Sales reports from the first month after the best year in the history of the certified pre-owned market have begun to surface, and it appears a few brands have raced out of the gates to begin 2013. Mazda, for example, just finished off its best January ever with 2,560 CPO sales, said Roger Basa, the […] [Read More]

CAFE standards and fuel efficiency have been water cooler topics for dealerships and OEMs, alike, as gas prices flew over $4 last year and manufacturers look into ways to increase MPG. But what about the dealership itself? Could dealers improve their bottom lines by increasing their stores’ energy efficiency? In an effort to help dealers […] [Read More]

One presenter, who focused his workshop on driving online customer traffic at the 2012 NADA Convention & Expo, will be speaking again at this year’s upcoming event. Pat Ryan Jr., founder of FirstLook and MAX Systems, will present again in Orlando, but this time, “he’ll share the secrets behind hooking young shoppers,” officials noted. [Read More]

The General Motors Foundation revealed late last week it is giving a $1 million grant to Habitat for Humanity International in an effort to help with neighborhood revitalization efforts in 12 U.S. cities. The grant was presented Thursday by the Foundation president and GM director of corporate relations Vivian Pickard during the Washington Auto Show. [Read More]

BANDON, Ore. — CNW Research said the number of subprime buyers in January soared nearly 60 percent versus a year ago while at the same time transactions at buy-here pay-here dealerships jumped 8.2 percent year-over-year. What do the trends say about the prospects for subprime lenders and BHPH dealers for the rest of 2013? CNW […] [Read More]

CARY, N.C. — A new residual-based financing program from the creators of the CarMark Certified Pre-Owned program, called CarMark Auto Finance, is hitting its stride just in time for dealers to take advantage of the opportunity during the profitable first months of the new year, according to company officials. "The first few months of a […] [Read More]

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a recent settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, two California-based companies and their principals, who allegedly took hundreds of thousands of dollars from consumers, are banned from marketing auto loan relief or any other type of debt relief to consumers. The FTC filed charges against the companies — Kore Services, doing […] [Read More]

CARMEL, Ind. — In their merger to form NextGear Capital, Manheim Automotive Financial Services and Dealer Services Corp. each bring something unique to the table that can benefit dealers and auctions. That's the word from Brian Geitner, president of the new company, who had held that same role for DSC and talked with our sister […] [Read More]

With the merger of Manheim Automotive Financial Services and Dealer Services Corp., a new inventory finance entity has been announced this morning. NextGear Capital is the new name for the merged lenders, following Manheim’s acquisition of DSC in 2012.   The floor plan company — which said it serves more than 17,000 dealers and 1,000 […] [Read More]

In addition to announcing a new branding strategy for the franchises within its domestic and import business segments, AutoNation reported in its 2012 full-year and fourth-quarter results Thursday that the retailer increased used retail sales by nearly 6 percent last year. AutoNation moved 180,973 used retail units in 2012, good for a 5.8-percent increase from […] [Read More]