Reports have surfaced indicating that General Motors has temporarily idled its Chevrolet Malibu plant in Fairfax, Kan.   And this is good news for the automaker when it comes to residual values, says ALG’s Eric Lyman. It won’t just be the Malibu’s values that benefit, either, said the firm’s vice president of partner development and […] [Read More]

Activity at Swapalease.com and findings from a recent GfK Automotive study showed that the appeal of luxury models isn’t carrying the same weight as it did in the past. Where are consumers migrating if they’re not leasing a luxury model? At Swaplease this month, they’re moving toward assumptions of smaller and eco-friendly vehicles. These website […] [Read More]

There’s no arguing it: Thanks to mobile devices, consumers are always connected to the Internet—and the constant stream of information that comes with it. I spoke about this topic at the DrivingSales Executive Summit in Las Vegas, and in this six-part blog series, I’ll recap the highlights. Part I: The new-car shopper Part I begins […] [Read More]

Manheim met with 30 independent auctions last month during the National Remarketing Conference in Scottsdale, Ariz., to discuss some of the changing dynamics of the business, including recently released industry tools. In discussing one of those solutions, the new AutoIMS Hub from Auto Auction Services Corp., the group came to a “universal consensus” that quick […] [Read More]

vAuto announced plans Tuesday to release a new solution that the company contends will help dealers tell every car’s “story.” AutoVisor — the second product offering in the new vAuto Genius Labs line — is set to debut at the National Automobile Dealers Association conference in February. [Read More]

As the year draws to a close, ServNet president R. Charles Nichols took the time to reflect on the company’s performance and achievements for 2012, saying “we have much to be proud of.” Nichols began by sharing that ServNet’s market share is on the rise, showing growth of 11 percent over the past 12 months. [Read More]

Edmunds.com will open its “hack” event to those outside the company for the first time this winter, offering the chance to solve real-world auto industry issues and win up to $10,000 in cash.   “Hack-O-Motive” is a two-day event that aims to re-invent the car shopping experience by bringing together consumers, dealers, manufacturers, designers and technologists […] [Read More]

CHICAGO — TransUnion projected the ratio of auto loan borrowers 60 or more days past due will remain near record-low levels throughout next year as the amount of vehicle debt per consumer will continue its uptrend in 2013. Analysts predicted the average amount of auto financing will jump the expected fourth-quarter amount of $13,689 to […] [Read More]

IRVING, Texas — The subprime auto finance market certainly changed in the past 12 months. A host of factors such as pent-up demand and significant capital injections created a situation of companies reentering the subprime sector after shying away from it during the recession as well as new operations looking to grab some market share. […] [Read More]

LOS ANGELES — Westlake Financial Services announced a major update to the DealerCenter website, which is operated by Nowcom Corp., Westlake's sister company under the Hankey Investment Group umbrella. DealerCenter is the business portal that houses Westlake's proprietary Buy Program software as part of a full-fledged online DMS solution. "When you are the No. 1 […] [Read More]