Following a two-year suspension of the annual series, General Motors revived its Dealer of the Year Award program and spotlighted the “best-of-the-best” in its dealer body during a ceremony on Wednesday night. The 2010 Dealer of the Year Award honors were bestowed upon 50 Chevrolet, 16 Buick, 16 GMC and 20 Cadillac dealerships. Not only […] [Read More]

The president of van Wagenen Financial Services is stepping down at the end of this month, the company revealed this week. Retiring after several decades with the company, Mary Wood — who has served as president since 2004 — will be replaced by William Nutt, who formerly served as president and chief executive at United Guaranty […] [Read More]

It looks like the worst of the production hurdles facing Japanese automakers are over, according to Edmunds.com, which said Thursday that 2011 full-year industry sales shouldn’t be hit too hard from the disruptions as long as current production recovery continues. And though May certainly was a challenging month for the overall industry, the three largest […] [Read More]

Honda franchise dealers received some welcome news Thursday as the automaker announced plans for the accelerated recovery of production in North America following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The OEM said it will increase production volume at its North American plants to a rate of 100 percent of the original production plan […] [Read More]

KAR Auction Services revealed an amendment for a Canadian subsidiary’s securitization facility. Company officials explained this week that the Canadian floor plan finance company Automotive Finance Canada (AFCI), a subsidiary of Automotive Finance Corp., has entered into an amended and restated receivables purchase agreement dated May 24 by and among AFCI, KAR and a Canadian […] [Read More]

The American International Automobile Dealers Association on Thursday named Pennsylvania dealer and U.S Rep. Mike Kelly winner of its Legislative Action Network Advocacy Award. The award, given at the AIADA’s Fifth Annual International Auto Industry Summit held in Washington, D.C., recognizes Kelly’s dedication to advocating on behalf of AIADA’s dealer members, the association stressed. “Rep. Kelly […] [Read More]

In response to the nation’s deadliest single tornado since the National Weather Service started keeping records in 1950, both General Motors and Ford have pledged money and resources toward relief efforts in Joplin, Mo. The General Motors Foundation gave a $100,000 grant to the American Red Cross to aid recovery efforts for victims of the […] [Read More]

Given today’s high used-vehicle prices and the uncertainty about where the market might be, in say, 30, 60 or 90 days from now, many dealers have been cautious about wholesale purchases, Black Book’s Ricky Beggs pointed out this week.   But he doesn’t believe high prices should necessarily keep dealers from buying what they need. [Read More]

In what TrueCar has called a “sizeable speed bump” to the auto market’s rebound, analysts are expecting May to finish at what would be the softest seasonally adjusted annualized rate for new-vehicle sales so far in 2011 and close to a nine-year-low incentive level. New-vehicle sales are expected to drop on a year-over-year and sequential […] [Read More]

In the midst of a still-uncertain economy and gas prices fluctuating toward the higher end, though down slightly of late, a hefty majority of consumers are apparently planning to go more fuel-efficient with their next ride and aren’t letting much stand in their way, according to Consumer Reports. The magazine found in its recent survey that consumers […] [Read More]