Sixty-seven Ford dealerships have received the necessary certification to become the first stores to sell the automaker’s debut all-electric offering, the company announced Monday. All of the dealerships given the green light to sell the 2012 Ford Focus Electric later this spring are located in California, New Jersey and New York. These three states were […] [Read More]

Used-vehicle sales soared double digits for Group 1 Automotive and Asbury Automotive Group during the first quarter, which saw both retailers set profit records. Group 1 increased its retail used sales by 24 percent year-over-year, as it moved 20,749 units. It moved 9,994 wholesale used units for a 10.4-percent gain. Used retail revenue for the […] [Read More]

Continuing a trend of optimistic April used- and new-vehicle sales projections, Edmunds.com shared its estimations on Thursday, predicting the month’s used sales total would be 3.63 million. Edmunds’ April used sales prediction translated into a used seasonally adjusted annual rate of 39.3 million, up from a used SAAR level of 38.9 million the site reported […] [Read More]

One dealership group in Delaware is encouraging stores to get involved with the National Automobile Dealers Charitable Foundation — the philanthropic arm of the National Automobile Dealers Association. Participating in the efforts that  provide financial support to schools, private colleges and universities, emergency disaster relief and community service programs, the Willis Automotive group has created […] [Read More]

While projecting a healthy month-over-month gain, TrueCar.com predicted April’s used sales total to soften a bit from the same month a year ago. Analysts estimated used sales for April to be 3,615,148 units, down 2.0 percent from April of last year but up 33.6 percent from March. TrueCar indicated the ratio of new sales to […] [Read More]

As first-quarter earnings reports pour in from dealer groups, record profits have been reported, and the new-vehicle market also appears strong. Amid this strength, several retailers also offered a glimpse at how the used-side of their respective operations are faring. [Read More]

Toyota revealed Wednesday the 500 organizations selected in its 100 Cars for Good program, in which the automaker will give away 100 cars to 100 nonprofits over the course of 100 days. The finalists, which the company noted come from all 50 states and Washington D.C., represent nonprofits serving various community needs, such as animal […] [Read More]

Leaders from both the National Automobile Dealers Association and American Truck Dealers are asking members to take part in NADA’s new Dealership Workforce Study that will analyze employee compensation, benefits, turnover and other data. NADA and ATD member dealers have until May 2 to share their feedback, and the association emphasized there is no cost […] [Read More]

On Monday, Mercedes-Benz USA appointed a new general manager of pre-owned and fleet operations to replace Bart Herring, who has been named general manager of product management. Promoted to the pre-owned/fleet position is Mark Webster, who will step into this role on May 1. His most recent post was as the company’s area manager for […] [Read More]

General Motors turned to someone with a military background to be its first chief diversity officer. Accepting the role Monday was Capt. Kenneth Barrett, who retired from the U.S. Navy. “Diversity is and has been a key component of our success including diversity of work force and diversity of customer base — it can only […] [Read More]