After an October that saw sales soar, bringing the SAAR over 13 million, the industry is expected to keep picking up steam, according to J.D. Power and Associates. Per the company’s monthly sales forecast, this month’s total light-vehicle sales are expected to come in at 975,600 units, marking an 8-percent climb year-over-year. That said, fleet […] [Read More]

If the 2011 DuPont Automotive Color Popularity Report is any indication, it might be a wise idea for dealers to stock several white and silver vehicles on their respective lots. Surpassing longstanding rivals black and gray, DuPont revealed Thursday that white/white pearl joined silver at the top of the world color ranks in this year’s […] [Read More]

As ServNet’s president for the next two years, Charles Nichols says he understands his objective is to represent the network as a buyer’s and seller’s best choice as an auction partner. Nichols recently outlined a series of goals for the 28 auctions whose geographic footprint is spread across the U.S. “I say without hesitation that […] [Read More]

AutoNation revealed Thursday that it has started talks with new and existing lenders for a new credit agreement totaling about $1.5 billion. The proposed five-year deal would include term loan and revolving credit facilities, and it would roughly be $328 million higher than the existing agreement. Additionally, the agreement would include an accordion feature that […] [Read More]

On Thursday, Toyota celebrated the opening of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Mississippi, the company’s new $800 million plant outside of Tupelo, Miss., that assembles the Corolla. Joining Thursday’s celebration were Toyota Motor Corp. president Akio Toyoda and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour. The facility — located in Blue Springs — is Toyota’s 14th North American plant, further […] [Read More]

Bringing its total U.S. investments to more than $4.5 billion since June 2009, Chrysler announced earlier this week that it plans to invest $1.7 billion to support the development and production of its next-generation Jeep, set to come out in 2013. This investment includes pumping $500 million into its Toledo Assembly Complex in Ohio, where […] [Read More]

Revealed Thursday, another big award has been announced at the Los Angeles Auto Show. Taking home the title of the 2012 Green Car of the Year is the 2012 Honda Civic Natural Gas. The Green Car Journal presented Honda with the award in part because of the OEMs innovation —  having made the first factory-built […] [Read More]

Along with a new class of Women in Remarketing being honored, today’s agenda is packed full, with the day kicking off with a Keynote Address featuring a diverse panel, including the perspective of dealers, automakers and lenders on the state of the used-car industry. This panel includes Jennifer Costabile, of GM Fleet and Commerical Operations; […] [Read More]

In the Opening Keynote Panel for the National Remarketing Conference Wednesday afternoon, key remarketing executives from General Motors, AmeriCredit/GM Financial, Donlen and Subaru discussed the volume shortage and how each of their companies handles this challenge. Executives sitting on this panel included Dan Kennedy, of GM; Dan Heinrich, of AmeriCredit/GM Financial; Gus Xamplas, of Donlen, […] [Read More]

The inaugural Re3 conference on Wednesday served as a platform for lender executives, repossession and recovery agents, as well as attorneys, to come together to discuss the industry’s challenges. Mike Goins, head of loss recovery at TD Auto Finance, who served on the “The State of the Industry” panel Wednesday morning, called the event very […] [Read More]