Executives and engineers who develop complex online marketing initiatives and maintain multifaceted information infrastructure received a glimpse of what it’s like to be a dealer. AutoTrader.com chief executive officer Chip Perry gained the opportunity to be one of the presenting speakers Thursday at the Internet Summit in Raleigh, N.C., a trade show gathering some of […] [Read More]

It might be a more festive Thanksgiving for franchise dealers if current sales trends continue. J.D. Power and Associates believes new-vehicle retail sales will remain strong in November and continue to provide the muscle behind the market’s strength for a third consecutive month Firm analysts projected that November new-vehicle retail sales are expected to come in […] [Read More]

Ford will be transferring the majority of its shares in Mazda to various business partners of the Japanese automaker, thus lowering its ownership stake. However, the two OEMs will remain strategic partners, according to Mazda. Currently, Ford has 11 percent ownership stake in Mazda. Ford will hold on to a 3.5-percent stake in the automaker and is […] [Read More]

Carmoza Auto Transport already has one of Chrysler’s former top executives as president, and now the company has a chief executive officer who used to hold a high post at Ford. Named this week to the CEO role at Carmoza was Randy Ortiz, who previously oversaw all of Ford’s sales, production, distribution and dealership activities […] [Read More]

NADAguides.com unveiled its choice for Car of the Year this week, and taking this year’s honors is the 2011 Buick Regal. Accepting the award was General Motors’ vice president of Buick GMC marketing John Schwegman, who was given the award by NADAguides director of product development Troy Snyder at Buick’s Wednesday afternoon press conference at […] [Read More]

Combining feedback from its own site as well as its Facebook page, Cars.com handed out its first Shoppers’ Choice Award on Thursday. The vehicle coming out on top among a total of 10 finalists consisting mostly of domestic models was the Ford Mustang. The Mustang topped two other units from Ford as well as vehicles […] [Read More]

J.D. Power and Associates unveiled its 2010 U.S. Sales Satisfaction Index Study on Wednesday, and the automaker that earned the best buyer satisfaction score among luxury brands was Jaguar, while Mini earned this distinction among mass market brands. This marked the third straight time Jaguar has been honored as the top luxury make in terms […] [Read More]

Thanks to a new partnership announced Wednesday, Hertz Rent2Buy customers now have the option of financing their vehicle purchases through Bank of America. “We are pleased to include Bank of America as one of our select lenders in the Rent2Buy program,” said Mark Frissora, chairman and chief executive officer of Hertz. [Read More]

Dealer Services Corp. of Indiana said this week it has reached a significant floor planning milestone. The lender commemorated its 2 millionth financed vehicle, which was purchased by Tony and Ron Jarrah, who own Hanover Auto Sales. That dealership is located in Allentown, Pa. In commemoration of hitting the mark, DSC took care of the […] [Read More]

ServNet described how successful its annual trek to Detroit was for what the auction executives call their “Meet the Owners” event. ServNet’s leaders recently visited with remarketers from Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, GMAC (Ally) and Automotive Credit Corp. Chief executive officer Pierre Pons emphasized the yearly luncheon gives the remarketers an opportunity to learn more about […] [Read More]