In the fourth quarter of 2022, Sonic Automotive began to see improvement in new-vehicle production, and that helped the company gain higher new-vehicle retail sales volume at its franchise dealerships. That sales volume outperformed the volume change for the overall industry, quarter over quarter and year over year, said Sonic chairman and CEO David Smith. Used-vehicle performance also shined. Sonic’s diversified business model helped its used-vehicle business outperform the change in industry volume. That strong used-vehicle performance took place despite ... [Read More]

On Monday, SmartGroups: 20 Groups Reimagined finalized another major partnership to put the advantages of 20 Group membership within reach of virtually every dealer. The latest dealerships association deciding to collaborate with the firm is the Florida Independent Automobile Dealers Association (FIADA). SmartGroups’ partnership portfolio now includes seven associations representing eight states. FIADA joins Alabama […] [Read More]

ADESA chief economist Tom Kontos is getting validation about a projection he made a year ago: As new-vehicle supply improved, used-vehicle price growth would return closer to its typical one-to-one relationship with new models. That validation was part of the newest installment of the Kontos Kommentary that included ADESA US Analytical Services’ monthly analysis of […] [Read More]

Amazing when a product’s price drops notably, it correlates into a swell in consumer demand. J.D. Power spotted this phenomenon happening again with electric vehicles. Four J.D. Power experts said that if ever there were a sign that EVs are rapidly transforming from high-priced playthings into mainstream consumer goods that are highly sensitive to economic […] [Read More]

With an eye toward serving smaller credit unions that oftentimes cater to diverse and financially challenged communities, Zest AI announced last week that it has expanded its availability to its quick and equitable credit scoring software Now credit unions below $300 million in total assets or $100 million and under in consumer portfolio size can […] [Read More]

Newly released Federal Trade Commission data showed that consumers reported losing nearly $8.8 billion to fraud in 2022, an increase of more than 30% year-over-year. The FTC said consumers reported losing more money to investment scams — more than $3.8 billion — than any other category in 2022. That amount more than doubles the figure […] [Read More]

AutoNation is continuing to expand its standalone used-vehicle store presence with “more than 20 additional facilities currently under development” and it expects to open “over 10 new stores over the next 12 months,” said Joe Lower, the company’s chief financial officer. Asbury Automotive Group CEO David Hult, said the company incurred $2.7 million in costs for ... [Read More]

If Steve Taylor told another buy-here, pay-here operator, “I know what you’re going through,” he would be speaking from legitimate experience. An operator for more than two decades before selling his business to America’s Car-Mart, Taylor now serves as the company’s director of acquisitions. He discussed succession planning and more in this episode of the […] [Read More]

Although though overall used-car sales in February are still likely to fall from the same month of 2022, the market is showing progress from January. TrueCar is forecasting 2.8 million used-car sales this month. That is 8% softer than February 2022, but beats January numbers by 5%. In a separate analysis this week, Cox Automotive […] [Read More]

The Dave Cantin Group’s nonprofit partnership DCG Giving raised more than $250,000 for pediatric cancer research during its first fundraising event of the year: a dinner party at last month’s NADA Show in Dallas featuring heavyweight champion boxer Mike Tyson. Part of the event, which was held at Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse, an auction […] [Read More]