Overall, 2012 was a good year for franchised car dealers. In its recent recap of last year’s dealership financials, the National Automobile Dealers Association reports that total dealership sales increased 9.2 percent compared to the prior year, driven by gains in the new- and used-vehicle departments, as well as F&I. But the relatively rosy portrait […] [Read More]

Late last week, Chrysler Group revealed a group of dealers the company is honoring for their eco-friendly operations, in an effort to share some of the stores’ energy-efficient best practices across its dealer network. This is Chrysler’s second annual Dealer Enviromentally Councious Operations (ECO) program, which recognizes 30 Chrysler Group dealerships in the U.S. each […] [Read More]

As dealers gauged availability of credit for subprime buyers and experienced jumps in F&I gross profit per unit, a total of 60 percent of the respondents who participated in the Monthly Dealer Survey orchestrated by KeyBanc Capital Markets saw an increase in used-vehicle sales volume during the second quarter. What sparked the positive developments? The […] [Read More]

As gas prices have recently jumped by $0.15 to rest at an average of $3.64 per gallon — $0.21 per gallon higher than the year ago level — the environment in the lanes is showing a reaction to increasing fuel rates. Black Book’s Ricky Beggs said increased activity and interest in fuel-efficient cars and smaller […] [Read More]

Many dealers are familiar with Edmunds.com’s car appraisal tool that many customers use to check the value of their current vehicle on the site. But now, dealers can utilize the tool on their own websites. Edmunds revealed Monday that its True Market Value Trade-in Tool is now available for dealer websites and allows shoppers to […] [Read More]

During a reporting period where car sales, in general, were on the incline for the bulk of the country, dealers in several of the Federal Reserve’s 12 districts were noting solid used-car markets. That’s according to the latest Beige Book report from the Fed, which indicated that the Cleveland, Richmond, St. Louis and San Francisco […] [Read More]

The National Auto Auction Association recently announced that its Executive Committee, at the recommendation of the Dynamic Leadership Committee, has green-lighted a new instructional organization for the 2014 NAAA Dynamic Leadership Institute. Set to conduct the annual two-day educational program this coming spring is the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Leadership Center. The 2014 event will be held […] [Read More]

New tools and tutorials aimed at building auto dealers’ efforts at online reputation management are part of a product launch by dealer review website DealerRater. On Monday, DealerRater introduced a Dealer Panel account management hub, which the company says will provide its Certified Dealer partners with immediate access to a full suite of tools included […] [Read More]

The North Carolina Automobile Dealers Association applauded Gov. Pat McCrory signing several new motor vehicle franchise law provisions into the books last week. The signed measure — Senate Bill 717 — covers many areas of the North Carolina Motor Vehicle Dealers and Manufacturers Licensing Law, including: — Ability of dealers to offer non-manufacturer ancillary products […] [Read More]

Just a few years ago, there were a group of vehicles commanding 70- to 80-percent sales rates at the auction and fetching bids so high that many dealers were priced out of the market. These days, however, this same group of vehicles is only generating sales rates between 15 percent and 25 percent in the […] [Read More]