Jim Hallett has been with what is now called KAR Auction Services the better part of the past two-and-a-half decades. Hallett, who has been KAR’s chief executive since 2009, has had a front-row seat to the company’s evolution. And he sees the OPENLANE purchase in 2011 as having been an “inflection point” for KAR.  This […] [Read More]

Just like cream and sugar cuts the bite of strong coffee, KAR Auction Services chief economist Tom Kontos noticed wholesale price movements of cars versus trucks unfolded similarly in February to produce the overall reading. And the movements happened in part to what’s occurring “upstream” versus “downstream.” According to ADESA Analytical Services’ monthly analysis of […] [Read More]

Celebrating its 50th year in the consumer lending market, Carleton looked to enhance its suite of solutions this week. Following extensive market feedback and discussions with key partners, Carleton released CarCalcs, a comprehensive and integrated sales tax, registration and dealer fee application programming interface (API) to complement its CarletonCalcs solution.  The company reiterated CarCalcs was […] [Read More]

Two providers that finance managers might already know and use are now working together. StoneEagle F&I and F&I Express have agreed to integrate their solutions to provide dealers seamless access to the industry’s largest network of aftermarket providers, making it easier and simpler to present and sell value-added options to vehicle buyers. The companies explained […] [Read More]

Direct Auction Services detailed a major business restructuring on Thursday, announcing a trio of promotions in the process. Direct Auction Services now has separate leadership for its two major brands — Roadrunner Services and Direct Reconditioning — while also looking to broaden its staffing solutions. The three promotions include: — David Rush as president of […] [Read More]

Fleet management company LeasePlan Canada and vehicle inspection company Alliance Inspection Management say they are committed to providing Canada with vehicle condition reports for commercial fleets to increase the transparency and trust in transactions. A new partnership between those two companies reflects a continuation of that commitment. LeasePlan Canada has selected AiM for off-lease inspections […] [Read More]

Helping to build the Cox Automotive portfolio by nurturing organic growth at Autotrader and Manheim is just one of Cox Automotive president Sandy Schwartz’s accomplishments over his three-decade career with the company. Schwartz has been a key member of the leadership team at Cox Media Group and Cox Automotive, helping to grow the company to $20 billion revenue […] [Read More]

Thirty-four percent of service department customers prefer to communicate via text message, but service departments only communicate that way 9 percent of the time. That is according to the J.D. Power 2019 Customer Service Index Study, released on Thursday. The study shows that satisfaction scores usually increase when car dealership service departments use customers’ preferred […] [Read More]

It was a bit of a rocky road to begin 2019, but certified pre-owned vehicle sales are likely to reach another record year, according to Cox Automotive. Its analysts are calling for 2.75 million CPO sales this year, which would be up from 2.70 million in 2018. That would be the ninth straight record years […] [Read More]

Independent auto dealers weren’t sold on the economy at large heading into 2019. But they were mildly optimistic about the outlook for their businesses, according to the results of NIADA’s latest Business Confidence Survey. While dealers expecting the overall economy to improve dropped 5 percentage points — and those expecting it to decline rose from […] [Read More]