ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. — Five courses aimed to provide salespeople with greater tools on closing the deal in today's market have been added to Joe Verde's virtual sales training site. The shorter installments now included in the Joe Verde Training Network are under the title, "The Mini-Series Collection." Verde said the focus is on the selling skills dealership staff […] [Read More]

BANDON, Ore. — Pushed by the availability of short-term deals that CNW Research president Art Spinella called "incredible," the lease penetration rate for the first half of August was greater than 25 percent, a double-digit increase from a year ago. Specifically, lease deals commanded a 25.86 percent share of the market from Aug. 1-15, compared with 21.3 […] [Read More]

IRVINE, Calif. — Overall, used-vehicle values were essentially static in July, but the wholesale values of late-model luxury units have softened from 2010 model-year units moving into the wholesale market, according to Kelley Blue Book. The company's latest Blue Book Market Report points out used values climbed 0.2 percent in July. But when looking at segments whose values fell, […] [Read More]

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — OPENLANE recently decided to make full versions of Experian Automotive's AutoCheck Vehicle History Reports available for free when connected with certain sales. These reports are for dealers who search dealer-consigned and regional-seller inventory on OPENLANE.com. The free AutoCheck reports now are directly embedded into each vehicle's detail page resulting in what OPENLANE […] [Read More]

MIAMI — Specifically designed to cater to the Hispanic market in the U.S., Yahoo en Español recently launched a revamped version of Yahoo Autos in Spanish. The new website now contains more than 2.5 million new, used, certified pre-owned and private-seller vehicle listings from dealers and private-party sellers nationwide. Site officials also highlighted the other elements […] [Read More]

CARMEL, Ind. — Due to lower expected volume, Goldman Sachs Group has apparently trimmed its price target for KAR Auctions Services shares down to $15. Goldman Sachs told investors it is still rating KAR as neutral. In Monday's midday trading, shares for the company reached $11.30, a gain of 0.18 percent. KAR announced earlier this month that […] [Read More]

DETROIT — The GMC Terrain — one of the vehicles General Motors launched last fall after laying out its post-bankruptcy plans — has been on the market for less than a year, but it has already been a major bright spot for the brand.  In fact, dealers have enjoyed a turn rate on these models during 2010 that is more than four times […] [Read More]

HERNDON, Va. — Volkswagen executives as well as local officials were on hand this week to celebrate the opening of a new, state-of-the-art VW dealership in California. Located in Alhambra, Calif., this new store boasts the first white frame facility in the Western region.  The new visual framework of the dealership is designed to enhance the customer experience […] [Read More]

CARY, N.C. — While listening to the insight from a single speaker at a conference certainly can prove to be highly beneficial, industry professionals can also learn a great deal when a presentation has more of a conversational approach with several executives sharing their input.  Bearing that in mind, a key lineup component at this fall's National […] [Read More]

BANDON, Ore. —  Based on how the market performed in the first half of the month, used-vehicle sales for August are expected to climb almost 5 percent year-over-year, with the upswing in used sales for independents serving as a key catalyst, according to CNW Research. The same can't be said for the sequential comparison of used-vehicle transaction pricing, […] [Read More]