Alabama franchise dealer Forrest McConnell urged members of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee to be wary of the redundant set of three fuel-economy standards. McConnell, who also serves of the board of directors for the National Automobile Dealers Association, told the committee Tuesday ineffective standards could hurt unit sales by increasing costs and […] [Read More]

The National Independent Automobile Dealers Association — along with governmental advocacy firm Federal Advocates Inc., of whom NIADA is a client — has two meetings later this week with a few major players in Washington, D.C., to discuss how federal decisions are made and how these moves affect independent dealers. On Friday, NIADA will have a […] [Read More]

BMW of North America recently highlighted 32 of its 338 franchise dealers nationwide and designated each store that captured the nod a 2011 Center of Excellence. The automaker insisted these stores were tapped based on high customer satisfaction, outstanding brand representation, operational excellence and profitability. BMW pointed out that its dealer network continues to invest in sales […] [Read More]

Volkswagen Group can rattle off a long list of positive attributes about its 2010 fiscal year performance, but most important is record profits. The automaker revealed last week its operating profit surged to 7.1 billion euro based on sales revenue of 126.9 billion euro. In 2009, the company still hit triple digits in revenue (105.2 […] [Read More]

Late last week, Subaru of America revealed its new manager of corporate communications. Among other tasks, she will head up the company’s social-media efforts. Named to the post is Rachelle Damminger, who comes to Subaru from Big Brothers Big Sisters Southeastern PA. Damminger was in communications at that non-profit organization for almost five years and was […] [Read More]

Reflecting on General Motors’ first full year of operations after emerging from bankruptcy as a new company, chairman and chief executive officer Dan Akerson touted the “good start” that 2010 represented with net income approaching $5 billion — GM’s first profitable year since 2006 — and revenues exceeding $135 billion But he also stressed that GM […] [Read More]

From a loss of nearly $1 million to an adjusted net income level surpassing $5 million: That’s what Lithia Motors accomplished during the fourth quarter thanks to significant gains in both used- and new-vehicle sales. Lithia officials this week announced fourth-quarter adjusted net income from continuing operations came in at $5.6 million or 21 cents […] [Read More]

More than 2 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles are being recalled in the U.S., including about 1.38 million units that have been added to the floor-mat entrapment recall from 2009. Overall, approximately 2.17 million vehicles are being recalled in three separate actions by Toyota Motor Sales USA. There are two new recalls that deal with […] [Read More]

Ford announced this week it’s voluntarily recalling 144,000 F-150s from the 2005 and 2006 model years stemming from a relatively low risk of inadvertent airbag deployments. The automaker explained in a message to Auto Remarketing that the recall includes 135,000 units in the U.S. and 9,000 in Canada. Ford said the inadvertent airbag deployments are […] [Read More]

Coming on the heels of its advertising campaign connected with the Super Bowl, Hyundai Motor America outlined its strategy as the company serves as the exclusive automotive sponsor of the 83rd Academy Awards, which are set to be broadcast Sunday on ABC. The automaker highlighted that nine Hyundai ads will air throughout the coverage — […] [Read More]