CARMEL, Ind. — A new general manager for ADESA Houston was announced on Friday. The new executive took over the position immediately. Shifting over to the role from ADESA Dallas is Mark Lindenmuth. The company mentioned that Lindenmuth joined ADESA Dallas in 2008 as sales manager where he was responsible for overseeing the auction sales process for banks […] [Read More]

TORRANCE, Calif. — Last week, Honda highlighted 35 years of research and development that began in southern California at Honda R&D Americas by emphasizing how much of its vehicle lineup is created in the United States. The automaker shared that seven of 21 Honda and Acura units from the 2010 model-year that are sold in the […] [Read More]

McLEAN, Va. — NADA University has two free upcoming training events for dealers focused on federal health-care reform and inventory marketing. The sessions are available through its monthly mini-Webinar series MarketINSIGHT. Since sweeping health care reform pushed its way through Congress and the White House, NADA officials wanted to keep dealers informed. The Webinar "Federal Health Reform: Changes Aplenty for […] [Read More]

ATLANTA — The Ram Truck Brand joined up with country music act Zac Brown Band late last week to kick off a national letter-writing campaign targeted to U.S. soldiers. The campaign, "Letters for Lyrics," has the goal of sending 1 million letters to troops deployed around the world. In exchange for writing a letter to a […] [Read More]

OTTAWA, Ontario — The Canadian new-vehicle marketplace has started off 2010 on the right foot and will likely see a full-year lift in sales somewhere between 5 percent and 6 percent compared to a weak 2009, according to Michael Hatch, chief economist for the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association. During a conference call earlier this week, Hatch said […] [Read More]

TORONTO, Ontario — Used Car Dealers Association of Ontario members can now easily reach a wider array of shoppers thanks to a vehicle search site via www.ucda.ca introduced earlier this week. The search site was launched in conjunction with UCDA's new ad campaign, which helps member dealers by encouraging shoppers to buy from dealers who show […] [Read More]

RICHMOND HILL, Ontario — New-vehicle sales in Canada climbed 4 percent during April, but the market so far in 2010 is largely divided between haves and have-nots, as some automakers have managed to thrive, while others have struggled due to "very different reasons," according to DesRosiers Automotive Consultants.   Company president Dennis DesRosiers also urged caution when looking […] [Read More]

CARMEL, Ind. — KAR Auction Services chief executive officer Jim Hallett tried to tie together how the company performed financially with how the industry as a whole behaved in the first quarter. As a result during a quarterly conference call Thursday, Hallett shared a positive outlook for both the company and used-vehicle dealers. While KAR as […] [Read More]

IRVINE, Calif. — Toyota has apparently been knocked off the top of Kelley Blue Book's Automotive Brand Indicator, which gauges brand strength based on a number of consumer perception- and behavior-related factors. Coming in at No. 1 for the first quarter of 2010 is Ford, the "darling of the industry," as a KBB executive put it.  Toyota has […] [Read More]

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — The "Jeep Tiki Hunt" contest — which wrapped up this week after giving away three 2010 Jeep Wrangler Islanders — apparently did wonders for the brand's social-networking presence, along with another related promotion the brand held earlier this year. Jeep has held two social-media contests since March, and the brand's traffic in that arena has […] [Read More]