NEW YORK — Evidently the portfolio assembled by auto lenders during the past five years generated stronger returns for Wall Street investors than other possibilities such as home mortgages. That's according to the assessment offered by DBRS in its latest report "Auto ABS Performance During the Recession — What Went Right." Analysts contend that, "While […] [Read More]

DALLAS — This week, Vehicle Acceptance Corp. joined the National Member Benefit Program orchestrated by the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association. The alignment is geared to provide association members with preferred access to capital and a professional collection efforts. VAC offers financial services that can help dealers excel in the buy-here, pay-here business at branch […] [Read More]

Group 1 Automotive strengthened its market presence in El Paso, Texas, this week by acquiring two more franchise dealerships. The group secured Shamaley Ford and Shamaley Buick-GMC. The dealerships are expected to generate $190.0 million in total estimated annual revenues, according to Group 1. “The acquisition of Shamaley Ford and Shamaley Buick-GMC will complement the […] [Read More]

Economic development department officials in Fairfield, Calif., believe CarMax is going to open a dealership in their community. Their assertion comes from CarMax purchasing two Auto Mall parcels. The parcels consist of a 7.01-acre former Dodge dealership purchased for $5.175 million and a 6.16-acre parcel that housed a former Chrysler Jeep Ram Kia rooftop purchased […] [Read More]

More than 700 dealership managers and auto finance professionals registered for the latest free Auto Remarketing Training Series Webinar, which gave participants the opportunity to gain fresh strategies for a host of store operations. The Webinar panel included top trainers from AutoTrader.com, Carfax, OPENLANE and DealerTrack, who all delved into best practices that can help […] [Read More]

For Jose Froehlich, it all started with a job shoveling snow at an Albany, N.Y., dealership. From there it has grown into a long career with stops along the way in sales, service, wholesale buying,  finance and now his latest responsibility, heading up Hyundai’s certified pre-owned program. [Read More]

The American International Automobile Dealers Association is teaming up with ADESA — the group’s latest addition to its list of affinity partners — for a free online seminar later this month that will tackle one of the most pressing concerns for dealers these days: used-vehicle sourcing and acquisition. Dealers today face numerous challenges when it […] [Read More]

Used sales are expected to lose some traction in June after a slow start to the month for independent dealers’ sales and private-party sales, according to CNW Research. The company is projecting a year-over-year decline of 3.5 percent in the used-vehicle market for June. Specifically, CNW projects 4.46 million used vehicles will be sold in June, […] [Read More]

Kelley Blue Book offered a word to the wise on Tuesday for dealers looking around for fuel-friendly rides: “shop with caution.” And wait. The wave of rising used values for compact, subcompact and hybrid cars has finally crested and some softening is beginning to show up, according to Kbb.com, which suggested the declines will likely […] [Read More]

In an attempt to harness the popularity of online consumer discount programs such as Groupon and LivingSocial, Edmunds.com recently rolled out its own initiative to send more potential buyers to dealers. The site is aiming to offer exclusive vehicle discounts that go beyond existing purchase incentives. Officials contend “Edmunds Exclusives” is the first program of […] [Read More]