With “ups” not arriving on the physical lot as much as they previously did, Paul Potratz recommended that dealers get a better handle on how many unique visitors come to the store’s website and how many are converted into leads. The chief operating officer and founder of Potratz Partners Advertising shared advice in an online […] [Read More]

Dealership service departments are a crucial aspect of customer retention and loyalty and they also serve as a key area for potential trade-ins to flow in. In other words, dealership technicians need to be on top of their game.  For General Motors dealers, the GM Technical Assistance Center handles thousands of calls from dealership technicians […] [Read More]

RALEIGH, N.C. — FNI president David Bafumo recently studied what he believes are the three most important sections relevant to auto finance companies and dealers from the examination manual issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Bafumo dissected more than 900 pages and drilled deeper into the three segments that focus on unfair, deceptive or […] [Read More]

ATLANTA — Manheim chief economist Tom Webb gave some examples of retail sectors that might give a "true sense of the psyche of many used-vehicle buyers." So what kinds of businesses should dealers and finance companies watch besides traffic to their own stores? Webb recommended that managers concentrate on specific businesses and retail sectors, most […] [Read More]

DEARBORN, Mich. — Captive finance companies, OEMs and more have the victims of the recent Oklahoma tornadoes top of mind, donating money for relief efforts and deferring payments for customers in the storms' paths. Ford Motor Credit and Lincoln Automotive Financial Services are offering customers affected by the recent tornado and other storm damage the […] [Read More]

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. — Fidelis PPM and Provider Exchange Network (PEN), a division of Open Dealer Exchange, recently completed integration to offer dealers the ability to rate and contract for Fidelis F&I products directly through leading finance desking software for dealers. Officials highlighted the connectivity to PEN can enable F&I aftermarket product e-contracting directly from the […] [Read More]

The rising tide of off-lease volumes looks like it will stick around for the next few years, and the influx of supply has already been downwardly impacting used-vehicle values in the opening half of 2013, according to AutoTrader.com’s Trade-In Marketplace. That is, with one huge exception. Putting values on an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 used […] [Read More]

Kelley Blue Book has reported that used-car auction values have reached a three-year low. After the 2008 recession and the consequential drop in off-lease supply, news like this has been a long time coming for dealers. In fact, KBB senior market analyst for automotive insights Alec Gutierrez said, “This year started at a three-year high, […] [Read More]

Legal experts and industry associations aren’t the only ones raising questions about how the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau intends to regulate auto lending. Now more than a dozen members of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee are looking for answers, too. In seeking a response by next Friday, 13 House Democrats sent a letter to […] [Read More]

MaxPoint, a company that helps retailers and brands drive local in-store sales, leveraged what officials insisted were billions of data points from neighborhoods across the United States to determine the Top 10 markets for minivans and SUVs. The company found that minivan families are typically between the ages of 35 and 55, hold a college […] [Read More]