With the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau shifting its focus more to automotive financing, one of the aspects of automotive deals that is under fire is dealer mark-ups, or bumps in interest rates. Dealer financing mark-ups have long been a accepted practice in the industry, but the CFPB contends this type of deal is ripe for discrimination. […] [Read More]

Amid certified pre-owned vehicle sales that are humming at a record pace, vendors that support the sector in various ways are coming together and could keep momentum going. In what may help the segment — since most CPO sales require financing — Equifax and Black Book are joining forces to aid what happens in the […] [Read More]

I’ve discussed the various issues that are putting gross margins under pressure. Those factors aside, there’s another barrier that dealers have to contend with — the fact that consumers come to the dealership armed with more knowledge than ever. When the amateur knows more than the professionals on your lot, it’s difficult for salespeople to […] [Read More]

“I would like to buy a car with bitcoin.” The majority of dealers and their sales staff likely have not heard those words from a customer. At least, not yet. The global emergence of cryptocurrencies in the last five years has brought to question one serious issue: what can be accepted as money? Is it […] [Read More]

One of the presenting sponsors of this year’s Re3 Conference — Primeritus Financial Services — also enjoyed a record turnout for its second annual agent partner event on Sept. 11 and Sept. 12 in the Music City. During its first agent event a year ago, Primeritus indicated more than 100 attendees came to the company’s […] [Read More]

Carvana executives highlighted that the company that sells used vehicles completely online is on track for a more than 1,000-percent increase in revenue during its first full year of sales. Should the company maintain that pace, Carvana expects its 2014 revenue figure to climb to $50 million. “Since our launch, we have been focused on reinventing […] [Read More]

Edmunds.com announced this week the launch of its new feature for its car-shopping mobile application. Lot Buddy, a location-aware feature for the company’s existing mobile app, allows car buyers to unlock “Price Promise,” no-haggle offers from anywhere, even on the lot. According to Edmunds, this car-shopping tool is the first to offer locked-in pricing without […] [Read More]

Consistency was the word in the lanes last week — especially for the car segments. Black Book’s Ricky Beggs reported the car segments’ prices fell by an average of $71 last week, which is slightly lower than the previous week’s drop of $84. In his latest “Beggs on the Used Car Market” report, the Black […] [Read More]

So far I’ve discussed two factors that are putting gross profit margins under pressure: market-based pricing and the impending increase in the supply of used cars. There’s a third element to this equation: the fact that dealers have fundamentally changed their pricing strategy without also changing their sales and marketing approach. That has led to a […] [Read More]

A little more than a week after Ford announced a formal recall of more than 850,000 midsize sedans, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration formally launched an investigation into another estimated 938,000 late-model vehicles from the Blue Oval. The investigation is connected with the Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKZ from the 2010 through 2012 model […] [Read More]