Autobytel revealed Wednesday it has chosen its Dealer of the Month for September, recognizing a store that opened its doors over a century ago in 1908. The company has given the honor to Tony Thorstad, Internet sales director of Smart Motors Toyota in Madison, Wisc. Thorstad joins Patti Scipione of M’Lady Nissan, Paul LeRose of […] [Read More]

The latest General Motors deal offered through the Costco Auto Program is turning consumers' heads, reaching record levels for the companies' partnership only two weeks into the offering. The companies recently revealed more than 2,000 Costco members had bought a vehicle in the first two weeks of its GM Limited-Time Offer. When compared to the […] [Read More]

DealerRater reviews and ratings are now being integrated with Kelley Blue Book’s newly enhanced new-car shopping experience. In making the recent announcement, DealerRater said KBB’s new-car online shopping experience, featuring car-pricing tool Price Advisor, helps create a more qualified consumer through pricing education, as well in-depth information about car dealerships. Price Advisor enables dealers to […] [Read More]

Pushed in part by opportunities from vehicle recalls and a sizeable gain in reconditioning work, Asbury Automotive Group’s third-quarter parts and service business was thriving. In fact, its same-store parts and service gross margins increased 2.7 percentage points year-over-year in the third quarter and came in at 60.9 percent. Asbury pulled in $91.7 million in […] [Read More]

Late last week, General Motors announced two separate recalls for late-model versions of the Chevrolet Malibu for two different issues. The automaker indicated it is recalling 42,696 Chevrolet Malibu sedans from the 2014 model year in the United States because the heating, ventilation and air conditioning, or HVAC, controls may not operate properly when the […] [Read More]

Kelley Blue Book this morning announced its 2014 brand and model-year vehicle winners of the annual Best Resale Value Awards, recognizing vehicles for their projected retained value through the initial five-year ownership period. Toyota and Lexus earned top honors for best brand and best luxury brand, and each had six segment winners from a total […] [Read More]

Attention, sales teams: Customers report higher sales-process satisfaction when you use a tablet device. According to the J.D. Power 2013 U.S. Sales Satisfaction Index Study released late last week, sales satisfaction among new-vehicle buyers is 52 points higher when their salesperson uses a tablet device during the sales process than when the salesperson does not, […] [Read More]

Of course, as a dealer, you look back at the end of each month and put some thought into why your sales have played out the way they have. But, are you concentrating on how you are analyzing your store’s monthly sales results? In an upcoming webinar, founder and chief operating officer of Potratz Partners […] [Read More]

After slimmer gross profits per unit on the used-car side in the third quarter, Group 1 Automotive is forecasting relative stability in its used-vehicle margins going forward. Though this is an area in which the retailer said it would like to improve, management did offer one projection that may prove beneficial in coming months: stronger […] [Read More]

William Cole, Bill Cole Automall, Bluefield, W. Va. “The most rewarding aspect of my automotive career has been the opportunity to continue my family’s legacy of business in an area that my family has called home for generations,” nominee Cole said. And that legacy began at his family’s heavy-duty truck dealership, where at the age […] [Read More]