Sonic Automotive had record first-quarter used-car sales and March, in particular, was the retailer’s strongest month ever for pre-owned volumes. The company’s standalone EchoPark pre-owned stores had 1,673 sales during the quarter (up 77.8 percent year-over-year) and could be poised to expand by as many as 20 locations next year.   “If you look at […] [Read More]

Just like when trying to turn used vehicles, Penske Automotive Group chairman Roger Penske also sees an inventory mismatch when dealer group stores look to put their customers into a lease for a new model. Penske addressed the new-vehicle leasing situation and the potential impact on residual values when the dealer group hosted its quarterly […] [Read More]

This year's Vincentric Best Fleet Value in America Awards have recognized Hyundai’s 2017 Elantra SE, 2017 Sonata Hybrid and 2017 Tucson models for their low cost of operation, the automaker announced on Thursday. Hyundai’s Elantra model took the top spot in the compact sedan category for the third time. Meanwhile, the Tucson won its second […] [Read More]

Along with sharing some of its first-quarter sales and loss projections, online used-vehicle retailer Carvana late on Thursday announced the pricing of its initial public offering of 15 million shares of its Class A common stock at a price to the public of $15 per share. The company said in its latest filing with the […] [Read More]

On Friday, CarGurus named the recipients of its inaugural Best Used Car Awards, which recognize the best recent-year used-car models across seven body style categories. CarGurus’ new award considers each vehicle’s long-term value retention projections along with driver satisfaction based on both consumer and expert reviews. “Vehicle generations which include the 2013 model year were considered in […] [Read More]

The auto finance component of the S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices showed contract defaults improved in March both on a year-over-year and sequential basis. According to data released by S&P Dow Jones Indices and Experian, auto loan defaults came in at 1.00 percent, down 5 basis points from the previous month. In March of last […] [Read More]

Carleton, a provider of compliant financing calculation and document generation solutions, recently announced that it has successfully completed its 2016 SOC 2 compliance audit, conducted by Crowe Horwath. The company highlighted SOC 2 compliance has quickly become a hot topic in today's world of technology and cloud computing, as service organizations such as Carleton must […] [Read More]

Kia Motors America's certified pre-owned vehicle sales program achieved a record-high first quarter, having sold a total of 19,453 units. Along with several other automakers, last year was also a best-ever CPO year for Kia, selling a total of 76,224 units in 2016. "Kia's sales boost is reflective of the confidence that comes with buying a vehicle that has passed […] [Read More]

In its latest Quarterly Market Report, ALG showed a year-over-year comparison of March/April 36-month residual value forecasts. Of the 25 segments included in the report, only five had positive residual value changes from a year ago. And they were all mainstream utility segments (which, according to ALG, includes minivans). Asked why utilities have held onto […] [Read More]

Canadian used-car prices were up around 1 percent last month, despite the fact that many individual segments are seeing their values soften. The RVI Used Vehicle Price Index was up 0.9 percent month-over-month in March and climbed 1.1 percent year-over-year. Those figures are based on what RVI Group considers its “Real Index.” In the “Nominal […] [Read More]