Artificial intelligence in auto retail, says Zeigler Auto Group chief operating officer Sam D’Arc, is in a similar place as digital retail was 4-5 years ago. There’s a lot of excitement, but perhaps not a complete understanding of how AI should be deployed at dealerships. “There is a ton of solutions out there. There are […] [Read More]

Sam D’Arc doesn’t remember what his query was when he first used ChatGPT, but the response was fast and accurate. “It caused a little bit of awe and surprise in how well it extracted information into the answer to the question,” said D’Arc, who is chief operating officer of Zeigler Auto Group in Kalamazoo, Mich. […] [Read More]

Sourcing used inventory at the right price and accurately assessing reconditioning costs are two pain points for dealerships. In days past, dealers often had to rely on their gut to handle the two tasks. No more. Cox Automotive’s vAuto suite of product uses artificial intelligence to help dealers buy the best used inventory mix including […] [Read More]

You can pick a Car of the Year, but that vehicle isn’t going to work for everyone. A family on a budget, say, might not be interested in a luxury car. So for its inaugural Confidence Awards, CarGurus selected the best vehicle in four specific categories that the company said “reflect the needs of today’s […] [Read More]

The service drive is an inherently loud environment. There is the roar of impact wrenches, the constant ringing of phones, the pressure of waiting customers, and rapid-fire coordination between parts and service. The baseline operating volume is chaotic, and in this daily turbulence, the most ineffective thing a fixed ops director can do is add […] [Read More]

The sixth annual automotive research study by Urban Science in collaboration with The Harris Poll highlighted that nine in 10 U.S. car buyers said a traditional dealership is their top choice for purchasing a vehicle. Now let’s delve deeper into the Urban Science research data collected from 252 franchised dealers across the United States with […] [Read More]

myKaarma’s stated goal is to support innovation in technology for dealerships. But it doesn’t want to do it alone. The customer interaction and payments platform has launched its Partner Portal, a new platform it called “an absolute necessity for forging a truly open, flexible and developer-centric ecosystem” for auto dealers, OEMs and technology providers. “Dealers […] [Read More]

AutoNation delivered something even bigger than a vehicle to Meucine Jean. Employees of the national vehicle retailer realized the Florida single mother of five’s hopes by presenting her with the key to a brand-new home they helped build together through Habitat for Humanity of Broward. In a news release, AutoNation said it contributed $100,000 toward […] [Read More]

This week, Westlake Portfolio Management (WPM) announced the successful onboarding and servicing of a $300 million portfolio of auto loans on behalf of what it called “a leading institutional asset owner.” The division of Westlake Technology Holdings that’s a primary and backup servicer specializing in auto and specialty consumer assets said this transition represents a […] [Read More]

The newest tool from NCC has Equifax-powered capability underpinning it, so dealers can spot potential revenue-draining risk. The provider of integrated credit, compliance, desking, and fraud prevention solutions for automotive retailing this week launched what it’s calling Credit Abuse Risk. Built on Equifax’s predictive scoring infrastructure, the solution embedded directly within the NCC credit report […] [Read More]