group Inc., on Friday announced it has signed a letter of intent with Porsche Cars North America, to construct a new dealership that will serve as a flagship property for the Porsche brand. This new dealership, to be located in Broward County in southern Florida, will represent the company's […] [Read More]

Manheim’s Tom Webb dissected the fourth-quarter reports from the seven publicly traded dealership groups and discovered same-store used unit retail sales increased for the 18th consecutive quarter. Webb pointed out that these companies managed to keep this streak going even though the year-over-year comparisons represented “an increasingly high hurdle.” Nevertheless, Webb mentioned in his latest […] [Read More]