If there’s one thing Lithia & Driveway is not doing, it’s standing still. The industry’s most active dealership group in the buy-sell market continued its aggressive approach this week with the acquisition of two Mercedes-Benz dealerships in the South. The purchase of Mercedes-Benz of Jackson in Jackson, Miss., and Mercedes-Benz of Collierville in suburban Memphis […] [Read More]

Sometimes things can be too easy. That’s the premise of a new national ad campaign for Carvana starring actor Jon Hamm, designed to show how easy it is for consumers to sell their car to the online used-car retailer. In the campaign’s first 30-second spot, titled “Excuses,” Hamm tries to get out of an awkward […] [Read More]

The automotive retail industry is experiencing fundamental modernization. While much of the conversation has centered around electrification and digital retailing, another powerful force is quietly changing the way dealerships operate — intelligent machines. Often associated solely with sales or advertising automation, machines are increasingly being used to optimize back-end dealership strategies in areas like inventory […] [Read More]

Perhaps after their ability to maintain their monthly payments, the next most important characteristic independent and buy-here, pay-here dealers want to know about their customers is if they have valid car insurance. On Tuesday, Modives announced a partnership to embed CheckMy Driver’s insurance verification and monitoring application into DealerCenter’s Dealer Management System (DMS), creating the […] [Read More]

Along with giving its annual awards, the National Automotive Finance Association elected five new members to its board of directors during last week’s Non-Prime Auto Financing Conference in Plano, Texas. Beginning a two-year term following a vote held during the membership meeting, the newly elected directors include: —Mike Akers, president and CEO of Hello Credit […] [Read More]

Clutch now has a meeting place. The Canadian online used-car retailer has opened its first Customer Hub, a space in Cadillac Fairview Markville Mall in Markham, Ontario, that the company said “marks a significant milestone in Clutch’s mission to make buying and selling pre-owned cars easier, more convenient and more accessible for all Canadians.” The […] [Read More]

Dealerlogix, an all-in-one fixed operations software suite for dealership service departments, has been approved as a certified provider in Volkswagen’s eConnect program. Dealerlogix provides retention text communications through its Text2Drive product, providing online service scheduling, service valet, service lane check-in, electronic multipoint inspections with video and pictures, mobile payments with fraud protection, bilateral DMS communications […] [Read More]

The wholesale car market isn’t done dealing with tariffs, but it appears some of the sharpest impacts have passed. Analyses of monthly used-car price indices addressed those patterns and impacts, while also forecasting what could be in store for wholesale values over the summer. Cox Automotive’s Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index came in at 205.2 […] [Read More]

CarGurus is upping its AI game. The digital car-shopping platform has released its artificial intelligence-powered search, designed to deliver “a more personalized and intuitive car-shopping experience” embedded directly into the CarGurus website. In a news release, the company said car buyers can now use conversational search paired with auto intelligence and real-time vehicle data to […] [Read More]

Lithia & Driveway is handing Pinewood Technologies Group the keys to their North American joint venture. The companies announced the U.K.-based software provider has acquired Lithia’s controlling 51% stake in the operation in a $76.5 million transaction with LAD subsidiary Lithia UK Holdings Limited. The deal also includes a five-year commitment to using the Pinewood […] [Read More]