The concept of your local Costco as a resource for car-buying in addition to being a market’s goods-in-bulk outlet is not a new one. In fact, the Costco Auto Program has been around in one iteration or another for more than two decades. But in the last few years, the program has expanded to include […] [Read More]

Dealers — particularly franchised stores — are expected to show growth in their used-car departments this month, but the same can’t be said for private-party sales, which are expected to fall nearly 10 percent year-over-year, according to CNW Research. The firm’s latest Retail Automotive Summary explains how changing consumer behavior and the dealer’s approach to […] [Read More]

Although down from last month's rate, February's seasonally adjusted annualized rate for used-vehicle sales is expected to stay above the 37 million mark, according to Edmunds.com, which put out a forecast for monthly new- and used-car sales late last week. Specifically, Edmunds anticipates there will be 3.35 million used sales this month, versus 3.12 million […] [Read More]

Last week I mentioned dealers who expressed less optimism than their peers about a strong used-vehicle market this coming spring. These dealers were saying things like: “I’m taking every used vehicle deal I can. I’m not holding out for gross because I believe the supply will be there to replace it. I’m trying to get […] [Read More]

Along with sharing their perspective on Chrysler’s stair-step incentive program, Lithia Motors’ top executives joined the parade of large publicly traded groups answering questions about their acquisition strategies. In Lithia’s case, president and chief executive officer Bryan DeBoer said the company’s dealership footprint is going to have to grow in order to achieve its revenue […] [Read More]

When Auto Remarketing talked to Sonic Automotive’s Jeff Dyke this past summer about the retailer’s new inventory tool, the executive vice president of operations said the Sonic Inventory Management System would “change our whole company.” At the time, SIMS was being used by a third of Sonic’s dealers. The group finished moving all of its […] [Read More]

Sonic Automotive finished rolling out its Sonic Inventory Management System this month and believes that once the company is fully acclimated to using the centralized inventory management tool, monthly per-store used unit sales can eclipse 100, eventually beating the 150 mark. [Read More]

As the company closed the year with the highest fourth quarter adjusted net income in company history, Lithia Motors watched its used-vehicle division continue to work toward the goal of turning 75 units per store monthly. On Wednesday, Lithia reported that its stores moved an average of 46 used units per month during the fourth […] [Read More]

In what was a strong year for the retailer’s pre-owned department, Sonic Automotive increased its used-vehicle retail sales by more than 6 percent for both full-year 2012 and the final quarter of the year. Specifically, Sonic moved 23,943 used retail units in the fourth quarter, compared to 22,520 in the final period of 2011. For […] [Read More]

For the third year in a row, the Luther Family of Dealerships is looking to feed a whopping 1 million people through its annual Drive to Serve event. The dealership group is teaming up with the Emergency Foodshelf Network and Stop Hunger Now to bring together 3,500 employees, customers, kids and families to package one […] [Read More]