In looking at business cycles of the past, Tom Webb noticed that each time new-vehicle sales rose coming out of a recovery, franchised dealers often lost focus on the used-car side of the business. But not this time around, said Manheim’s chief economist, noting the improvements in the dealer body. [Read More]

The 2013 TIME Dealer of the Year was announced by TIME and Ally Financial Saturday at the NADA Convention & Expo on Saturday, and taking this year’s honors is Michael Alford, president of Marine Chevrolet Cadillac in Jacksonville, N.C. The winners and finalists were announced byTim Russi, Ally president of Auto Finance, and Brad Young, […] [Read More]

Off-lease volume will grow this year and eventually pass 2.4 million units in 2015. That’s the word from Manheim’s Tom Webb, who gave an overview Saturday at the NADA Convention & Expo of the trends in the 2013 Used Car Market Report released this morning. Back in the early part of this new century, off-lease […] [Read More]

Dealer.com’s Alex Snyder uses the term “visibility” often when he describes what store managers want out of their online presence and how dealer approaches and processes have shifted since he first started as the Internet manager at his family’s dealership back in the mid-1990s. Now as the senior director of product design at Dealer.com, Snyder […] [Read More]

Edmunds.com is introducing a new tool at the NADA Convention & Expo that aims to help dealers close more sales. Today is the national rollout of Edmunds Price Promise, which offers car shoppers special upfront pricing from participating dealers.  Edmunds said the tool is designed to “convert more car shoppers into car buyers by delivering […] [Read More]

Special offers, branded video and deeper reputation exposure are the key elements of a new product by Cars.com, according to company officials. Cars.com on Friday afternoon announced the launch of PowerDrive, a new advertising product for franchised dealerships which builds on the BaseDrive product released by the company in May. Officials said PowerDrive is based […] [Read More]

AutoTrader Group announced Friday afternoon that it has purchased Automotive Information Systems, which the company called “the industry's leader in auto incentive integration.” Commenting on the deal, AutoTrader Group president and chief executive officer Chip Perry said:  “Incentives are complex and confusing.  It is hard for dealers and consumers to understand and use incentives for […] [Read More]

The National Automobile Dealers Association launched an Industry Relations Task Force last year so it could examine the impact of two-tier pricing and mandatory facility upgrades on dealerships, and as David Westcott steps into his chairmanship of NADA, it appears these two issues remain at the forefront of the minds of dealers and the association […] [Read More]

With the NADA Convention & Expo officially kicking off in Orlando, Fla., and the Orange County Convention Center set to buzz with dealer excitement, AutoTrader.com and Carfax each made big announcements of their own today that can help stores improve their relationships with retail consumers. [Read More]

The key initiatives chairman Roger Penske discussed most when he outlined Penske Automotive Group’s objectives for 2013 revolved around growing revenue by more than 10 percent as well as how the company plans to revamp its store websites and more. In order to reach that targeted revenue growth, Penske thinks it will come through a […] [Read More]