FordDirect announced today the promotion of 15 of its employees to senior director and director-level positions in its finance, information technology, sales and marketing, and product strategy departments. The company’s promotions, in their respective departments, include the following, provided by FordDirect: Finance Mia Anderson is promoted from director of cash management and financial analysis to […] [Read More]

Though last year’s high gas prices may have pushed some consumers into more fuel efficient rides, with 2015’s low rates, it seems shoppers are making a compromise. Though not swinging back to full SUVs, TrueCar projects compact utilities will become the top-selling U.S. vehicle segment this year, for the first time. Backing up this assertion, […] [Read More]

DealerSocket announced this afternoon it has bought AutoStar Solutions, a popular dealer management system for buy-here, pay-here and used-car dealers. This news comes after AutoStar Solutions first announced at the end of December that its AutoStar Fusion dealer management system had completed integration with DealerSocket’s customer relationship management software.  “AutoStar Solutions delivers extreme value and […] [Read More]

Mazda North American Operations announced today that it has made a $1 million donation to the St. Jude Children’s Hospital to aid the latter’s efforts in researching and treating childhood cancers and other life-threatening diseases. The donation was made through the Mazda Drive for Good program, which ran from Nov. 21 to Jan. 2, aiming […] [Read More]

License plate recognition provider PlateSmart Technologies recently reached an exclusive licensing agreement with PRA Location Services to provide LPR technology for the company’s repossession and recovery services nationwide. Officials highlighted PlateSmart partnered with PRA Location Services, a business of PRA Group, as the exclusive licensee to the repossession and recovery vertical because of PRALS’ position […] [Read More]

Autotrader discovered 70 percent of the consumer traffic arriving at its Buy-Here, Pay-Here Center came through mobile devices. That figure, along with many enhancements Autotrader has made to the platform designed specifically for BHPH operators, will be on the agenda when site officials give an update about this endeavor later this month at the annual […] [Read More]

April was a good month for most when it comes to the certified market, as the spring selling season picked up, and automakers reported record CPO sales. For example, the Mercedes-Benz Pre-Owned division recorded a total of 1,523 units sold for an increase of 20.3 percent, resulting in their best April ever. This double digit […] [Read More]

FCA US LLC announced today that it will offer a no-cost, no-debt college degree to its employees via a partnership with Strayer University. Titled the Degrees @ Work program, employees at Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Ram and FIAT dealerships in the United States will soon have the option to earn a college degree through Strayer University, […] [Read More]

The same economic drivers helping to lift the new-car market are also benefitting the used-car market, said NADA chief economist Steven Szakaly, whose analysis points out three key metrics pushing demand. “Just like the new-vehicle market, we continue to see healthy demand for used cars,” Szakaly said in an analysis released by the National Automobile Dealers […] [Read More]

Manheim chief economist Tom Webb crunched the first-quarter reports of the seven publicly traded dealership groups — CarMax, AutoNation, Penske Automotive Group, Sonic Automotive, Group 1 Automotive, Asbury Automotive Group and Lithia Motors — and determined these companies enjoyed a same-store increase in retail used-unit deliveries for the 23rd consecutive quarter. Webb also computed that the sales-weighted […] [Read More]