In the retailer’s first-quarter earnings conference call back in April, AutoNation president and chief operating officer Mike Maroone attributed some of the group’s modest year-over-year dip in same-store gross profit per used vehicle retailed to “the increased cost to acquire vehicles for certified pre-owned programs.” Of course, slimmer gross profit per vehicle may not be […] [Read More]

As the spring market comes to a close early this year at auction, NADA Used Car Guide expects wholesale prices to continue to fall over the course of the current week. NADA UCG expects an overall slight decline of 0.2 percent, or $25, relative to the two-week average. Some of the biggest percentage declines are […] [Read More]

Breaking down the 38 percent of consumers who intend to purchase or lease a vehicle within the next three months, data from Phoenix Marketing International’s latest Automotive Brand and Advertising Audit took eight car-shopping attributes and diagrammed the prevalency of each within this contingent. The firm found that more than 60 percent of those intenders […] [Read More]

Polk and Datalogix said Wednesday they will be extending their digital automotive partnership through 2016. This agreement means that Datalogix will continue to be the exclusive distributor of Polk's audience data, "enabling access to Polk's industry-leading data through all leading publishers, ad networks, portals and agency platforms," the companies shared. [Read More]

Just in time for Memorial Day, Dallas-Fort Worth GMC dealers are sending out a call for submissions honoring active duty military, veterans and first responders, to help raise funds for nonprofit Carry The Load. The nonprofit was founded in 2011 by two former U.S. Navy SEALs, Clint Bruce and Stephen Holley, to help people celebrate […] [Read More]

As vehicle product quality continues to improve across the board, dealers must look to other areas of their stores to differentiate themselves from competitors. In J.D. Power and Associates' May Automotive Analyst note, for Canada  Virginia Connell cites a “remarkable shift in the automotive market that squarely hands the advantage to consumers.” [Read More]

Used-vehicle performance numbers brought mixed results for AutoCanada during the first quarter. The company saw slight overall used sales and revenue increases, but pre-owned same-store numbers showed a bit of a different story. Used retail vehicles sold came in at 2,187 for Q1, up slightly from the 2,172 pre-owned units sold in the fourth quarter […] [Read More]

In developments described as “long anticipated,” the downward slide of the Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index continued in April, extending the reading’s decline to four months in a row. Manheim indicated wholesale prices (on a mix-, mileage- and seasonally adjusted basis) declined 1.0 percent in April, bringing the index level to 119.2, which was 5.5 […] [Read More]

When considering auction units sold, dealer consignment and commercial consignment have been heading in opposite directions the past three years. In its 2012 Annual Review, the National Auto Auction Association looks at what’s behind this trend as well as its implication in the lanes. First, the statistics. According to NAAA survey data looking at auction […] [Read More]

In an effort to provide dealers with more options to check background information on retail units, Experian Automotive said Tuesday that Volvo added AutoCheck vehicle history reports to its certified pre-owned program. Now the company contends dealers have the ability to choose vehicle history reports based on their customers’ needs.  Commenting on the recent news, […] [Read More]