HANOVER, Md. — The National Automotive Finance Association is preparing for its 14th Annual Below-Prime Credit Auto Financing Conference slated to kick off next week at the Renaissance Worthington Hotel in Fort Worth. The event will run June 2-4, with Dan Berce, chief executive officer of AmeriCredit, serving as the keynote speaker on the morning of […] [Read More]

CINCINNATI — Security National Automotive Acceptance Corp. named a new chief financial officer today. Taking on this position is Adam Contino, who will be responsible for leading all finance business intelligence and information technology functions. Contino has 23 years of experience, most recently spending three years with CD Funding Group LLC as chief operating officer. Prior […] [Read More]

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. — Months after rolling out a payment channel that allows consumers to make lease and loan payments through their mobile phones, Mercedes-Benz Financial has expanded its mobile strategy even further. The company is now providing Apple iPads to Mercedes-Benz dealers, who can use the product to access the MB Advantage point-of-sale dealer system. […] [Read More]

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Automakers' continued heavy use of incentives to move new vehicles is what could push May sales higher by double digits from last year. That's the assessment from TrueCar.com in its latest sales forecast and incentive analysis. The site predicts May light vehicle sales including fleets to come in at 1,050,290 units. Analysts […] [Read More]

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety recently revealed that it picked two new Toyota vehicles as Top Safety Pick award winners. The two units are the all-new Sienna minivan and redesigned 2011 Avalon full-size sedan. Toyota executives believe the Sienna is the first and currently the only minivan to earn an IIHS Top […] [Read More]

IRVINE, Calif. — The hamsters worked so well once already that Kia Motors America decided on Wednesday to bring the ad characters back for another campaign to promote the Soul. The latest ad strategy to include the hamsters is based on an award-winning advertising campaign created by David&Goliath. The newest campaign, titled "This or That," builds on […] [Read More]

HOUSTON — CAR-Research XRM recently unveiled a new tool that it contends will allow dealers to consolidate vendors to become more efficient and save money when it comes to customer relationship management, marketing and software delivery. The company released this new Bundled-Apps solution of CRM and marketing solutions at the Eighth Annual Digital Dealer Conference in […] [Read More]

WOLFSBURG, Germany, and TURIN, Italy — In what appears to be a growing trend as the industry evolves, another automaker announced it is more closely teaming up with another industry player to help bolster its global footprint. Volkswagen announced Tuesday it is expecting to take a 90.1-percent stake in Italdesign Giugiaro (IDG), including the brand name rights and patents. The […] [Read More]

GAINESVILLE, Ga. — When evaluating activity around the auctions in the last week, Black Book's Ricky Beggs made an interesting observation. Less than half of the daily value adjustments Black Book made were positive, marking the second straight time and third instance in five weeks where this has occurred. And this could be a sign of […] [Read More]

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — A series of dealer requests prompted Dealix to launch several enhancements to its Hassle Free Lead Return 2.0, a solution intended to boost leads for used- and new-vehicle sales. On Tuesday, Dealix executives highlighted a trio of enhancements that stemmed from dealer feedback. The list included: —An increase in the time frame […] [Read More]