Just two dealerships. Based on data provided by Women-Drivers.com, that is the average number of stores women will visit before they buy a car. And once they drive away from your dealership without a new set of keys in their hands, most aren’t looking back in the rear-view mirror. In fact, nearly three-fourths (72 percent) […] [Read More]

Toward the end of 2013, the respective retained value leaders of the subcompact and compact vehicle segments were showing strong leads over the closest competitors, according to the most recent Blue Book Market Report — Used Car Edition. The analysis released by Kelley Blue Book indicates that the retained value (auction value as a percent […] [Read More]

With more potential buyers falling into the subprime credit tier, CarMax is looking to leverage its captive finance company more often to fund deals its third-party lenders might not be buying at volume levels company leaders are seeking. During the final quarter of its current fiscal year, CarMax Auto Finance plans to launch a test […] [Read More]

BillingTree chief executive officer and president David Roberts recently outlined three trends that he believes will drive the payment processing market in 2014. Those trends include: Mobile Roberts insisted companies need to be prepared as mobile will take over in 2014. "With spending on mobile devices up 118 percent on Black Friday 2013, there is […] [Read More]

Manheim's Tom Webb acknowledged some finance companies are making what he called "silly loans" to subprime customers, but he's not expecting underwriting standards to tighten quickly in the short-term future. During his recent quarterly conference call, Manheim's chief economist projected that it will be later this year at the earliest before finance companies make any […] [Read More]

Along with scheduling a member webinar to discuss the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the American Financial Services Association's National Title Solutions Forum submitted a comment letter last week to the Georgia Department of Revenue, the Association of Commissioners of Georgia and the state's tax commissioners. The letter is part of an effort to rectify what […] [Read More]

A new brand loyalty report from CarFinance.com released today highlighted three distinct patterns seen among below-prime buyers along with which badges appeal most to this slice of the credit spectrum. Site analysts discovered below-prime buyers are less loyal than the average buyer, are making practical choices as they re-enter the market, and are trading in […] [Read More]

This week, RouteOne began to offer dealers a free trial of its FinanceConnect product. Dealers who subscribe now will receive the first 60 days free with no setup fee, which officials said is up to a $700 value. The company recapped that FinanceConnect — first made available to dealers last July — is a new […] [Read More]

Ally Financial recently launched a pilot program to help dealers connect with more prospects and customers through the use of social media. Officials highlighted the program, called "Connect4Content," is geared to remove the most common obstacle for dealers looking to bolster their social media properties — the need for a constant stream of new and […] [Read More]

Although the increases were rather tame, domestic brands were at the top of the heap for used-car consumer activity growth on the Web in December, according to the latest Guidelines report from NADA Used Car Guide. Specifically, the report looks at activity on NADAguides.com and calculates the year-over-year change in unique lookups during December. Topping […] [Read More]