CDK Global believes more than 73 percent of consumers prefer to do business with brands that make their shopping experience more relevant. With that metric in mind, CDK Global contends the company now can personalize the online consumer experience for dealerships’ new- and used-vehicle sales endeavors as well as their parts and service profit centers […] [Read More]

Used-car prices are expected to fall more than 8 percent over the next three years, according to an analysis released last week by RVI Group. The firm attributes the projected 8.2-percent drop in real used-vehicle prices (i.e. residual values) to growth in three key areas: supply, competition and incentive spending. “RVI forecasts an increase in leasing […] [Read More]

Remember Nissan’s “Dogs Love Trucks!” commercials from the 1990s?   Well, I have marginally strong anecdotal evidence that dogs really love whatever vehicle lets them stick their head out of the window (safely) and enjoy a cool breeze. Of course, that’s based solely on my childhood observations of a regal, roly-poly chow named Alvin. In honor […] [Read More]

The volume of auto-financing discussion — especially in the subprime space — Cox Automotive chief economist Tom Webb entertained at recent industry events and his quarterly conference call prompted him to ask a question. Recent analyst reports from Fitch Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service highlighted deterioration in performance in the subprime auto ABS market, prompting […] [Read More]

General Motors Financial broke ground on Monday for its new financial servicing center in San Antonio during a ceremony that featured several notable city, county and state officials and community leaders as speakers, including Gov. Greg Abbott. The company’s newest facility consisting of 100,000 square feet is planned to be built on 13.8 acres of […] [Read More]

Dealerships of all sizes are trying a wide array of strategies to reach millennials — individuals born between 1982 and 1994 — in order to keep vehicles turning and service bays humming. J.D. Power recently released what analysts titled the Millennials Insight Report: The Customer Experience Perspective; a report aimed at defining the quintessential makeup and […] [Read More]

Chrome Data and Dealix founder Mark Boyd took on his latest industry challenge on Friday, joining automotive digital marketing technology provider LotLinx as vice chairman and chief revenue officer. The company highlighted Boyd will lead all LotLinx growth initiatives Boyd joins LotLinx after a 30-year career founding and advising many of the industry’s most important […] [Read More]

CarMax hosted its quarterly conference call to share results of its 2016 fiscal year on the same day that Cox Automotive chief economist Tom Webb conducted his regular phone gathering to discuss a wide array of industry topics. It just so happened that call participants asked Webb about how CarMax manages to keep its used-vehicle […] [Read More]

CarMax reported this week that its total used unit sales rose 4.0 percent in the fourth quarter and 6.5 percent during its fiscal year that finished on Feb. 29. The company’s network of 158 stores in 78 markets turned a total of 619,936 vehicles during the 2016 fiscal year, up from 582,282 units a year […] [Read More]

The sparring between lawmakers and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Richard Cordray continued on Thursday when the director offered his semiannual report to the U.S. Senate Banking Committee. What has been a source of much consternation percolating from the upper chamber’s counterparts in the U.S. House germinated during the second of two Senate committee hearings […] [Read More]