After seeing the penalty the Washington attorney general levied on an independent dealer last week, attorney Tom Hudson said he’s seen an uptick in these cases recently and that the operation “got off relatively lightly.” Hudson stressed dealers can avoid what happened to RGH Marketing and its owner Robert Hubbard Jr., a former manager of […] [Read More]

General Motors and the UAW have come to an agreement. A two-to-one majority of UAW members voted to ratify a new collective bargaining agreement with GM; the vote was 65 percent in favor of the agreement among production workers, and 63 percent in favor among skilled trades workers. This marked the finalization of a tentative […] [Read More]

The production rebound by Toyota Motor Corp. gained even more steam last month as the company reported year-over-year vehicle assembly improvement in Japan and globally for the first time in a year. The company revealed Wednesday that it produced 252,374 units in Japan during August, an 11.9-percent improvement from the same month a year earlier. […] [Read More]

Volkswagen of America announced Wednesday that it plans to open a fifth regional sales office in the Dallas area in an effort to strengthen the company’s relationships with customers and dealers. The company also noted the expansion “will help facilitate future growth and employment opportunities, while better serving the needs of its retail network in […] [Read More]

Honoring six dealerships that it believes exemplify the company’s key core values, used-car extended service contract provider Preferred Warranties Inc. has revealed its third annual Values Awards. Preferred Warranties picked a winning dealer for each of its five core values — integrity, pursuit of excellence, community, service and fun — and also spotlighted an overall […] [Read More]

IronPlanet Motors released a new tool on Wednesday that can help auction buyers determine shipping estimates, enabling them to make more educated buying decisions when they’re bidding in the company’s online sales. [Read More]

Following the launch of the company’s iPhone app that has generated more than 1 million downloads since its debut in 2010, Cars.com  rolled out an app for the iPad on Wednesday. However, the app is not simply a reformatted iPhone app, the site contends. Just as shoppers tend to use iPhones for different purposes than […] [Read More]

IRVINE, Calif. — Earlier this week, Consumer Portfolio Services closed its second rated term securitization of the year. The company indicated the transaction is CPS's third senior subordinate securitization since 1993. In the transaction, officials explained qualified institutional buyers purchased $109,936,000 of asset-backed notes secured by automobile receivables purchased by CPS primarily in 2011. The […] [Read More]

IRVING, Texas — Online auto finance company myAutoloan.com recently revealed its newest consumer tool with the launch of its Interest Rate Estimator. The interest-rate widget aims to answer frequently asked questions consumers have about the intricacies of interest rates and credit issues. “We took a look at our most frequently asked questions and customers were asking: […] [Read More]

WAYNE, Pa. — Systems developer MaximTrak Technologies and software provider F&I Administration Solutions revealed they are partnering in an effort to allow dealers to electronically rate, contract and register contracts for all providers through the SCS Auto administration platform without having to leave the MaximTrak system. MaximTrak is a Web-based platform designed to enhance the […] [Read More]