The Federal Reserve’s first Beige Book of 2012 described an upbeat atmosphere in most the 12 districts as sales of new vehicles continued to pick up as last year closed. Among the most favorable reports, federal officials highlighted that Atlanta saw the pace of sales in November and December as “the strongest in over two years. Furthermore, […] [Read More]

Used-car managers in search of models to fill certified pre-owned inventory might have a another challenging year finding units if NADA Used Car Guide’s 2012 projections come true. NADA UCG began its latest commentary about the used-vehicle market by estimating just how much supply softened a year ago. Analysts surmised that total used supply in […] [Read More]

While showing which specific brand retained customers the best, the J.D. Power and Associates 2012 Customer Retention Study revealed one in three new-vehicle owners who switched brands say their previous nameplate didn’t make the type of vehicle they wanted. As a result, J.D. Power found that striking the right combination of model offerings and vehicle […] [Read More]

The 16th annual Polk Automotive Loyalty Awards were released Tuesday night, and a familiar automaker dominated. A repeat winner in four categories and celebrating its second straight year of claiming top honors was Ford. The Big 3 company won the awards for Overall Loyalty to Manufacturer, Overall Loyalty to Make and African-American Market Loyalty to […] [Read More]

Amid the debate swirling within the auto industry about the company’s practices in the digital space, TrueCar announced Wednesday that it changed its billing model in Virginia to be subscription-based instead of performance-based, and changes in more states could follow. TrueCar said it adjusted the billing model — which had charged participating dealers a $299 fee […] [Read More]

Cars.com revealed its annual vehicle awards this week at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit and receiving top honors as “Best of 2012” was the 2012 Volkswagen Passat. The Passat beat out five other nominees for the award, which included the 2012 editions of the Audi A7, Hyundai Accent, Hyundai Veloster, Land Rover […] [Read More]

As the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) gets under way in Las Vegas this week, revealing new and concept technology to the public, AOL Autos had its own announcement to make. As attendees of CES, the site revealed Tuesday its new Technology of the Year Award. The inaugural award — which is designed to give shoppers […] [Read More]

As the company shared developments regarding enhanced digital training for auction employees, Manheim’s Tom Webb needed only one word to describe past and projected movement of dealer consignment. During his first conference call of the new year on Tuesday, Webb indicated dealer consignment was “up in 2010, up in 2011 and will be up in […] [Read More]

In a week that showed steady sales across the assorted auction channels, the wholesale market saw a relatively light amount of value adjustments and the proportion of those changes that were increases was the strongest the market has seen in more than six months, according to Black Book managing editor Beggs. There were 1,520 wholesale […] [Read More]

General Motors recently highlighted how a pair of its franchised stores in suburban Dallas are conquering the “next online frontier” in an effort to move metal and keep service bays busy. The rooftops’ Internet director is using social media to regularly join conversations on Facebook and Twitter. James Wood Motors, which sells new Chevrolet, Buick, […] [Read More]