TORRANCE, Calif. — In the midst of the third straight month of the industry's certified pre-owned sales showing year-over-year improvement, best-ever CPO numbers were achieved for the second consecutive time for one brand. During May — the final full month before Norm Olson, who is the sales operations manager for Toyota Certified Used Vehicles, was set to […] [Read More]

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — On Wednesday, Chrysler Group officials enthusiastically shared specifics about their largest plant investment since emerging from bankruptcy and partnering with Fiat. A $300 million investment is under way at the company's existing transmission manufacturing facilities in order to build the automaker's new highly fuel-efficient eight-speed automatic transmission for future Chrysler vehicles. The funds are […] [Read More]

BURLINGTON, Vt. — One of the founders of Dealer.com was named the company president on Wednesday. Dealer.com chief executive officer Mark Bonfigli relinquished the title of president and appointed Rick Gibbs to the position. The company recounted that Gibbs co-founded the operation in 1998 and has since held the role of chief technology officer. Management praised […] [Read More]

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. and MARINA DEL REY, Calif. — R. L. Polk & Co. believes a major shift is taking place in how dealers generate and utilize leads. The company contends the greatest importance no longer should be placed on traditional lead scoring. Instead, Polk executives emphasized that the priority should be moved over to lead marketing. […] [Read More]

DALLAS — Liquid Motors on Wednesday launched a new mobile portal service as a part of its comprehensive dealer inventory management and marketing solution. Executives explained this new tool can provide dealers with access to the Liquid Motors' AccuData Inventory Management System and SalesDriver Lead Management System. This access can be from any mobile Internet-enabled device. […] [Read More]

ATLANTA — Certified pre-owned and used-vehicle prices gained ground once again in May, reflecting the movement seen over the last few months in the midst of tight supply and a healthier auto market, according to AutoTrader.com. In fact, the asking prices of all of the 20 most-viewed used vehicles on the site climbed year-over-year in May, while 18 […] [Read More]

DETROIT — The auto industry's recall carousel of 2010 continued this week, with General Motors pulling about 1.5 million units Tuesday for potential fire resulting from the heated washer fluid system in certain models igniting. The automaker said about 1.37 million of the potentially affected models are U.S. vehicles, while 125,022 units are in Canada or […] [Read More]

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — Reporting on May's wholesale market trends, OPENLANE revealed that U.S. auction prices continued showing the sustained price increases witnessed during much of this year. On average, May prices increased 8 percent year-over-year. Car and truck prices dropped a bit during the month, while minivans and SUVs continued their "significant" upward momentum. "Dealer […] [Read More]

GAINESVILLE, Ga. — There was downward movement in wholesale prices again this past week, as used values continued to experience pressure from stronger new-vehicle sales, according to Ricky Beggs, managing editor of Black Book.  The phenomenon of brisk new sales in recent months has helped soften prices on the wholesale side lately, Beggs shared. "Feedback from the Black Book […] [Read More]

INDIANAPOLIS — eFleetDirect has struck a deal with the ZOOMWAREHOUSE online auction that gives dealers yet another avenue for finding and buying vehicles to stock in their inventories. The company contends this process is different than traditional physical or online auctions, "which represent both the buyer and seller." Essentially, eFleetDirect says it is the "seller" and there is no […] [Read More]