While there likely are households and businesses still trying to recover from Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, KAR Auction Services chief economist Tom Kontos thinks the impact from those storms is no longer strongly influencing wholesale vehicle prices. According to ADESA Analytical Services’ monthly analysis of wholesale used-vehicle prices by vehicle model class, wholesale used-vehicle prices […] [Read More]

Several companies in the automotive industry have once again made the list of "World's Most Admired Companies" released by FORTUNE magazine. The list includes AutoNation, BMW, CarMax, Daimler, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Nissan, Penske Automotive Group, Toyota and Volkswagen. This year, Toyota has been named the list’s top motor vehicle company for the fourth consecutive […] [Read More]

Perhaps dealers in New Jersey can add one more item to their checklist when they’re finalizing the delivery process. Just before leaving office, Gov. Chris Christie signed legislation establishing an emergency contact registry for vehicles that requires the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC) to allow vehicle owners to submit their vehicle identification number (VIN) to […] [Read More]

F&I Express recently added two executives to its company team who each possess more than 20 years professional experience. First, the company announced Gary Peek has joined the business team as chief information officer. Management highlighted that Peek will be a key contributor to the direction and planning of the strategic growth of F&I Express, […] [Read More]

Last week, Consumer Portfolio Services announced the closing of its first term securitization of 2018.  Officials highlighted the transaction is CPS’ 27th senior subordinate securitization since the beginning of 2011 and the 10th consecutive securitization to receive a triple “A” rating on the senior class of notes from at least two rating agencies.  In the […] [Read More]

You can expect to see nearly 96 million new-car sales across the globe this year, which would represent slower growth but still a record tally. That’s according to a global forecast released Jan. 11 by IHS Markit. Full-year results from 2017 were expected to show 94.5 million new-car sales, which would be a 2.4 percent […] [Read More]

AutoAlert announced Thursday that long-time Ford Motor Co. executive Jim Benintende has joined the company to serve as its chief operating officer. At Ford, Benintende oversaw a business unit made up of 67 countries and 3,800 employees as the first president of its Middle East and Africa (MEA) business unit, which he led from 2013 until August of 2016. During that time, […] [Read More]

Dealers must streamline the in-dealership car-buying experience and change to allow web-savvy consumers to complete one or more steps of the purchase process online, according to Cox Automotive’s “Future of Digital Retail Study.” The study was released Jan. 14 as part of a press briefing just prior to the opening of the North American International Auto […] [Read More]

The management team at defi SOLUTIONS now has a sizeable amount of resources to deploy an aggressive growth plan. On Friday, defi SOLUTIONS announced it has raised $55 million in a Series C investment from Bain Capital Ventures. Executives highlighted the investment is comprised of primary and secondary capital. They explained the primary capital will be […] [Read More]

TagRail announced the general availability of its digital retail platform on Thursday. The dealer-customizable and brandable online car-buying tool can help dealerships attract, engage and close more online shoppers via a near-total in-home shopping/buying experience, the company said. “Our goal is to have the consumer complete about 90-95-percent of the transaction at home online and to […] [Read More]