AUSTIN, Texas — In developments that likely will affect many repossession agencies, lenders' recovery departments and repo units coming down the lanes, the American Recovery Association and National Finance Adjusters merged into one trade association this week. Officials explained the new trade association will move forward under the name of the American Recovery Association. As […] [Read More]

Lending company NextGear Capital Inc. — created through the merger of Manheim Automotive Financial Services and Dealer Services Corp. — announced today its expansion of operations into Canada. In addition to enhancing service levels for dealers, the floor plan company plans on expanding its field sales and service operations throughout Canada, officials shared. The company […] [Read More]

Ford Motor Company of Canada Ltd.  has officially announced the award winners for the 2012 Auction Quality Program. Winners were selected based on measurements of the auction’s performance in two categories: Overall Auction Quality and Reconditioning Excellence. [Read More]

Wholesale prices are still on the slow climb upward, says NADA Used Car Guide. NADA expects that used-vehicle prices will continue to climb by 0.2 percent, or $25, this week, similar to the prior two weeks' wholesale price movement. Across segments, expected changes are nearly all positive, with prices for only luxury cars anticipated to […] [Read More]

Granted, the recent retail used-car results of the big dealer groups are fruitful. But don't look past the wholesale impact of softer used-vehicle margins. Consider what Manheim's Tom Webb had to say in a blog post this week. With their fourth-quarter results pooled together, the seven publicly traded dealership groups saw their same-store used-vehicle retail […] [Read More]

Black Book announced Wednesday that it is now providing monthly valuation and pricing updates for all specialty market vehicles. This includes old cars and special markets like collectible, exotic and highline cars; as well as motorcycles and powersports, recreational vehicles and medium/heavy-duty trucks. The company explained that even though many of these markets might follow […] [Read More]

It was a busy year in the F&I office at Sonic Automotive dealerships, as the retailer increased revenue in the finance, insurance and other category by nearly 20 percent in 2012. Sonic closed the year by pushing up F&I revenue 18.4 percent year-over-year in the fourth quarter, pulling in $64.69 million. For the year, it […] [Read More]

Dick Hannah Dealerships gave away a brand-new car this month, as part of an annual project to give back to the community.   For the eighth year running, Dick Hannah Dealerships participated in the Valentine’s Day for CCA event held to raise money for children diagnosed with cancer and to benefit the Children’s Cancer Association. […] [Read More]

After releasing their report on new-car dealers earlier this month, IBISWorld came out with the Used Car Dealers in Canada Industry Market Research Report this week — a document containing numerous tidbits of good news for dealers looking forward.   Attributable in part to rising consumer demand, IBISWorld predicts used-car dealer profit and revenue will […] [Read More]

RouteOne Canada recently announced it has completed integration with General Motors’ captive finance organization GM Financial, which may simplify the credit approval process for GM dealers. All GM dealers may now send credit applications electronically through the RouteOne Canada platform as well as manage the entire scope of the credit fulfillment process, the companies reported. […] [Read More]