Amid the rapid expansion of digital marketing channels in the automotive space, the process of connecting with and retaining service customers these days can be like the subway routes at Grand Central Station: complicated and moving quickly in multiple directions. Such is the sentiment from a study released by DMEautomotive at this year’s NADA Convention […] [Read More]

The last of the 10 dealers associated with Federal Trade Commission’s enforcement actions dubbed “Operation Steer Clear,” has agreed to resolve charges involving store advertising of financing. Officials said a consent order has been reached between the FTC and Courtesy Auto Group of Attleboro, Mass., indicating that the dealership violated federal regulations by deceptively advertising […] [Read More]

In a “promising” sign for dealers, about two-thirds of the participants in the latest dealer survey from KeyBanc Capital Markets said their used-vehicle gross profits per unit were up more than $50 year-over-year in February. Only 17 percent saw their used gross profits per unit drop more than $50 per unit, and 17 percent showed […] [Read More]

A two-company partnership has produced two new programs for addressing the most common challenges of fleet management clients, while saving them money. LeasePlan USA and American Traffic Solutions Fleet Services are teaming up to implement new toll and violation solutions for clients, namely the TollPlanSM and ViolationsPlanSM programs. “LeasePlan is pleased to partner with ATS […] [Read More]

The percentage of price increases for vehicle segments flowing through the lanes this past week continued to grow, hitting the highest level seen over the past 12 months. This prompted some dealers to predict we might see another month of positive values before settling into a more stable auction market. According to Black Book’s Ricky […] [Read More]

There now is a much larger pool of funds to underwrite contracts for Toyota’s most fuel-efficient vehicles. Today, Toyota Financial Services issued what the company believes is the industry’s first-ever asset-backed green bond in the amount of $1.75 billion. Officials highlighted the offering was upsized from $1.25 billion to accommodate demand as institutional investors demonstrated […] [Read More]

Andy Koblenz, executive vice president and general counsel for the National Automobile Dealers Association, heard leaders from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau speak last week and again left with questions about how the new regulatory agency intends to oversee vehicle financing. Koblenz indicated during a panel session of an event hosted by the U.S. Chamber […] [Read More]

For the first time this year, some dealers are seeing finance companies pull back in their willingness to complete contracts. According to the latest dealer survey from KeyBanc Capital Markets, the financing outlook still remains favorable as 50 percent of the firm’s survey respondents reported banks and finance companies were becoming more aggressive in lending […] [Read More]

Last month, NADA Used Car Guide kicked off a two-part series on vehicle value retention in its NADA Perspective report with a close look at passenger car segments. On Friday, NADA UCG followed that up by diving into value retention for light-duty trucks and SUVs. According to its analysis, the truck segment with the strongest […] [Read More]

It is clear that leasing is becoming more and more popular, as many recent reports would suggest, but one finding from Swapalease.com, in particular, could be quite important for the leasing community to consider: many women may not return to leasing when they go to find their next vehicle. Why? To answer the question, Swapalease […] [Read More]