An independent dealership expert is gaining steam with his new consulting firm launched earlier this year. SmartGroups, which launched early this year by dealer educator Justin Osburn, already has multiple groups in place for small stores and for the nation’s largest independent dealers. The latest group, known as Poseidon, will hold its first meeting Oct. […] [Read More]

Principal Warranty Corp. recently added a new dealership client that knows luxury well. Now leveraging the provider’s products is Fletcher Jones, which has dealerships in California, Nevada, Hawaii and Illinois and is one of the national sales leaders among Audi and Mercedes-Benz retailers. “We looked at a number of different companies to partner with when […] [Read More]

What Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA) has been discussing for much of the year continues to come to fruition. Analysts said July remittance reports showed a second straight month of deteriorating credit performance and declining recovery rates across securitized prime and non-prime auto finance pools. According to its latest update, annualized net losses in [Read More]

Expert firms acknowledged the road to electrification has been repeatedly foretold by automotive industry watchers. Yet, CDK Global and J.D. Power pointed out significant questions remain about how the transformation will take place, how long it will take and what will accelerate — or just as importantly put the brakes on — consumer adoption. CDK […] [Read More]

Autonomy reinforced its insurance resources again on Wednesday. After the electric vehicle subscription company struck an arrangement with DigiSure at the beginning of August, Autonomy introduced a completely digital, month-to-month auto insurance product into its subscription bundle in partnership with Liberty Mutual Insurance, reportedly the sixth-largest global property and casualty insurer. Autonomy said auto insurance […] [Read More]

Chicago-based Xcite Automotive is collaborating with General Motors on multiple fronts. The digital automotive vehicle photography provider announced on Thursday that it has been named a photography provider for CarBravo, GM’s new used-car online shopping platform. Xcite Automotive also said it been added to GM’s Dealer Digital Solution (DDS) program. The company highlighted Xcite Automotive’s […] [Read More]

CarMax wants to boost its workforce, so the used-vehicle retailer is set to host a major hiring event at 15 of its locations nationwide on Thursday. The company said in a news release that it will be interviewing candidates for a variety of positions, including technicians, detailers, painters, supply associates and more. CarMax indicated there will be […] [Read More]

Black Book’s wholesale market experts aren’t the only ones seeing prices declining at a notable pace. Cox Automotive also reported this week that wholesale used-vehicle prices (on a mix-, mileage-, and seasonally adjusted basis) decreased 3.6% from July during the first 15 days of August. Experts said that movement pushed the Manheim Used Vehicle Value […] [Read More]

PAR North America (PAR) promoted a pair of its executives on Thursday, rewarding them for being with KAR Global for more than 20 years combined. Taking on more responsibility for the business unit whose clients range from the largest banks, captives and auto finance companies to the smallest credit unions are Michael Fischer, who will […] [Read More]

Here’s at least one place in the automotive landscape that’s currently stable. On Thursday, Urban Science announced highlights from its 2022 midyear Franchise Activity Report (FAR), which shows continued stability for the U.S. automotive retail franchised dealership network despite continued inventory shortages during the first six months of the year. As of July 1, Urban […] [Read More]