LegalShield said this week when examining consumers’ finances that the “jump in stress is not a fluke.” Following the steepest surge in the study’s 22-year history, the August reading of the LegalShield Consumer Stress Legal Index (CSLI) ticked up 0.1 to 67.7, making it the highest level recorded since November 2020. That upward movement came […] [Read More]

A week after the Canadian used wholesale market dropped by nearly half a percentage point, the decline for the week ending Sept. 21 was not quite so steep. Canadian Black Book’s weekly Market Insights reported the market fell by 0.34% overall, following a 0.45% slide the previous week. All but two of the 22 vehicle […] [Read More]

AutoCanada has taken the next step on what it hopes is the road to recovery with the restructuring of its RightRide division. The dealership group said the adjustments to its used-car/subprime finance operation include closing seven unprofitable locations — more than half of the division’s 13 stores — as part of its overall “strategic shift […] [Read More]

Fleet management provider Merchants Fleet has selected fleet orchestration company Ridecell and its Ridecell 360 fleet solutions to optimize the management of its short-term fleet. In a news release, Merchants Fleet said the strategic partnership will significantly enhance operational efficiency and employee productivity to support its continued growth in the short-term leasing sector. The companies […] [Read More]

Dealerships having loaner vehicles connected with their service departments isn’t new since they have been valuable to boost customer retention and satisfaction. But potential risk when offering these loaners has grown significantly in recent times. Steve Levine, an owner and chief legal and compliance officer of Ignite Consulting Partners, explained what’s been happening in this […] [Read More]

While some specific vehicle segments continue to gain value, Black Book spotted wholesale price declines often seen this time of year. Analysts said, “the market shifted towards typical seasonal expectations,” when wholesale values softened by 0.17% a week ago. Black Book continued in its newest installment of Market Insights that, “Despite last week’s drop, the […] [Read More]

Work Truck Solutions is working well with others. The technology platform serving the commercial vehicle industry announced two partnerships this month, teaming with dealership training and marketing services provider Maritz and supply chain risk management provider Veriforce. This week, the company entered into a strategic partnership with Maritz to create a comprehensive Commercial Website and […] [Read More]

Urban Science aims to give automotive advertisers a way to zero in on their target audiences. The automotive consultancy and technology firm announced the launch of its enhanced In-Market Audiences, designed to help marketers target and engage customers and prospects through the company’s updated-daily first-party industry sales data combined with household demographics and machine learning […] [Read More]

Scott Wood’s automotive career includes time with Carvana, OPENLANE and TrueCar as well as a franchised dealership owner. On Wednesday, digital wholesale platform CarOffer, part of the CarGurus network, announced the addition of Wood as senior vice president of operations. In his new role, Wood will lead day-to-day operations, strategic planning and implementation of operational […] [Read More]

This week, the Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (BNY) released results of a survey of community banks that it conducted with the Harris Poll, a global market research firm. The global financial services company found that more than 90% of community banks surveyed said they are looking to initiate digital transformations. However, less than […] [Read More]