Mobile messaging is now available on Car and Driver.com, via Contact At Once! technology that can foster direct consumer-to-dealer connections from vehicle detail pages on Car and Driver’s vehicle listings platform. Contact At Once!, a LivePerson company and Car and Driver provider Hearst Autos, announced Tuesday that the companies have partnered to add mobile messaging capabilities to Car and […] [Read More]

The 10.57 million used-car sales in the first quarter was the highest tally in an Edmunds data set of Q1 sales figures going back to 2013. Same goes for the 2.96 million used cars that franchised dealers sold during the opening period of 2018 and the 674,297 certified pre-owned cars they moved. But perhaps the […] [Read More]

Temperatures are rising nationwide with the first official day of summer coming soon, but prices on certain cars and trucks keep dropping noticeably as auctions and dealers enter the summer months. However this week’s Black Book Market Insights report indicated a few segments, such as sporty cars and compact vans, have remained strong during the […] [Read More]

ARI recently honored five of its best-performing auction partners based on scorecard metrics such as days to sell, days to write a condition report, days to fund and days to pick up. ARI added that the company changed its scorecard format by sending to auctions monthly and added a new metric for days to remove […] [Read More]

ADESA, a business unit of KAR Auction Services, announced Tuesday that it has named new general managers at ADESA Chicago and ADESA Fresno. The company has promoted Matt Itami from ADESA Flint to head its Chicago location and appointed ADESA Los Angeles’ Cheryl Toler as new GM at ADESA Fresno. These promotions follow news from April […] [Read More]

When the phone rings at a buy-here, pay-here dealership, it’s not uncommon for customers to be calling the store about a vehicle mechanical problem. To help consumers who might not have the financial resources for major repairs, Confident Financial Solutions (CFS) and WebBank rolled out a new solution, leveraging the capability of the vehicle owner’s […] [Read More]

Additional survey results from Protective Asset Protection could provide information that F&I managers are seeking as part of their pitch to vehicle buyers about service contracts and other ancillary products. The provider of F&I programs, services and dealer-owned warranty programs recently announced results of the second part of its recent survey addressing consumer and dealer trends in […] [Read More]

In an effort to respond to severe weather events along the United States' North Atlantic coastline, Copart has opened a new North Carolina location that will function as a catastrophe response facility where vehicles collected during times of crises will be stored. The new Copart Lumberton location sits on 90 acres of land and is located just […] [Read More]

In this episode, we catch up with Jim Roche of Xtime, during a show recorded this spring at NADA Show 2018 in Las Vegas.  Roche discusses his debut book, "Fast Lane: How to Accelerate Service Loyalty and Unlock its Profit-Making Potential," customer retention for car dealerships, the modernization of the service department and more. The full discussion […] [Read More]

In its Dealer Sentiment Index for the second quarter, released Monday, Cox Automotive found that franchised dealers continue to be happy with their used-car sales, and they feel better about used than they do about new-car sales. Meanwhile, independent dealers are feeling a bit of an inventory pinch, which has diminished some of their positive […] [Read More]