The primary result of this week’s meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) was the Federal Reserve reducing the federal funds rate below 4% for the first time since 2022. The reduction of the target rate to 3.75% to 4.00% arrives as Cox Automotive reports the average rates for new- and used-car financing originated […] [Read More]

Two well-known names in the F&I and reinsurance arenas — Protective Asset Protection and Portfolio — are now on track to be part of the same organization serving dealerships. On Thursday morning, Protective Life Corp., a U.S. subsidiary of Dai-ichi Life Holdings, announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Portfolio Holding and […] [Read More]

Many in the auto industry believe that lower-priced vehicles, or what Lithia calls “Value Auto” vehicles, are driven off of “low-quality credit.” However, “it’s the exact inverse of what you think,” said Bryan DeBoer, president and CEO of Lithia Motors and Driveway. Buyers only finance lower-priced vehicles about half of the time, he said. A […] [Read More]

A week after Canadian auctions posted their lowest conversion rate of the year, sales improved — but not by much. Canadian Black Book’s weekly Market Insights report for the week ending Oct. 25 showed an average monitored auction sale rate of just 29%, with the range varying widely from as low as 10% to as […] [Read More]

With the end of federal tax credits on Sept. 30, sales of electric vehicles are taking a hit after a record third quarter, industry observers say, but there still are some “encouraging” signs for the EV market. There were 438,487 new EVs sold in Q3, which beat second-quarter figures by 40.7% and prior-year figures by […] [Read More]

DealerFire has some advice for dealerships about their websites. That advice is contained in its newly released guide, Designing an Engaging and Easy-to-Use Dealership Website: Best Practices. The provider of dealership websites and digital marketing said its resource is designed to help dealerships understand how to create high-performing websites that attract visitors, generate leads and […] [Read More]

Two to three years ago might seem like a long time ago in the car business. But that’s the timeframe Black Book referenced when analysts dissected last week’s wholesale data and assembled their newest installment of Market Insights. “Depreciation accelerated last week, with several segments posting single week declines reminiscent of 2022 and 2023 levels,” […] [Read More]

With federal electric vehicle tax credits gone, a nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating the transition from gas to EVs has spun off a new corporation to make the case for EVs to consumers. Coltura said it created the new entity, EVQ, to emphasize the cost savings on fuel and maintenance of EVs directly in the […] [Read More]

Manheim has named six new general managers of its auto auctions, including a new leader for its Southern California Market Center. Promoted to that role is Tom Wemhoff, who is now head of the Southern California Market Center and GM of Manheim Riverside. That Market Center includes Riverside along with Manheim California, Manheim Oceanside, Manheim […] [Read More]

TradePending and DriveCentric are joining forces in a partnership designed to simplify the dealership sales cycle. The collaboration integrates TradePending’s customer engagement platform with DriveCentric’s customer relationship management system to provide a single source for customer engagement information. Through the integration, dealerships can automatically send leads and lead assignments from the DriveCentric CRM to TradePending’s […] [Read More]