DealerSocket, a leading provider of software for the automotive industry, on Friday announced the appointment of Gary Ito as chief financial officer. Ito brings three decades of financial and accounting experience to DealerSocket. The company indicated it will lead DealerSocket’s finance and accounting teams focused on driving revenue growth and expansion. He will also lead the […] [Read More]

Maybe visitors to your store’s website do not want pricing information to purchase a vehicle; but rather are looking for the cost of a specific replacement part or feature upgrade. To help stores with those inquiries, automotive live chat provider ActivEngage on Thursday announced a new strategic partnership with Auto Parts Kit. Offering automotive parts […] [Read More]

Not even the strength of a hurricane generated as large of a single-month increase in the Black Book Used Vehicle Retention Index as what editors computed for August. Black Book reported that the index posted a significant month-over-month increase of 1.4 percent. Editors indicated the change last month marked the largest single-month increase since a […] [Read More]

After experiencing 40 percent month-over-month customer growth for the last two quarters, Fair is now in the Windy City. Fair, the used-vehicle subscription company that has had its app in the Apple Store for a year, launched in Chicago on Thursday. According to a news release, the company has partnered with dealers such as Chevrolet […] [Read More]

Extended warranty product provider Protect My Car has new ownership. On Thursday, Protect My Car (PMC) announced that funds managed by Crestview Partners, together with members of PMC’s management team, have completed the acquisition of the company from a private investor group. According to a news release, financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. […] [Read More]

It was the best August ever for certified pre-owned car sales at Mercedes-Benz Canada. The automaker said it sold 1,320 CPO vehicles, up from 1,222 in August 2017. Year-to-date CPO sales for Mercedes are at 9,354 vehicles, compared to 9,249 through eight months of 2017. It was also a strong month for other OEMs reporting […] [Read More]

Fresh off of what was said to be close to the best attendance ever for its annual Summer Roundtable, the International Automotive Remarketers Alliance will once again be an industry partner for another major event in the pre-owned vehicle space: Used Car Week. The National Auto Auction Association, National Independent Automobile Dealers Association and National […] [Read More]

Celebrating nine was fine at Dealers Auto Auction of Murfreesboro. The auction commemorated its ninth anniversary with a promotional event that offered more than 900 vehicles and sold more than 450 units on Aug. 22. The event also raised money for the Hope Center Ministries. Together with dealers, the endeavor generated more than $45,000. Hope […] [Read More]

Two platforms used by an array of independent and buy-here, pay-here dealerships now work together. According to a news release distributed on Wednesday, Selly Automotive’s customer relationship management (CRM) platform is now integrated with Friday Systems Lot Wizard dealer management software (DMS). The companies highlighted this partnership will allow sales and inventory data to sync […] [Read More]

Two new industry reports offer auto dealers meaty planning observations with advice on how to prevent choking. While the data is parsed finely, the overall conclusion drawn from Cox Automotive’s Car Buyer Journey 2018 and EY’s (formerly Ernst & Young) Automotive Retail 2030 is that consumers still value and need the physical dealership, but dealers […] [Read More]