In an effort to enhance performance within its North American operations, Nissan announced last week a series of leadership shifts. Commenting on the news, Jose Munoz, who becomes chairman of Nissan North America effective Jan. 1, said, "These moves will help us achieve the objectives of Nissan's Power 88 mid-term business plan in the newly […] [Read More]

For the fourth time in the past year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Ford is recalling the 2013 Escape through two different campaigns to correct critical fluid leaks. The larger campaign covering 139,917 units equipped with 1.6L engines is because the affected vehicles may experience localized overheating of the engine cylinder head, which […] [Read More]

Some dealers, auctions and other businesses are still playing catch up when it comes to digital marketing, but the early adopters are now reaping the rewards of being ahead of the game. Doug MacIver Jr., is inventory and Internet manager at RideTime, a Winnipeg, Manitoba, dealership. He says that as an early adopter of digital […] [Read More]

There will likely be an increase of more than 4 percent in used-vehicle sales this month, according to CNW Research, which has pegged the industry-wide total at 3.09 million used sales for November. Especially striking was the increase for franchised dealers, CNW said in its latest Retail Automotive Summary, noting how these hikes were particularly […] [Read More]

It is easy to fall into the trap that assumes consumers think dealership contact throughout car ownership is a nuisance that should be avoided or at least utilized only when necessary. But that might not be the case. A recent Maritz research study showed that 18 percent of customers say the dealership they bought from […] [Read More]

You’ll get a range of responses when you ask dealers how much time it takes to recondition used vehicles. The best-performing dealers these days consistently get the job done in 24 hours or less. Meanwhile, other dealers report their reconditioning turnaround times run seven days or more. The disparity owes to two chief factors — […] [Read More]

Continuing with his recent theme of leveraging holiday trends to move metal, Paul Potratz asked dealers if they’re marketing to people as things are happening in their lives, especially with Thanksgiving coming later this week. The chief operating officer and founder of Potratz Partners Advertising gave an example of how people likely will be traveling […] [Read More]

The latest models of popular pickup trucks are already at work in Texas dealerships, serving as drop spots for a holiday toy drive. Gunn Automotive Group announced this week that its dealerships have teamed up with Toys for Tots to spread cheer to children across the San Antonio area. All six stores — Gunn Acura, […] [Read More]

As the holiday shopping season is set to start in full force this week with Black Friday, it seems customers have a little less room to consider an auto purchase. Dataium reported a softening in its monthly Automotive Shopper Intensity (ASI) Index for October, as it decreased 1.8 percent from rates seen in September. The […] [Read More]

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Hyundai and Kia both announced vehicle recalls in states where snow and ice — and materials used to treat highways in those places — are common. The largest campaign covers 79,867 units as Kia is recalling certain model year 2006 through 2012 Kia Sedona vehicles manufactured from June […] [Read More]