In today’s fast-paced automotive market, the traditional methods of sourcing used-car inventory — from waiting for trade-ins to bidding at wholesale auctions — are proving to be slow, costly, and inefficient. To stay competitive, modern auto dealers and their lender partners must shift their focus from reactive to proactive strategies, and the key to this […] [Read More]

Podium has a new audience. The provider of artificial intelligence-powered customer engagement tools said its AI BDC tool is now available through FordDirect, giving Ford and Lincoln dealers access to the AI Employee, known as Jerry, with exclusive pricing. The planned integration connects the AI Employee directly with FordDirect’s Customer Journey Platform. “With dealerships navigating […] [Read More]

In the late 1990s, the Internet Tax Freedom Act created a regulatory foundation that allowed the internet to flourish. It didn’t invent the web, but it removed uncertainty, fueling an explosion of innovation, business formation, and infrastructure investment. Trillions of dollars in market value followed. Today, the GENIUS Act (Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for […] [Read More]

The next new employee in your dealership service department might not be human. Reynolds and Reynolds announced the official release of Relo, a parts delivery robot designed to create efficiencies and increase safety for service departments. Reynolds said Relo comes to market after months of development — and a sneak-peek appearance at the 2025 NADA […] [Read More]

Vehlo’s reconditioning platform has gone through a recon of its own. The result is RapidRecon Pro, a new version of the RapidRecon platform designed to accelerate vehicle turnaround and boost dealership profitability. The provider of integrated software and financial services for the auto repair industry said RapidRecon Pro includes improvements such as integration with CDK […] [Read More]

Driivz is ready to plug its charging and energy management software into ezVOLTz’s electric vehicle charging as a service system. The EV-charging software supplier announced a partnership with ezVOLTz, a managed service provider for EV charging infrastructure that serves state and local governments, businesses, retail locations and EV fleets. ezVOLTz’s system includes hardware-agnostic charger installation […] [Read More]

To close July, ID Privacy AI  upgrades its flagship platform, BDC Pro. The company said the enhancement makes its tool the most intelligent, secure, and scalable artificial intelligence agent in the market. Already integrated with more than 80% of the automotive industry’s CRM and DMS systems, BDC Pro is now designed to power the full […] [Read More]

Bill Eager, the current CEO of Carfax, will become president of parent company S&P Global Mobility on Aug. 15, and then CEO designate when Mobility is spun off into a standalone public company. S&P Global announced in April it plans to spin off its mobility business unit — which includes brands like CARFAX, automotiveMastermind, Polk […] [Read More]

You might not have to drive your next car from Avis. It might drive itself. Avis Budget Group has announced a multi-year strategic partnership with Waymo, a self-driving technology company owned by Google parent Alphabet Inc., to launch and scale a fully autonomous ride-hailing service in Dallas. According to the agreement, Avis Budget Group will […] [Read More]

With apologies to the postseason dreams of Mets fans (and, subsequently, Yankees fans), the Dodgers knew the value of a trade in 2024. Tommy Edman was traded to Los Angeles during the 2024 season and became an instant hero in the playoffs. He was named MVP of the National League Championships Series, hitting .407 with […] [Read More]