Consumer car dealer review site DealerRater announced the findings of its 2015 Consumer Rating Index. Based on nearly 416,000 reviews taken between March 2014 and March of this year, the company ranked manufacturers, on a dealership level, based on a five-point scale. Ranking first among the mass market brands was Subaru, with a score of 4.757 […] [Read More]

Though wholesale prices were on the way up in March, the movement was tempered by expanding used supply. According to analysis shared by Tom Kontos, executive vice president of ADESA Analytical Services, downward pressure from used supply expansion is manifesting through lower conversion rates and price weakness in particular age, sale type, and model class segments. […] [Read More]

A recent consumer survey conducted by Harris Poll on behalf of Ally Financial showed the potential for buyers arriving at the dealership with a savings account containing enough money to make a down payment high enough to satisfy finance company underwriting demands isn’t too strong. The survey showed only half of Americans set financial goals […] [Read More]

Based on its latest filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Consumer Portfolio Services is looking to collect more resources to ramp up its subprime auto financing. The company said in the filing that it’s offering renewable unsecured subordinated notes to new purchasers and existing noteholders up to a maximum of $50 million in aggregate principal […] [Read More]

Black Book tapped a former SunTrust Bank executive today to be its new vice president of lender solutions. Joining the company and bringing 20 years of automotive finance industry experience is Barrett Teague, who will be responsible for overseeing strategic operations to help Black Book’s automotive finance company clients leverage vehicle data and collateral analytics […] [Read More]

Dealertrack Technologies announced Wednesday that it added enhancements to CentralDispatch, its Web-based transportation marketplace, to improve shipping efficiencies and make more profitable loads for its carrier customers. The offering, which connects dealers and transport brokers with over 7,900 vehicle carriers nationwide, provides several carrier-specific capabilities, including the following, according to Dealertrack: Multipoint Route Search and […] [Read More]

NCM Associates recently teamed up with DrivingSales Data to provide NCM 20 Group clients a monthly Internet Marketing Vitals Composite compiling a dealerships' digital marketing efforts in one, easy-to-understand report. The firms highlighted that clients will receive their monthly report in a composite-like format, allowing them to have more productive 20 group discussions with peers […] [Read More]

The National Auto Auction Association said wholesale industry leader Chester "Chet" Lee Goins died on April 4. Goins began his auto industry career parking cars, repairing jukeboxes and then went into partnership to purchase his first lot business in 1949. Goins along with his wife, Pat, of 52 years, founded the Auto Dealers Exchange (ADE) […] [Read More]

Marketing platform Crowdtap recently conducted a survey of roughly 500 male and female car buyers to get a glimpse at what shoppers think about reviews and social media as well as what sources of information they trust the most. The poll, conducted in February of this year, yielded several unique insights into the minds of […] [Read More]

The Clean Auto Alliance announced last week the first recipients ever of the Environment & Safety Elite Award. The new award is designed to recognize automotive truck and equipment dealerships, and service companies that meet or exceed best practice benchmarks in key environmental, health and safety categories. The non-profit bestowed the inaugural honors to more […] [Read More]