Women-Drivers.com asked female car shoppers what they look for during the car-buying experience — particularly when it comes to the salesperson — and the site found that more than three-fifths of these women emphasized trustworthiness. Next on the list of attributes cited most frequently as being important was being “respectful,” which was mentioned 48.1 percent […] [Read More]

Online Drive this week announced the launch of its new patent-pending gift card incentive process, which the company says offers dealership customers instant delivery of a selection of quality gift card incentives that can help stores boost their closing ratios. “Instant delivery means the customer gets what was promised to them immediately, when they enter […] [Read More]

Edmunds.com said Tuesday that dealer financing is back to pre-recession levels after bottoming out in 2009. Analysts contend a key driver of this resurgence is the revival of the subprime market, which accounted for a quarter of all new auto loans in the second quarter of 2012, up from a second-quarter low of 17.6 percent […] [Read More]

Today is the final day for early registration to the Used Car Week conferences; tomorrow, the cost for each conference will increase by $200. Conference organizers encourage those interested in attending to  take a minute to get registered and guarantee your spot at one (or two, or three) of the industry’s most dynamic events. They […] [Read More]

When looking at the September’s wholesale pricing trends included in the latest RVI Market Update, one of the highlights of the month was the full-size SUV class. According to the report released Tuesday afternoon by RVI Analytical Services, full-size SUVs led all year-over-year increases during September, as their prices went up 9.7 percent. The segment […] [Read More]

On Tuesday, the National Automobile Dealers Association reported on the election results for its 2013 chairman and vice chairman positions. NADA has chosen David Westcott of North Carolina as its newest chairman, and Forrest McConnell III as vice chairman for 2013. The election  took place at a meeting of NADA’s board of directors in Chicago. […] [Read More]

Officials from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Ford is recalling certain model-year 2011–2013 Fiesta vehicles for an air-bag issue. NHTSA indicated the passenger side curtain air bag on 154,604 units will not deploy in the event of a side impact collision when the front passenger seat is empty. Although the side curtain air […] [Read More]

People are talking via social media, there’s no doubt about that. For dealers and OEMs, managing that chat — along with customer review postings — is critical to business, and a new tool can help.  Social media management firm SOCIALDEALER this week announced the addition of new features to its reputation management products that the […] [Read More]

For the fourth straight month, Subaru leads the pack with an A-plus in both manufacturer and brand rankings in TrueCar.com’s Performance Scorecard program. In the manufacturer grading in the September rankings that were released this week, tying for second place were Toyota and BMW, both of which earned an A for the month. Jaguar Land […] [Read More]

NEW YORK — The upward bounce from the reading's historic low continued in September as the S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices showed auto loan defaults climbed for the second month in a row. Analsyts from S&P Dow Jones Indices and Experian determined the auto loan default rate increased to 1.11 percent in September. In August, […] [Read More]