Group 1 Automotive announced Monday its acquisition of a Mercedes-Benz store in Georgetown, Texas. Part of the greater Austin metropolitan area, the dealership will continue to operate as Mercedes-Benz of Georgetown. The store is expected to generate $100 million in estimated annual revenues. “We are delighted to strengthen our relationship with Mercedes-Benz and further expand […] [Read More]

First Ally Financial, then American Honda Finance Corp., and on Monday, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau added Fifth Third Bank to its list of recipients of multi-million-dollar actions for what the regulators determined to be discrimination in vehicle financing. As part of its $18 million penalty in the auto space, the CFPB and Department of […] [Read More]

FNI’s David Bafumo dissected a class action complaint involving Santander Consumer USA filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (Eastern Division) and uncovered three important questions that might impact other auto finance companies. To recap, the matter that reached the court system on Aug. 31 is associated with allegations that […] [Read More]

CreditMiner announced that it has acquired full global reseller status with all three major credit bureaus, allowing for what the service provider called a “seamless” transition from a soft bureau transaction to a full application within its software platform. Ahead of CreditMiner’s full launch of the BASIS₂ platform, officials highlighted that this development means that […] [Read More]

GrooveCar, a vehicle-buying resource for the credit union industry, recently formed a strategic partnership with DataOne Software to integrate real-time vehicle information within GrooveCar’s all new Everything Automotive Auto Buying Resource. Because of the partnership, GrooveCar is looking to launch its all new Everything Automotive Auto Buying Resource this winter. The intended goal is to […] [Read More]

One item on the minds of many VW dealers in the United States going into Friday’s board meeting of Volkswagen AG was whether or not the rumors that current U.S. VW chief executive officer Michael Horn would be leaving the company were true. As it turns out, that’s not the case, as VW announced that […] [Read More]

With part of the new-model sales prediction chatter associated with the Volkswagen diesel controversy, a pair of used-vehicle sales projections indicated that side of the market should top 3 million in September. The analysts at TrueCar are even more optimistic, thinking total used-vehicle sales — including franchised and independent dealership turns and private-party transactions — […] [Read More]

CarMax president and chief executive officer Tom Folliard likes how the company is positioned to take advantage of the swelling projection of off-lease vehicles expected to fill the auction lanes next year and beyond. During the company’s most recent conference call, Folliard was asked to compare how CarMax will leverage this chance as compared to […] [Read More]

While it may seem we’re swimming through a painfully large number of automotive recalls on a daily basis, that doesn’t change the fact that cars simply last longer, on average, than ever before. This is reflected by the most recent U.S. vehicle registration data from IHS, which shows that the average length of vehicle ownership […] [Read More]

Late on Thursday, Cox Automotive and Dealertrack Technologies issued a one-sentence update on the planned acquisition first announced back on June 12. The companies have extended the tender offer four times and now say the transaction is expected to close in October. Regulatory hurdles and securing a majority of shareholder approval have been some of […] [Read More]