OAK BROOK, Ill. — The perception of not being able to source hot vehicles for the right money is understandable but wrong. The reason that it's understandable is that we never knew how good we had it. When the market delivered 17 million new cars, dealers stood on their lots and people threw trade-ins at them. […] [Read More]

MONTREAL, Quebec — Of the Big 3 automakers, the one that appears to be in the "best shape" is Ford, while General Motors is still dealing with a few quality issues and Chrysler remains in a "holding pattern," according to the Automobile Protection Association, a Canadian nonprofit association. In its Annual Review of the Auto Industry released […] [Read More]

EDMONTON, Alberta — In the midst of one of the more difficult auto environments in history, AutoCanada Inc. finished the year on a high note. Specifically, AutoCanada reported net earnings of $1.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2009, compared to a net loss of $67.1 million in the prior-year period. Quarterly revenue was $182.4 million, […] [Read More]

EDMONTON, Alberta — With record net earnings in each of the final three quarters of the year, Carfinco Income Fund said it set an all-time high for full-year net earnings in 2009. The company posted net earnings of $7.3 million, which is $1 million stronger than the prior high that was recorded in 2006. This also represents a significant improvement […] [Read More]

CENTREVILLE, Va. — Toyota's latest recall tends to stand out in recent memory; however, the automaker is far from alone. It is very common for automakers to issue recalls, just perhaps not on such a large scale as Toyota. In light of this, and the fact that the National Auto Auction Association is no longer recommending […] [Read More]

TORRANCE, Calif. — If a Toyota customer is not satisfied with the modification to repair his accelerator pedal under the recent recalls, dealers will replace the pedal at no charge, the automaker confirmed Tuesday. Toyota issued a statement responding to apparent media confusion, "Some news accounts have misinterpreted a letter sent by Toyota to its dealers regarding an improved […] [Read More]

RICHMOND, Va. — If the results of a recent survey are any indication, there may be some good news for the used-car market on the horizon, and female shoppers may be a more promising pool of used-vehicle buyers than men.  When asked about their vehicle-shopping attitudes in light of potential warming in the weather and the economy, almost one-third […] [Read More]

IRVINE, Calif. —  In some good news for the embattled automaker, Toyota is likely to gain significant ground when Kelley Blue Book releases its May/June Residual Value Guide. More specifically, KBB projects that the 36-month residual values of new Toyota will be up 4.2 percentage points from a year ago, on average. Granted this underperforms the average overall upswing for […] [Read More]

ATLANTA — Manheim's Tom Webb recently analyzed the financial data of the seven largest publicly traded dealership groups for the fourth quarter of 2009. Webb reported in his March Auto Industry Brief that he found positive trends in regard to both gross margins on used-vehicle sales as well as unit volumes. Webb determined that gross margins […] [Read More]

MISSISSAUGA, Ontario — Auction values were softer than expected during February, and the ADESA Canada Used Vehicle Price Index fell sequentially for the fifth consecutive month. Resale prices, again, saw a downward impact from the glut of new and used inventory at dealerships, as a number of factors hindered dealers' ability to move units. Specifically, ADESA's data — […] [Read More]