Digital marketing company Search Optics has launched a new mobile-optimized website platform built to enhance mobile search engine optimization and conversions for dealerships. The new Blueprint Platform is designed to ensure customer websites are viewable across every device and screen size. “The Blueprint Platform was built from the ground up for the mobile Internet and […] [Read More]

In an effort to aid dealers’ service departments, Cox Automotive — the parent of Manheim, AutoTrader.com, vAuto and Kelley Blue Book, among others — recently joined other companies in purchasing a minority stake in AutoMD.com, previously a wholly owned subsidiary of U.S. Auto Parts Network. Joining Cox Automotive in this development were Federal-Mogul Motorparts, a division of […] [Read More]

J.D. Power released the results of its recent report on customer reactions to their interactions with automotive mobile sites on Thursday. The J.D. Power 2014 Automotive Mobile Site Study found that smartphone users are more likely to share vehicle information on social media when they are satisfied with the experience they had on either a […] [Read More]

Manheim executive vice president and chief operating officer Janet Barnard has been named by Women in Technology as a finalist for the Women of the Year in Technology Awards, presented by Infor. The awards spotlight Georgia’s leading female leaders in science, technology, engineering and math, honoring their accomplishments in these fields and their impact to […] [Read More]

Peer-to-peer used-vehicle marketplace Beepi announced Monday the closing of $60 million in Series B funding to aid in the company’s desired national expansion. The company, which began in April, originally catered its all-online buying and selling program to the San Francisco area with a more limited buying scope.  As of Sept. 5, Beepi announced customers […] [Read More]

“I would like to buy a car with bitcoin.” The majority of dealers and their sales staff likely have not heard those words from a customer. At least, not yet. The global emergence of cryptocurrencies in the last five years has brought to question one serious issue: what can be accepted as money? Is it […] [Read More]

Carvana executives highlighted that the company that sells used vehicles completely online is on track for a more than 1,000-percent increase in revenue during its first full year of sales. Should the company maintain that pace, Carvana expects its 2014 revenue figure to climb to $50 million. “Since our launch, we have been focused on reinventing […] [Read More]

Edmunds.com announced this week the launch of its new feature for its car-shopping mobile application. Lot Buddy, a location-aware feature for the company’s existing mobile app, allows car buyers to unlock “Price Promise,” no-haggle offers from anywhere, even on the lot. According to Edmunds, this car-shopping tool is the first to offer locked-in pricing without […] [Read More]

Auto Auction Services Corp. announced that it had recently hosted a workshop with key consignors to “design the future of remarketing.” The Aug. 18 event lasted half a day and included 13 client organizations that represented a cross-section of the remarketing industry’s commercial consignors. Those present at the meeting, dubbed “Project Client Insight,” discussed the […] [Read More]

I’m not here to tell you your dealership needs to embrace social media. Every dealer’s heard it; most dealers have come to believe it; and many are already actively engaging customers in a variety of social channels. I’m here because out there, it’s getting more and more competitive by the day. Customers are gaining more […] [Read More]