Digital retail is the "wave of the future" and a key focus area for DealerSocket this year.  In this episode recorded at NADA Show 2019 earlier this year, chief executive Sejal Pietrzak and chief product officer Brad Perry talk about that focus, artificial intelligence/machine learning and more. Plus, Pietrzak, who is a youth basketball coach, talks […] [Read More]

Automotive lenders, dealers and technology companies not only look at the industry different today, but they also look at customers different. Today, they want to find ways for the customer to be even more educated than they were in the past — BEFORE the customer walks into a dealership. They are realizing that an educated […] [Read More]

Say your customer’s vehicle needs a significant repair like a new air conditioning compressor or timing belt replacement, but the client doesn’t immediately have the funds available to pay. A new Canadian fintech startup is deploying a solution to help both the customer stay on the road safety and the dealership service drive to remain […] [Read More]

Last Friday, NextGear Capital announced the passing of John Fuller, company founder and a pioneer in automotive dealer financing. The company described Fuller as a “true innovator” in the field of floor planning; a segment of the automotive industry that provides dealers with funding to purchase vehicle inventory. He founded the top two independent floor […] [Read More]

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau indicated that it took a deep look at what it called “unfair and deceptive practices” regarding rebates for certain ancillary products after examining the protocols executed by at least one captive finance company. CFPB officials recapped through its latest Supervisory Highlights that vehicle buyers sometimes also finance the purchase of […] [Read More]

Lithia Motors and Shift are getting into big data. The dealership group and e-commerce retailer said Wednesday they have started a national data-sharing partnership, the latest “milestone” in their work together that began in 2018. They are collaborating to mine lifecycle data sets from U.S. auto transactions. The thinking is, leveraging Lithia’s transactional data with […] [Read More]

A giveaway of a new 2018 Tesla Model 3 AWD was one of the highlights of an 18th-anniversary celebration and sale on March 13 for Dealers Auto Auction of Idaho. In other auction news, Copart added 44 acres to its Chicago South facility, located at 89 E. Sauk Trail, Chicago Heights, Ill. As a result […] [Read More]

Auto dealer software company DealerSocket notes that it uses a “customer-centric approach” to build enhancements to its software. On Aug. 21 to 23 in Anaheim, Calif., the company will hold its annual User Summit with that same theme in mind. “We have designed the DealerSocket User Summit with the same customer-centric approach we use to […] [Read More]

Lynnway Auto Auction and its president James Lamb have each been indicted by a Massachusetts grand jury on five counts of manslaughter, stemming from a fatal 2017 crash at the Billerica, Mass., auto auction. That’s according to a news release from the office of Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan, which said the Middlesex Grand Jury […] [Read More]

Auto refinance startup MotoRefi announced $4.7 million in seed funding on Tuesday, with funding led by seed-led venture capital firm Accomplice. QED Investors and Motley Fool Ventures also participated in the funding. MotoRefi is a digital platform designed to connect consumers with lenders, credit unions and banks to help them save on auto financing. The […] [Read More]