The car whose late-model auction values showed the most positive change during the fourth quarter? According to a Kelley Blue Book analysis, it was an electric vehicle:  the Nissan LEAF. This took place, even amid gas prices that tumbled more than 14 percent. Specifically, KBB Auction Values on model-years 2012 through 2014 LEAF vehicles were up […] [Read More]

Kelley Blue Book senior analyst Alec Gutierrez said the fleet process leveraged by automakers “has really matured considerably” during the last three to five years. That development is all the more important since so many new vehicles are leaving franchised dealership lots as leased units nowadays. During a conference call on Tuesday, Gutierrez acknowledged, “There is […] [Read More]

Some components of Toyota Motor Credit’s settlement with the Department of Justice and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released on Tuesday are similar to what the regulators reached with American Honda Finance last summer. The Justice Department and the CFPB explained the settlement is to resolve allegations that Toyota Motor Credit engaged in a pattern […] [Read More]

Gas prices continue to plunge, and this trend is in part driving sustained wholesale price strength for trucks. The truck segments — pickups, in particular — performed extremely well as far as retention goes in the lanes last year, and the same trend is showing up in 2016. According to the latest Black Book Market […] [Read More]

Collection solutions provider Harvest Strategy Group recently enhanced its senior leadership team with the addition of Jason Nesbit as vice president of business development. The company highlighted Nesbit’s more than 20 years in the ARM industry will enable Harvest to expand the reach of its services to new verticals within the industry and further enhance […] [Read More]

As of mid-day Tuesday, a few automakers had reported certified pre-owned sales from the first month of the year. The results thus far have been mixed. Mercedes-Benz’s CPO program, for one, had its strongest January ever. Its 9,934 certified sales for the month were up 5.1 percent from last year. MINI also had its best January […] [Read More]

Takata Corp. said on Tuesday the company received the findings of an independent review by its Quality Assurance Panel chaired by former Secretary of Transportation Samuel Skinner. Takata plans to act on all of the panel’s 15 recommendations to improve the design and manufacturing procedures of its airbags used in millions of vehicles. The report […] [Read More]

After making its first DCH acquisition in late January, Lithia announced the second in line with the purchase of a Massachusetts Toyota store. Lithia Motors has bought Ira Toyota/Scion of Milford, Mass., and the store will be renamed DCH Toyota/Scion of Milford. The company said it expects the store will bring with it $65 million […] [Read More]

Chief executive officers flourishing in the subprime auto finance space juggle a host of responsibilities. They develop sensible strategies and lead teams to execute those plans, all the while remaining competitive and compliant with growing regulatory burdens. In an effort to recognize the special individuals who hold these positions, SubPrime Auto Finance News is asking […] [Read More]

Car Lister announced Monday the launch of its fully transactional e-commerce platform that allows dealers to buy, sell, trade and ship inventory to each other. The Dealer Wholesale Platform is now available for dealers to create national wholesale groups to manage movement of vehicles between members. According to Car Lister, the platform allows dealers to pre-select their […] [Read More]