In this case, it could be considered positive that dealers have their heads in the clouds. This week, Dominion VUE DMS released results of its 2021 DMS Dealer Sentiment Survey, a commissioned independent study involving 220 DMS decisionmakers from dealerships to determine attitudes toward their current dealer management system. The cloud-native solution provider highlighted five […] [Read More]

Toyota venture capital firm Toyota AI Ventures is rebranding and investing another $300 million in emerging technologies and carbon neutrality efforts. The firm will be now known as Toyota Ventures, and the additional investment boost grows its total assets under management to more than $500 million. Further, two early-stage funds — the Toyota Ventures Frontier Fund […] [Read More]

Carvana, which launched a little more than eight years ago, has made its first appearance on the Fortune 500, and says it is one of the quickest tech companies to make the list. In fact, the company said it made the list in the same amount of time as Facebook did. “Based on organic growth […] [Read More]

CDK Global said Wednesday it has acquired digital vehicle sales platform Roadster. Terms of the purchase were not disclosed in the news release, but CDK shared this in a Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission: “Under the terms of the Merger Agreement, the stockholders of Roadster are entitled to receive aggregate all-cash […] [Read More]

Get Spiffy is based in North Carolina, but the on-demand car care, technology and services company is gaining momentum in an adjacent state. On Wednesday, the company announced the launch of its latest franchise location in South Carolina. The Greenville franchise opened for business on Tuesday and offers mobile car wash, detail, and oil change […] [Read More]

PureCars announced Tuesday the release of its new Pro Dealer MarTech platform, which the company says offers an approach to digital advertising that provides greater flexibility and value for dealers — and allows them to make better marketing decisions that drive lower ad costs per sale.  The platform is powered by PURE Intelligence, and centers […] [Read More]

Dealer Funnel, a tech solutions provider for dealers, is launching a new text messaging solution designed to help dealers better engage with customers and grow sales. The new solution aims to follow the customers through all steps of the auto shopping journey, handling customer engagement from social media ads via text messaging in real-time — all […] [Read More]

Customer interaction software company myKaarma has bought PocketExpert — a dealership communication, online payments, and multi-point inspection platform that is gaining interest in the auto community. This serves to increase myKaarma's dealership customer count by 550 rooftops.  As a result of the purchase, the companies said, PocketExpert’s customers will join the myKaarma customer family. This shift […] [Read More]

Vroom has launched a “Last Mile” hub in the Dallas area that gives customers in a 70-mile radius “a more customized driveway experience.” The online retailer has offered vehicle delivery in the Dallas market since 2012, but is now offering more of a concierge-style service there through the hub, which is located in Euless, Texas. […] [Read More]

SureSale wants to make it easy for retailers, independent technicians and repair facilities to share trusted used-vehicle history and real-time condition information, especially to quell concerns from customers who wish they had a “mechanic friend.” To meet that objective, SureSale on Wednesday launched what the company believes to be an industry-first vehicle inspection app for […] [Read More]