SANTA MONICA, Calif. — While the expected year-over-year upswing in January's new-vehicle sales is a good sign for the industry, what TrueCar found more encouraging is the projected upswing in luxury sales, as these often reflect the state of consumer confidence. Specifically, the company anticipates that there will 728,019 new vehicles (including fleet) sold in the […] [Read More]

WASHINGTON, D.C. — GOSO, a social media and marketing suite tailored for auto dealers, has rolled out an application programming interface that provides Web developers with a standardized process to access dealer inventories and other data. GOSO officials explained that the dealer industry has historically been "very closed" when it comes to this sort of thing. This has […] [Read More]

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — General Motors is further extending its hand of support to Haiti as the country recovers from an overwhelming earthquake. All of the proceeds from the sale of a limited edition 2008 Chevrolet Corvette, which is up for grabs at the 39th annual Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction in Scottsdale, Ariz., will be given to the […] [Read More]

BANDON, Ore. — The disparity between contracted residual values of leases and the vehicle's actual end-of-term worth has been on a steady hike each year since 2005, with 2009 leases likely to hit a per-vehicle residual value loss of more than $2,000, according to CNW Research, which suggests this expanding gap is "troublesome." "While the loss-per-vehicle […] [Read More]

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Edmunds.com broke down the vehicles highlighted at the recent North American International Auto Show in Detroit that sparked a 74-percent jump in traffic last week to its sister site, InsideLine.com. Two vehicles from the same manufacturer combined to form the greatest contribution to the increased interest. Both units came from Ford. Site […] [Read More]

DETROIT — In a recent installment of the automaker's Faces of GM blog, General Motors spotlighted one of its Denver dealers, sharing the story of Ivette Dominguez, owner and president of Alpine Buick Pontiac GMC. In her post, she shared some of her history in the auto business, best-selling vehicles, favorite models and personal passions. For […] [Read More]

McLEAN, Va. — The National Automobile Dealers Association is pushing back the advanced registration deadline for the NADA Convention & Expo to Jan. 27, which will allows dealers and their managers a few extra days to sign up early and save $50 to $75. Dealers and their managers can also enjoy a $200 voucher from NADA […] [Read More]

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Though General Motors has eliminated the Saturn brand, a western New York dealership group is making significant efforts to service customers who purchased those vehicles as well as retain as much personnel as possible. West Herr plans to consolidate the resources of two Saturn dealerships and create a new Saturn service center in […] [Read More]

AURBURN HILLS, Mich. — Chrysler Group revealed earlier this week that Robert Liberatore has returned to the automaker as an interim adviser to chief executive officer Sergio Marchionne. The manufacturer is asking Liberatore to provide guidance to the company on external affairs issues. Liberatore originally joined Chrysler back in 1985 after working on Capitol Hill for […] [Read More]

ATLANTA — AutoTrader.com shared the results of a recent fundraising campaign for one of its philanthropic partners, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. The campaign tied to listings posted by private sellers generated $40,405, and AutoTrader.com indicated that 100 percent of that amount went to St. Jude. Site executives explained that between Nov. 16 and Dec. 31 […] [Read More]