Dealer chat network Contact At Once and car dealer review website DealerRater have announced a new collaboration to boost real-time dealer-buyer communications. The two companies say the partnership can enable real-time chat between DealerRater Certified Dealer partners and online shoppers researching dealer reputation and vehicles via consumer reviews on DealerRater.com. “Our third-party generated dealer reviews […] [Read More]

Auto trend and forecasting site TrueCar.com has just released its Performance Scorecards for automotive manufacturers and brands for the month of April, grading each manufacturer and brand. Coming in atop the OEM rankings was BMW, which showed  the largest gain of the period as it rose from a B- in March to an A+ rating […] [Read More]

A new process for capitalizing on service drive opportunities was announced Monday by automotive inventory management company RedBumper. Called SmartDrive, the system allows a dealer to identify in real-time those service drive customers who are in a positive equity position. By mining data from the dealership’s sales history, SmartDrive determines the approximate payoff for any […] [Read More]

The International Automotive Remarketers Alliance recently announced the preliminary agenda for the IARA 2012 Summer Roundtable, which will be held August 22-23 at the Chicago Hyatt McCormick Place. Included during the event will be a consignors’ state of the industry panel, local dealer panel, an economic/industry forecast and much more. [Read More]

AutoTrader revealed late last week a new role for subsidiary VinSolutions president  Mike Dullea, in addition to announcing position changes for other executives. Dullea has accepted a new position within the AutoTrader group of companies, where he will collaborate with AutoTrader chief executive Chip Perry and vAuto founder Dale Pollak on "a new companywide product […] [Read More]

As part of a recent study, Digital Air Strike determined the most popular review websites used by consumers to select dealerships, and topping its list was Edmunds.com, followed closely by Cars.com. DAS found that 22 percent of respondents turned to Edmunds in selecting a dealership, while 20 percent used Cars.com. Finishing in a tie for […] [Read More]

West Coast auto dealers have a new tool in maintaining F&I compliance, with the launch of a legal library designed to help manage risk and provide common defenses in litigation. The LAW California F&I Library is a comprehensive catalog of standardized, legally reviewed finance and insurance documents for California dealers, launched late last week by […] [Read More]

Volkswagen of America has named a new vice president of marketing for the Volkswagen brand, tapping an executive previously with Chevrolet. Appointed to the role was Kevin Mayer, who will be called to direct all aspects of marketing for the Volkswagen brand in the United States, the company said. He will report directly to Tim […] [Read More]

Auction Academy, an education program developed by TPC Management Company, celebrated welcoming its inaugural class earlier this month. And its first quarterly session, held over the May 3–5 weekend in Nashville, Tenn., “exceeded expectations,” according to the company. Randall McCathren, chief operating officer of Auction Academy, noted, “The first session exceeded our expectations in every […] [Read More]

Automotive ranking and comparison website Total Car Score has issued its list of the Top Ten Cars for College Graduates, based on safety, fuel efficiency, comfort, performance and cost. At the head of the class are three Volkswagen models, two Mazda models and representatives from five additional automakers. “College grads are looking to make an […] [Read More]