LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Peritus Portfolio Services recently signed a multi-year agreement to offer SteadyPay Payment Solutions services to its customers who often purchase vehicles at buy-here, pay-here dealerships. Officials explained SteadyPay offers automatic bill payment via payroll deduction. Peritus' customers can accumulate funds over time through payroll deductions, ensuring that money is available when a […] [Read More]

In what the company said is the largest acquisition in its history, Larry H. Miller Dealerships has bought seven stores in Arizona. The group said Monday it purchased three stores in Avondale and four in Tucson. Those stores are: Avondale Chrysler, Jeep Avondale Dodge, Ram Avondale Fiat Tucson Dodge, Ram Tucson Chrysler, Jeep Tucson Fiat […] [Read More]

Topping the next-closest model by 3,350 online visits, the most-researched used vehicle on KBB.com for March was the Honda Civic. It generated 53,848 visits and was followed by the Honda Accord, which received 50,498 visits. Third on the most-researched used list was the Toyota Camry (47,450 visits), while the Toyota Corolla was fourth (34,452 visits), […] [Read More]

Judging by data analysis released today by Marchex, Inc.,  each time an employee at a dealership or service center answers the phone, he or she may have a good opportunity to turn that conversation into a sale. Marchex, a mobile performance advertising company, found that consumers now place millions of calls to the auto industry […] [Read More]

A strong start to 2013 left the February data reported in the latest RDN Monthly Analytics Update falling lower against January but slightly higher versus a year ago. Officials said February recovery volumes dropped 13 percentage points versus the January level. However, the February reading came in 4 percentage points higher than the year-earlier mark. […] [Read More]

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released details about another vehicle recall for units registered primarily in cold-weather locations. NHTSA said Subaru of America is recalling an undetermined amount of model-year 2005 through 2009 Outback and Legacy vehicles manufactured from December 2003 through April 2009. These units are currently or formerly registered in Connecticut, Delaware, […] [Read More]

Black Book editors explained how last week’s level of wholesale price adjustments confirmed a dealer comment their survey personnel shared. The amount of adjustments came in at 61 percent, extending a streak of four weeks in a row with a level at 60 percent or higher and prompting one dealer to tell Black Book that […] [Read More]

NCM Associates and vAuto announced Monday that they’ve joined forces to form exclusive Velocity Dealer 20 Groups for dealers who subscribe to vAuto’s products and its Velocity Method of Management philosophy. Officials said three invitation-only Velocity 20 Groups are now being organized with simultaneous charter group meetings to be held April 14–16 in Chicago. The […] [Read More]

In a move announced Monday,  Carfax and Volvo Cars of North America have renewed their certified pre-owned agreement. Since 1999, certified Volvo dealers have run a Carfax Vehicle History Report on all Volvo cars submitted for certification, officials said. And under the renewed agreement, Volvo and its certified dealers are providing consumers with free Carfax […] [Read More]

Spotlighting the stores with the strongest levels of customer satisfaction, Ford handed out its President’s Award  to a select group of dealers earlier this winter. The award — which was created in 1998 — recognizes dealers for excellence in providing outstanding customer service and satisfaction.  Eligibility is determined via customer survey responses regarding their sales […] [Read More]