EchoPark Automotive — whose parent company’s president said “is not your mom-n-pop used-car store” — is showing some positive signs on the sales front in its few first months and has plans to roll out in a second market next year following its debut in the Denver area in November. During Sonic Automotive’s recent quarterly […] [Read More]

On Wednesday, U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx announced that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued an order requiring Takata to preserve all air bag inflators removed through the recall process as evidence for both NHTSA’s investigation and private litigation cases. Foxx added the order also ensures NHTSA’s access to all data from the testing […] [Read More]

The National Automobile Dealers Association reminded members this week they must change their accounting method to comply with the tangible property regulations mandated by the Internal Revenue Service. NADA explained these regulations generally govern whether expenditures on tangible property may be expensed or must be depreciated. These rules are generally effective with the filing of […] [Read More]

Used-car prices in February have begun responding positively to the usual tax season surge, but prices were still dropping in the lanes during the first month of the year. According to the RVI Used Vehicle Price Index, used prices dropped by 5.4 percent last month when compared to December. Used prices were up just a […] [Read More]

In the latest development to this story, ServNet announced Wednesday afternoon that it has also decided not to participate in the remarketing industry’s currently proposed Multiplatform Bidding System initiative (MPS). ServNet president Patty Stanley said in the company’s statement: “ServNet’s Board has spent countless hours over the past two years working with major industry partners attempting to […] [Read More]

Dent Wizard International announced Tuesday that it has added Smart Claims from Ding Shield, an application designed to allow dealership customer service personnel or customers themselves to file and follow Ding Shield claims electronically. Ding Shield, a service plan that covers small to medium area repair techniques (SMART) and paintless dent repair (PDR), utilizes Smart […] [Read More]

Lithia Motors hosted its quarterly conference call on Wednesday to outline its end-of-year results for 2014. The overall highlights were led by the highest fourth-quarter and full-year adjusted net income in Lithia history as well as a 75-percent increase in fourth-quarter revenue from continuing operations compared to 2013. In the used market, the upward trend was […] [Read More]

Federal officials said Wednesday that Santander Consumer USA has agreed to pay at least $9.35 million to resolve a lawsuit by the Department of Justice alleging that the finance company violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) in connection with vehicle repossessions. The Justice Department indicated the complaint and the settlement, which is subject to […] [Read More]

Though used-car prices fell slightly last month and most vehicle segments saw month-over-month declines, minivans continued to see impressive price increases. According to the latest RVI Market Update, the RVI Used-Vehicle Price Index fell by 4 percent from December, while minivans saw an 8-percent rise in residual values during the same time period. This was […] [Read More]

Along with describing how much millennials are fueling the ongoing auto finance resurgence, TransUnion’s latest report showed just a marginal uptick in subprime delinquency rates. TransUnion pegged the year-over-year subprime delinquency movement in the fourth quarter going from 5.72 percent to 5.92 percent. “Access to credit is expanding for American consumers, especially in the non-prime […] [Read More]