Cars.com said Wednesday it has agreed to purchase Dealer Inspire and Launch Digital Marketing, which are privately held companies providing digital solutions to dealers — including digital retailing, among many other services.   The deal is worth $165 million upon closing plus “additional consideration based on future performance,” Cars.com said in a news release. Those […] [Read More]

Leveraging the mobile phone is a must because a growing number of consumers are accustomed to being able to shop for just about every and anything thing online, says Carvoy co-founder and chief executive officer Daniel Yuabov. “There’s a study that actually shows that more people have a phone versus a computer, and if we were to go […] [Read More]

Just like that four-cylinder engine in a 2017 model is probably much more efficient and robust than the same level power plant in a vehicle 10 years older, Asbury Automotive Group is anticipating an ongoing software upgrade will rev up its used-vehicle department to a much higher performance than what the dealer group experienced to […] [Read More]

There is, perhaps, no better illustration of the “with great risk, comes great reward” concept than buy-here, pay-here. However, the advent of automated billing systems has decreased the risks associated with this market while improving cash flow and profits for these dealerships. In short, these systems offer a disciplined approach to billing and collections, tasks […] [Read More]

While numbers remained flat throughout the year for most brands, among non-luxury dealers, both domestic and imported, Lincoln saw the largest share-of-visit increase year-over-year (plus 2.25 percent). This is according to The Year in Location: 2017, Auto Report from PlaceIQ results released Tuesday. Luxury brand BMW (plus 3.9 percent) saw the largest share-of-visit increase year-over-year, followed by Acura […] [Read More]

Under an agreement reached with their respective captive finance arms, Ally’s SmartAuction is listing the off-lease vehicles of Nissan and Infiniti. The agreement between SmartAuction and the two captives (Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp. and Infiniti Financial Services) was announced Tuesday. The off-lease cars are listed on SmartAuction after first being offered to Nissan and Infiniti […] [Read More]

Across the United States, the number of operating automotive dealerships remained steady in 2017. That's according to the latest Automotive Franchise Activity Report from Urban Science released Tuesday. There were a total of 18,213 dealerships rooftops as of Jan. 1 — a 0.2-percent increase from a total of 18,170 on Jan. 1, 2017, according to the report. The […] [Read More]

Those holiday ads for vehicles — especially for luxury models — evidently stimulated activity not only at dealerships, but also at Swapalease.com. While stores might have moved some extra metal that was a gift, the site's lease-transfer approval rating took a tumble in January. Swapalease.com reported that vehicle lease credit applicants registered a 57.8-percent approval rate […] [Read More]

With more consumers shopping for their next car using their mobile devices, DriveTime wanted to upgrade its offerings in an effort to capture those potential sales. On Tuesday, DriveTime announced the launch of a new mobile site with innovations designed to extend to both the customer experience and the technology DriveTime employed in launching the […] [Read More]

It’s been a busy start to 2018 at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, especially since acting director Mick Mulvaney took office.  First came multiple waves of requests for information about how the bureau is performing. Then on Monday, the CFPB highlighted three primary goals within its five-year strategic plan. Along with other objectives, the bureau […] [Read More]