Bank of America is enhancing its mobile offerings in an effort to boost originations with its participating dealerships. On Monday, bank officials highlighted that they launched new capabilities for mobile clients to complete the auto financing process with the company while searching for a vehicle from dealerships within the bank’s network. Plus, customers can complete […] [Read More]

Comerica Bank chief economist Robert Dye summarized what he called the nine important takeaways from the minutes released last week condensing the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee's latest meeting, where members used the adjective “transitory” to describe first quarter GDP growth. First, here are the points Dye shared in Comerica Bank’s latest weekly analysis […] [Read More]

The wave of off-lease vehicles volume is at its “high tide,” according to Scotiabank, which says lease return numbers — and their subsequent impact to used-car prices — should begin to calm down. The peak in leasing growth was in 2013-14, the company said in its latest Global Auto Report. Lease penetration rates grew at […] [Read More]

An on-demand, live video platform developed by Los Angeles-based startup DropIn, gives dealership product specialists a tool that brings customers to car lots and showroom floors — without the shopper having to leave home. “Nobody wants to come down to the dealership and be sitting in the chair and feel that high pressure anymore — those […] [Read More]

To help dealers generate interest in F&I protection, RoadVantage said it has released a new series of free point-of-sale product videos which inform customers about F&I protection when they purchase a vehicle. Like an audiovisual product brochure, the videos are short and product-specific, according to the company. The series focuses on the benefits of specific products, […] [Read More]

With the motivation being on empowering OEMs, LotVantage recently announced the addition of Dave Yeargin as vice president of strategic initiatives. The company indicated Yeargin will assist in the growth of LotVantage’s Brand Manager customer footprint, with a particular focus in the powersports vertical where he has participated for the past 20 years. LotVantage’s Brand […] [Read More]

Frost & Sullivan’s mobility team pegged how much the automotive industry is expected to invest in blockchain technology during the next eight years. As the digitization trend sweeps across industry verticals, analysts acknowledged blockchains have begun to capture a bigger share of IT budgets. By 2025, Frost & Sullivan projected the total automotive industry's spending […] [Read More]

Frontier Car Group, a new global company that builds and runs marketplaces for used cars in five countries, recently announced the closing of a $22 million investment made by a portfolio of global investors led by Balderton Capital. With operations in Chile, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey, the group said it will put the funds toward growing […] [Read More]

Used-vehicle sales across the industry may move down sequentially this month, but the seasonally adjusted annualized rate should maintain, according to a forecast released Thursday by Edmunds.  The company is calling for 3.3 million used-car sales this month, following April sales of 3.4 million used units and 10.2 million in the first quarter. Meanwhile, ALG is […] [Read More]

Flexdrive is now a joint venture.  Cox Automotive has entered into a joint venture with Holman Enterprises that, essentially, takes its Flexdrive vehicle subscription platform from an incubator to the mainstream, the company explained Thursday. With the joint venture, each will have a 50-percent ownership stake in Flexdrive, a business model that was created at Cox […] [Read More]