Along with an analysis about how ongoing macroeconomic trends are pointing toward positive fortunes for dealerships, the team at KeyBanc Capital Markets attributed an upbeat conversation with Cox Automotive chief economist Tom Webb coupled with the July findings of its monthly dealer survey for producing such a “bullish” outlook. Before delving into the takeaways from […] [Read More]

EFG Companies, together with Northwood University, launched the second annual F&I Innovator of the Year Competition this week. Held during the fall semester each year, this competition leverages the out-of-the box thinking of today’s Gen Z college students, coupled with F&I industry leaders’ insight, to boost the F&I industry’s focus on innovation. The annual F&I […] [Read More]

One of the noteworthy quotes from those old Bugs Bunny cartoons that involved Marvin the Martian included the phrase, “Well, back to the old drawing board.” That phrase also summarized the sentiment the American Bankers Association, the Consumer Bankers Association and the Financial Services Roundtable emphasized when they crafted and submitted a 42-page rebuttal for the […] [Read More]

An analysis by Vincentric LLC indicated that hybrids may be losing their competitive edge in the U.S. The company’s most recent U.S. Hybrid Analysis shows that seven of 29 hybrids it examined have lower total cost of ownership compared to their closest all-gasoline-powered counterpart. This represents a continued decrease in cost-effective hybrids, dropping from 44 […] [Read More]

Automotive Internet Media (AIM), which creates and manages websites for auto dealers, recently developed a one-stop dealership website for both auto shoppers who speak English and Spanish without leaving the main dealership site.  Translation services for websites might only swap out words, the company said, but the language is not written for the specific audience. […] [Read More]

Car buyers are getting more satisfaction, it seems, according to new data from the American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). Consumer satisfaction with automobiles is up 3.8 percent to 82 on ACSI’s 100-point scale. And while luxury cars have dominated the driver satisfaction rankings for years, the top tier is now evenly split between mass market […] [Read More]

In the second quarter, the average monthly payment on a lease was $431, up from $419 a year ago, according to Edmunds.com. That also marked the highest Q2 average since 2011, when payments averaged $434 a month. “Leasing has been a major force in elevating new-car sales for the past three years,” Edmunds said in […] [Read More]

With Enterprise Holdings sending resources as well, National Automobile Dealers Association president Peter Welch and National Automobile Dealers Charitable Foundation chairman Annette Sykora arrived in the flood-ravaged areas of Louisiana’s capital city and announced they would seek to raise $2 million for franchised dealership families displaced by devastating flooding. Welch and Sykora are meeting with […] [Read More]

Element Financial Corp. announced that Michael Dolan has been named chief information security officer of its fleet management business. Dolan joined Element in 2015 when it acquired GE Capital Fleet Services, bringing more than 16 years of legal and information security experience. He began at GE Capital Fleet Services in 2008 as vice president, counsel […] [Read More]

Recall Masters, a provider of automotive recall news, data, training and communications, finalized an integration on Tuesday with Auto Rental Systems (ARS), a cloud-based loaner vehicle management system, in an effort to help dealers manage their loaner and rental fleets. The companies explained the ARS Recall module can perform a nightly scan of all fleet […] [Read More]