The Auto Intel Council — a private, membership-based organization owned and managed by Cherokee Media Group — produces  quarterly Auto Intel Briefings that feature data reports, whitepapers, research and more, contributed by AIC members. These Auto Intel Briefings provide the industry and its stakeholders unique insights and perspectives on various topics driving the automotive business. The latest […] [Read More]

Wedbush Securities, which provides private and institutional clients with a wide range of securities brokerage, wealth management and investment banking services, recently announced the appointment of Andrea Epinger as a senior vice president and head of change management and process improvement. The firm explained this is a newly created role where Epinger will leverage her […] [Read More]

FICO chief analytics officer Scott Zoldi recently reached the century mark, achieving another data-science career milestone with his 100th software patent application. Zoldi has been an inventor on 100 patent applications for machine learning and AI software technologies and techniques. Of the 100 patent applications, FICO said 47 have been granted, and 53 are pending. […] [Read More]

Coming off of what the president and chief executive officer described as a “transitional year,” Nicholas Financial opened its 2020 fiscal year with positive net income after finishing its 2019 fiscal year with a loss. The publicly-traded specialty consumer finance company operating branch locations in both the Southeast and Midwest, recently announced its net income […] [Read More]

Another fraud incident recently surfaced involving two dealerships with the investigation spreading into two states. The Arizona Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General made an arrest following an investigation that revealed a Nissan dealership employee stole a customer’s identity to purchase a vehicle at another store. According to a news release, state officials said […] [Read More]

Fleet remarketers would like to sell more units upstream, but the sales channel may expand only so much. Simulcast and grounded auctions remain fleet companies’ remarketing bread and butter. “Increasing upstream sales is still a point of emphasis, and at ARI we’re working on developing a direct sales portal to further enhance the upstream experience […] [Read More]

As they drive to be more competitive, fleet management companies say they’re focusing more intently on delivering an improved experience to their customers. This statement could go in several directions, but three stand out. According to a 2017 Automotive Fleet article, “What Are the Most Valuable Services Offered by FMCs?” what fleet customers want most […] [Read More]

The International Automotive Remarketers Alliance will be holding its annual Summer Roundtable this month at the Sheraton Grand in Chicago. The event is scheduled for Aug. 21 and Aug. 22. The event begins with a day of board committee meetings on Aug. 21, followed by a dinner to honor graduates of the Certified Automotive Remarketer […] [Read More]

 A shade over 29% of new-vehicle sales in the first quarter of the year were leased, according to Experian’s latest State of the Automotive Finance Market report. That’s down a smidge from 29.83% a year earlier, but Experian notes in the report that a lease “continues to be a sought-after product, generating payments on average […] [Read More]

Why is car subscription the way of the future for dealerships? How can dealers ease their dealerships into the new mobility services? And how can dealers dip their toes into mobility services instead of diving head first into the deep end? Those are just some of the topics covered in a new Cox Automotive Mobility […] [Read More]