This year began with expectations the Federal Reserve would push interest rates higher multiple times. Then this week, not only did policymakers maintain the rate at its current level, experts are seeing the possibility of a rate cut before 2019 closes — perhaps because a recession might be approaching. While not a unanimous move, members […] [Read More]

As Canadian Black Book put it, used-vehicle values in Canada “have never been stronger” than they were in May. The Canadian Black Book Used Vehicle Retention Index was at 105.8 last month, the highest reading in the near 15-year history of the index, which monitors 2- to 6-year-old vehicles across 21 segments. Of those segments, […] [Read More]

If you want to win more trades, you need to know exactly what makes a buyer reject or accept a deal. Today’s used-car buyers are hard to impress: 45% of them that go through the trade-in process will turn down one or more offers. So why did your last offer get turned down, and how can […] [Read More]

With modern vehicles containing complex components that can be quite expensive to repair or replace, the value proposition for including an extended warranty can be even more compelling for dealership finance managers to offer their customers. GWC Warranty area vice president of strategic alliances Wendy Pratt shared some recommendations with Nick about how stores can […] [Read More]

Along with his legal expertise as director of compliance for Reynolds Document Solutions, Terry O’Loughlin also possesses deep knowledge of history, especially in connection with paper and how it’s used for financing contracts used by dealers. Nick recorded this episode during this year’s National Automotive Finance Association annual conference in Plano, Texas, as O’Loughlin offered […] [Read More]

Operators might have some knowledge about cloud computing, but Selly Automotive founder and chief executive officer Zach Klempf went into great detail about what this technology can do for dealerships, especially independent stores looking to keep costs under control. Klempf also chatted with Nick about how independent dealerships can reach younger demographics to unlock sales […] [Read More]

Stephanie Alsbrooks is the founder and chief executive officer of defi SOLUTIONS, which provides loan origination and analytics tools to an array of auto finance companies. Soon after a panel discussion during this year’s National Automotive Finance Association annual conference in Plano, Texas, Albrooks joined Nick for a discussion about the challenges finance companies and […] [Read More]

Accuracy certainly is paramount to successful accounting at auto finance companies. And new research from Robert Half Finance & Accounting suggested artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to enhance accuracy even more and bring significant transformation to companies’ accounting and finance functions. According to 47% of chief financial officers who participated in a Robert Half Finance […] [Read More]

Because Edmunds provides guidance across all areas of the car buying process — including reviews, shopping tips, deal ratings and payment calculators — the company says it attracts a “highly engaged, ready-to-buy audience.” Edmunds says that its recently launched Premier program takes advantage of that audience, highlighting dealer inventory and then “funneling” shoppers directly to […] [Read More]

Signs are pointing to another best-ever year for the certified pre-owned market. There were 1.16 million CPO vehicle sales in the first five months of the year, according to Tuesday’s Data Point report from Cox Automotive, beating year-ago figures by 2%. May continued what has now been a three-month streak of certified sales increases, following […] [Read More]