The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the retail automotive industry throughout the country, including the pre-owned side of the business. To drill down into how used-car sales are faring in one particular market – our own – Auto Remarketing turned to monthly analysis data from Cross-Sell Interactive, which is part of Dominion Dealer Solutions. Through Cross-Sell’s online […] [Read More]

Two new auto service programs are now available to help dealers during the COVID-19 pandemic, one providing data on closed repair order volume, which could help new-car dealerships understand and respond to changes in demand for vehicle maintenance and repairs. DriveSure is a customer retention product designed for new car dealerships, and it has compiled […] [Read More]

Before PointPredictive made its patented technology solution — SyntheticID Alert — available to auto-finance companies at no charge for the rest of this year, chief fraud strategist Frank McKenna returned last week for another episode of the podcast. Senior editor Nick Zulovich asked McKenna for recommendations for how finance companies can spot potential fraud, especially […] [Read More]

While there are still a few locations that have suspended operations, the auto auction community at large is back on track with simulcast sales, with “just about everybody” running these virtual auctions, including the majority of independents, along with corporately owned ADESA and Manheim. National Auto Auction Association chief executive officer Frank Hackett shared this […] [Read More]

Fitch Ratings offered some sobering assessments of current dealership finances on Monday when revising its dealer floorplan (DFP) asset-backed securities (ABS) performance outlook, mentioning some of the same unprecedented conditions dealer groups and principals now are facing as vAuto founder Dale Pollak did in an open letter posted on Good Friday. Fitch revised this particular […] [Read More]

F&I products and services provider and administrator Dealer Owned Warranty Co. has started a partnership with a company that produces technology assisting in returning lost vehicle keys via web-based communication. Through the partnership between Dealer Owned Warranty Co. — or DOWC — and Keyfetch Automotive USA, Keyfetch Auto Protect provides customers with a keychain that […] [Read More]

Dent Wizard International has partnered with the maker of a vehicle disinfection and long-term antimicrobial surface and air protection system that the company says meets the EPA’s criteria for use against SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes the disease COVID-19. Dent Wizard, a provider of automotive reconditioning services and vehicle protection products, said that through […] [Read More]

Lane activity might still be way down, but Black Book offered a robust amount of information through its latest installment of Market Insights on Monday. While noting no-sale rates remain high, analysts touched on 10 other data points while Black Book’s representatives still collected observations from the virtual sales happening during the coronavirus pandemic. To […] [Read More]

When it comes to website domain name extensions, we're all aware of ones like dot-com, dot-org, dot-gov and dot-edu that can be applied to various sectors like commercial, government, education and so forth. But what about something specific for car dealers? That's where former Dealer.com executive Andy Macleay and his new company, .dealer Domains, come […] [Read More]

Auto/Mate Dealership Systems knows how important online reputation is to a dealership. The company says its integration with Bluejay Reviews means auto dealerships can monitor and improve their online reputation. That happens through automatic sending of personalized emails and texts to customers after they visit the dealership. Auto/Mate Dealership Systems has completed all dealership management […] [Read More]