This year, hundreds of independent dealers who previously attended Innovate: The Independent Dealer Conference will instead set their sights on DealerSocket’s User Summit. The seventh annual conference will host dealers from both the franchised and independent space with more than 1,100 guests expected. This is the first year that User Summit attendees will be able […] [Read More]

Through eight months of the year, there have been 3.12 million auction sales of cars up to 8 years in age, according to NADA Used Car Guide, which said this represents a 7-percent increase over the same period of 2015. The increase in late-model auction sales (cars up to 3 years old) has been sharper: There […] [Read More]

The Federal Trade Commission recently issued a second Federal Register Notice (FRN) on a proposed qualitative survey of consumers to learn about their experiences in buying and financing vehicles at dealerships, and is seeking clearance from the Office of Management and Budget to conduct the study. FTC officials explained the second FRN also calls for […] [Read More]

After crunching the numbers on more than 2,000 Volkswagen and Audi models eligible for the VW Dieselgate settlement, online auto marketplace Instamotor found that the average age for these cars is four years, with an average of 95,203 miles on the odometer. The average buy-back these cars would be eligible for is $21,205, with the […] [Read More]

Wholesale prices of used vehicles up to eight years old fell by 2.6 percent in August, and for the first time in several months, depreciation in luxury segments outpaced that of mainstream ones, according to NADA Used Car Guide’s latest Guidelines report. August’s results, while in line with expectations for the month, represented the largest […] [Read More]

A new study by TransUnion found that the large majority of Canadians would not be materially impacted in the near term by an interest rate increase. However, more than 700,000 consumers could struggle with their finances — which might include staying current on their vehicle installment contract — even with a quarter-point hike, and up […] [Read More]

The dog days of summer turned out to be the most difficult stretch of the year so far for lease approvals. Swapalease.com reported vehicle lease credit applicants registered a 57.7 percent approval rate for August — the lowest rate the market has seen in 2016 and also the lowest rate for the month of August in […] [Read More]

Auto/Mate Dealership Systems has integrated its dealership management system with myCarfax Service Shop tools to help dealer customers increase the success of their fixed operations. The companies explained this enhancement makes it easier for dealers using Auto/Mate software to join the myCarfax Service Shop program and take advantage of the program’s benefits. Auto/Mate subscribers that […] [Read More]

That shopper who steps on to a dealership lot almost certainly has already checked out the store’s website.   The first impression he or she has of the store might be made digitally. The team at AutoLeadStar has found through looking at various studies that “almost no one these days will walk into a dealership without […] [Read More]

More car shoppers are using social media during their search, but a small number find the information there to be particularly influential. According to J.D. Power’s 2016 New Autoshopper Study, 22 percent of internet car shoppers use a social media site as a source during their search. That’s up from 16 percent in 2015. But […] [Read More]