The NADAguides Car of the Month for May was announced this week and taking the honors is the 2011 Ford Fiesta. NADAguides lauded the car for high-quality engineering throughout the vehicle, its driving comfort, fuel-efficiency and overall values. The company also found the vehicle’s features to be “above and beyond what is expected in its class.” […] [Read More]

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — American Bankruptcy Institute officials determined April's consumer bankruptcies dropped both month-over-month and year-over-year. According to data from the National Bankruptcy Research Center, there were 134,720 consumer bankruptcy filings in April. ABI indicated that this amount was 7 percent lower than the same month last year when there were 144,490 consumer filings. The […] [Read More]

PHOENIX — DriveTime Automotive Group and DT Acceptance Corp., announced this week the start of an exchange offer for $151 million  aggregate principal amount of their outstanding 12.625-percent Senior Secured Notes due in 2017. The decision also includes the guarantees that were originally issued in a private offering on June 4, 2010. In connection with […] [Read More]

FORT WORTH, Texas — GM Financial revealed Wednesday that loan and lease financing on new General Motors vehicles accounted for 38.8 percent of the company's quarterly origination volume, compared to 19 percent in the previous quarter. Loan originations for the quarter came in at $1.1 billion, compared to $935 million for the previous quarter and $624 […] [Read More]

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Huntington Auto Finance recently announced that it will make a donation for every auto loan booked through its dealership partners — up to $100,000 — to the Japanese Red Cross Society. Donations will be made in the names of the dealers who choose to participate in the program, which is running until May 31. "The […] [Read More]

Honda revealed this week that it has added 833,000 more vehicles to a previously announced recall of Honda and Acura units from model years 2001 through 2003 that deals with the driver’s side airbag inflator. Affected models in this recall are certain Honda Civic and Accord vehicles from model years 2001 and 2002, the 2002 […] [Read More]

Geared especially for National Independent Automobile Dealers Association members, NADA Retirement Administrators rolled out a number of new products and enhanced services this week. The enhancements include: —Sub20 Plan. —Online investment guidance. —Executive and deferred compensation plan. “As the preferred retirement plan provider for the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association, we are pleased to be […] [Read More]

Reflecting market adjustments and noticeable change in domestic vehicle leasing volume, LeaseTrader.com declared more Americans are now leasing domestic units compared with pre-recession activity. “Prior to 2008, domestic vehicle leases on LeaseTrader.com were one-sided with only the SUV/truck category representing any significant percentage of total marketplace inventory,” explained Sergio Stiberman, chief executive officer and founder […] [Read More]

Incentive spending hit a five-and-a-half-year low during April, which points to the extreme likelihood that automakers are stockpiling their new vehicles for an impending supply dearth, according to Edmunds.com. Car companies spent an average of $2,118 per new vehicle sold on incentives during the month, the site estimated. This marks a 19.6-percent year-over-year slide and […] [Read More]

AutoNation revealed a double-digit year-over-year new-vehicle sales increase in April, moving a total of 18,266 units. This amount represents an 11-percent rise from the same month last year. The company went on to share how its retail new-vehicle unit sales broke down by operating segments: —Domestic: 5,796 units, up 18 percent versus April 2010. —Import: […] [Read More]