A Windsor, Ontario man pleaded guilty to two counts of charges involving illegal car sales earlier this week and will have to shell out $62,500 along with taking a year of probation. More specifically, the charges to which Bahjat Touma pleaded guilty were one count of acting as a dealer without benefit of registration and […] [Read More]

Canadian web-based loyalty and rewards technology provider Ackroo has announced the appointment of a new dealer development manager, tasked with growing market share of its DealerCard revenue retention tool in Southern Ontario. Ackroo has tapped former Reynolds & Reynolds executive  Wayne Doucette for the position. Doucette’s career in the automotive industry spans over 35 years, […] [Read More]

May might have been a great month for used-vehicle sales, but CNW Research president Art Spinella doesn’t expect the same for June. He’s forecasting a 1.5-percent year-over-year downturn. “The used industry had a stellar May, but June is looking to take some of the gains back,” Spinella said. “Based on the first 19 days of […] [Read More]

With consumer demand for used vehicles riding high, Avis Budget Group launched a new program on Wednesday that sells late-model off-rental units directly to the public. Avis Budget has teamed up with AutoNation for the “Ultimate Test Drive” initiative, which lets consumers use the AutoNation Direct sales channel to purchase off-rental Avis and Budget units. […] [Read More]

Kelvin Thompson will have owned Perry’s Auto Auction — the oldest continuously running operation in Georgia — for five years as of August. It’s such an achievement that CNBC sought out Thompson to share his story of diving into a new industry without any previous wholesale experience just before the deepest recession in recent memory. […] [Read More]

Initial quality is on the rise in the auto business, according to J.D. Power and Associates, which said Wednesday that it was 2009 the last time this much progress was made. But one thing remained the same. Once again leading the pack among auto brands is Lexus, which earned the No. 1 position in J.D. […] [Read More]

As the organization handed out other honors and scholarships, ADESA president and chief executive officer Tom Caruso recently became the newest member of the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association’s Ring of Honor. A veteran of more than 30 years in the automotive industry, Caruso is the 22nd industry leader to be inducted into the Ring […] [Read More]

The National Automobile Dealers Association welcomed the news that the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved legislation Wednesday repealing a mandate that requires dealers to provide buyers with a booklet on vehicle insurance costs. The bill, H.R. 5859, introduced by U.S. Reps. Gregg Harper, R-Miss., and Bill Owens, D-N.Y., is strongly supported by NADA. “The […] [Read More]

Black Book has selected a new director of automotive licensing, tapping an industry veteran with deep roots in the automotive world. Black Book on Wednesday announced that Jared Kalfus has joined the company in this director role, in which he is responsible for leading Black Book’s efforts to increase data licensing revenue to OEMs, dealers […] [Read More]

In what could be considered encouraging signs on a number of fronts, J.D. Power and Associates discovered that May leasing levels moved higher both month-over-month and year-over-year. According to J.D. Power’s May Industry Health Review, May’s lease penetration settled at 20.9 percent, up 1.5 percent from the previous month and 9.4 percent from the same […] [Read More]