If you just turned a used Ford pickup or a certified pre-owned Chevrolet crossover, there is a strong chance it’s because your dealership customer just saw some form of branding campaign pushing the Blue Oval or the Bowtie. The Nielsen Auto Marketing Report 2018 showed that by the time car shoppers are ready to buy, […] [Read More]

Gubagoo, which specializes in “conversational commerce solutions” for the auto industry, has launched a digital retailing solution that can activate online car-buying from dealership websites and Facebook. The Gubagoo Virtual Retailing solution utilizes messaging and live video interaction and integrates the company’s operator-assistance and engagement capabilities. It is designed to allow consumers to set up […] [Read More]

The next line of succession in National Automobile Dealers Association leaders has been decided. Current NADA vice chairman Charlie Gilchirst, who is president of Texas-based Gilchrist Automotive, was elected 2019 president by NADA’s board of directors during their meeting in Newport, Calif., on Tuesday. Chosen to be the vice chairman for next year is Rhett Ricart, […] [Read More]

Auto-finance performance helped the composite rate of the S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices register its best reading thus far this year. Based on data through September, S&P Dow Jones Indices and Experian reported on Tuesday that the auto finance default rate decreased 8 basis points to 0.89 percent. To give that auto figure a little […] [Read More]

Since oftentimes potential buyers are cruising website and making considerations based on their monthly budget, truPayments recently introduced tru Shop-by-Payment and the ShopByPayment.com website. Company officials explained that tru Shop-by-Payment is a Software-as-a-Service product for dealers and finance companies aimed at turning the buying process upside down by leveraging new technology. The company explained that […] [Read More]

Lithia Motors’ former project lead for online sales  is now the leading strategic partnerships at Drive Motors, which develops online car-buying solutions for dealer groups and banks. Chris Gugliotta was named head of strategic partnerships at Drive Motors, following two stops at Lithia and time with Dealer.com/Cox Automotive, as well. Gugliotta’s career certainly includes parallels […] [Read More]

With the wholesale price declines for cars beginning to accelerate, Black Book representatives mingling with dealers in lanes nationwide uncovered five interesting trends; ones that might be happening at your local sale or your favorite online bidding platform, too. First, let’s look at the numbers included in this week’s edition of Black Book Market Insights. […] [Read More]

Leaves are falling, as is the approval rate for vehicle lease transfers. And the volume of applicants is cooling, too. On Tuesday, Swapalease.com reported that vehicle lease credit applicants registered a 69.8-percent approval rate in September. That reading represented a 3.9-percent drop from the August rate of 72.6 percent. Site officials acknowledged that lease approvals […] [Read More]

For the last couple of years, the buzz word of the automobile industry has been “disruption.” Granted, our industry may not have the exclusive on disruption, but it has most definitely been disrupted. They say, that is the proverbial “they,” that the root cause of all this disruption is technology. And, I imagine as you […] [Read More]

PERQ announced the closing of a $5 million round of funding on Monday that it plans to use in expanding its artificial intelligence-based SaaS solution into additional industries. Elevate Ventures led the funding, all of which is from investment groups and angel investors in Indianapolis, which is where PERQ is headquartered. Joining Elevate in the […] [Read More]