Fox Motors announced it has acquired Kia of Grand Rapids North from Alabama-based Liechty Auto Group. The purchase gives Fox Motors 18 locations in West Michigan among its total of 45 rooftops in Michigan and Illinois, representing 47 automotive and powersports brands. It’s the fifth dealership added to the company’s portfolio this year, including a […] [Read More]

Access Capital, a privately owned asset-based lending firm based in New York, last week upgraded from its on-premise system to Solifi ABL on Open Finance Platform. In addition to upgrading to the newest version, a news release indicated Access Capital also consolidated its remaining clients from a separate factoring system to Solifi ABL’s ledgered AR […] [Read More]

Last week, 700Credit announced an affiliation with OTTOMOTO, a platform designed to streamline every part of the retail finance process — from credit applications through funding. With this new relationship, OTTOMOTO has integrated 700Credit’s compliance and prequalification soft pull solutions into its desking and lender aggregation platform providing a smooth workflow and seamless dealer experience. […] [Read More]

College football teams weren’t the only ones claiming victories in Texas on Saturday. The American Bankers Association (ABA), the Consumer Bankers Association (CBA), the Texas Bankers Association, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and several other co-plaintiffs cheered the decision by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. The court granted the plaintiffs’ […] [Read More]

Alternative data isn’t just for evaluating consumers during the underwriting process. It’s now being used to evaluate entire companies, too. Last week, Bloomberg announced the introduction of a new alternative data function — ALTD <GO> — on the Bloomberg terminal. For the first time, customers can get an early read on company performance, side-by-side with […] [Read More]

Off Lease Only, a Florida- and Texas-based used-car retailer whose stores were previously was among the leading used-car dealers in the country, has voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and is closing its stores amid an auto retail environment it says has been “deteriorated” by scarce supply, price inflation and lack of demand and affordability. […] [Read More]

The monthly index generated by Black Book showed August wholesale prices trending in a different direction than the monthly index posted by Manheim. Here’s what the experts from both operations said. The Black Book Used Vehicle Retention Index for August decreased 5.2% or 8.8 percentage points to 162.3 from the July reading of 171.1. Black Book […] [Read More]

A new report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) examined the ongoing shift from internal combustion engines toward electric vehicles (EVs) and the transformation of vehicles that are almost exclusively mechanical machines to ones with increasingly complex software-defined systems. BCG said the software-defined vehicle (SDV) is just emerging, and it will continue to evolve over the […] [Read More]

As demand for electric vehicles slows while inventory rises, the Chicago Automobile Trade Association is bringing back an event to give consumers a chance to experience an EV for themselves. The Chicago area’s new-car dealer association and producer of the Chicago Auto Show announced the return of Chicago Drives Electric, an event that seeks to […] [Read More]

The big just got bigger. A lot bigger. Asbury Automotive Group, one of the America’s largest automotive retail and service companies, announced Friday morning it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Jim Koons Automotive Companies, the ninth-largest privately-owned dealership group in the U.S. The transaction — for a purchase price of approximately $1.2 billion, […] [Read More]