Kelley Blue Book announced Wednesday both brand and category winners of its 5-Year Cost to Own Awards, which recognize Hyundai as the top brand to offer new vehicles with the lowest projected ownership costs. This is the second year that Hyundai has received KBB’s 5-Year Cost to Own brand award. KBB said that the Hyundai […] [Read More]

Cox Automotive senior economist Charlie Chesbrough explained the challenge facing the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) at the Federal Reserve. Chesbrough articulated how the implications might not impact dealership turns and finance company originations immediately, but he cautioned that trends can be difficult to steer if momentum builds too much. That challenge revolves around inflation […] [Read More]

It took AUL Corp. 21 years to reach 1 million vehicle services contracts. According to a new release shared this week, the VSC provider doubled that figure seven years later. AUL president and chief executive officer Jimmy Atkinson announced the company just surpassed 2 million contracts issued, making it one of the top independent vehicle […] [Read More]

KAR Auction Services announced Wednesday it has purchased STRATIM, a mobility and fleet management software company. It’s a move that gives KAR a strong foothold in the world of on-demand car- and ride-sharing services, urban commute providers and autonomous vehicles — a world in which many of KAR’s customers already take part. Through real-time data […] [Read More]

Dealers Auto Auction Group has purchased Rea Brothers Mid-South Auction from the Rea family, a move that expands the independent auto auction group into Mississippi. In late January 2016, the Rea family repurchased Mid-South Auction from the XLerate Group. Mid-South, originally founded in 1972, had formerly been owned by the Rea family and operated under […] [Read More]

The Auto Remarketing Canada Conference team announced Tuesday that TradeRev has joined CARPROOF as a presenting sponsor for this year’s event. Along with presenting sponsors TradeRev and CARPROOF, key industry associations like the CFLA, IARA, AMVOQ and others have come onboard to host this event in Toronto, whose content is specific to the used-car, auto finance and […] [Read More]

ActivEngage announced Tuesday that it has brought aboard Jeff Clark to serve as its new vice president of sales. Clark is a sales leader with over 20 years of experience leading large automotive industry sales teams, the company said. "Jeff brings with him an abundance of sales expertise, key connections and invaluable relationship-building skills that we […] [Read More]

DealersLink, a provider of automotive systems integration and networking technology, announced that it has recently expanded its geographic reach after signing more than 100 new dealer members recently in Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida. Among the new clients are the following dealerships: —Susan Schein Automotive, Pelham, Ala. —Greg Orr Cadillac, Hot Springs, Ark. —Ross […] [Read More]

DealerFenix announced the release of its reporting and workflow automation system for dealerships on Monday. The DealerFenix platform is designed to improve consistency by helping dealers eliminate repetitive tasks, automate dealership workflow processes and easily track Key Performance Indicators. “For more than 20 years I have worked with dealers and watched the way they used […] [Read More]

At Used Car Week in November, Joe sat down with United Road president and chief operating officer Mark Anderson to talk about finding drivers for vehicle logistics/transportation providers, how the online sales environment impacts the transportation/logistics space, the impact of hurricanes to the segment and more. Check out their conversation from La Quinta, Calif., below, and find […] [Read More]