Premium Articles

Fifty-seven percent of respondents to a recent survey say they service their vehicle more often than they see a doctor. Teeth don’t fare much better. Sixty-three percent of respondents to the national survey — conducted by Cars.com — say their vehicle service departments get more visits from them than their dentist. The main message of […] [Read More]

Based on a pair of projections released by industry observers on Wednesday, August used-vehicle sales should reach somewhere in the neighborhood of 3.4 million units. At TrueCar’s ALG business unit, analysts are projecting 3.35 million used-car sales this month, which would be a 0.2% decrease from August 2018. It would be steady with July, ALG said. […] [Read More]

Kristin Kolodge says alerts from vehicle technology such as lane-keeping and centering systems should not come across as a “nagging parent.” “No one wants to be constantly told they aren’t driving correctly,” said Kolodge, who is executive director of driver interaction and human machine interface research at J.D. Power. “Automakers are spending lots of money […] [Read More]

Dealers who might be accustomed to seeing wholesale prices cool a bit when the outside temperatures are their warmest likely are leaving the lanes disappointed. The latest Black Book Market Insights report again detailed how wholesale prices are holding at higher levels this summer. In fact, overall car segment values increased by 0.06% last week, […] [Read More]

Younger consumers are paying more for vehicle repairs than their older counterparts, according to a survey orchestrated by Ally Financial, which also reinforced the value of vehicle service contracts. A recent Ally survey conducted online by The Harris Poll among 2,012 U.S. adults determined that, on average, Americans spent $1,986 on vehicle repairs and maintenance […] [Read More]

Certified pre-owned vehicle sales continue to be a bright spot for franchised dealerships this year, and KAR Auction Services chief economist Tom Kontos explained how those vehicles that become CPO units helped consignors and the wholesale market in July, too. According to ADESA Analytical Services’ monthly analysis of wholesale used vehicle prices by vehicle model […] [Read More]

The Q2 Lease Trends Report from Swapalease.com showed that the appeal of crossovers might be at a tipping point. A year ago, Swapalease.com indicated roughly 7.4% of drivers polled said they would shop for a crossover if they needed to go out and lease a vehicle that day. A year later, the site discovered that […] [Read More]

As much as dealers and finance companies are taking advantage of technology, the J.D. Power 2019 U.S. Dealer Financing Satisfaction Study showed how critical of a role people still play in how stores fund their inventory needs and facilitate credit for their customers to take delivery. With dealers confronting a rapidly changing consumer landscape in which […] [Read More]

More electric vehicles are available today than ever before, said Chase Disher, an analyst at Autolist. “But that hasn’t done much to change consumers’ perceptions of them,” Disher said in a news release. “The misconceptions that electrics faced at the beginning of this decade are still a major impediment to their success right now.” According […] [Read More]

Just like consumers, dealers are trying to find affordable vehicles. And the newest Black Book Market Insights report showed both groups might be having trouble achieving that goal. In fact, analysts determined that overall car segment values rose this past week, mimicking a scenario spotted at this time a year ago. “History repeats itself with […] [Read More]