With the goal of streamlining financing, retailing, wholesaling and leasing vehicles through a single mobile app, MUSA Auto Finance announced last week that it will rebrand as DRIVRZ Financial. According to a news release, this new brand will serve as the leasing and finance division of PowerBand Solutions, which acquired a 60% share of MUSA […] [Read More]

S&P Global Ratings recently discussed two topics quite relevant to finance companies: contract extensions and resulting defaults as well as actions at the Federal Reserve. Analysts discovered that as of February, extensions on auto-finance contracts contained in public asset-backed securities (ABS) fell to their lowest levels since the pandemic started, but they remained higher than […] [Read More]

Mike Dorazio opened a Mitsubishi store in Mechanicsburg, Pa., in 2019, and another in Lancaster, Pa., in 2020 right before the pandemic hit. After the start of the pandemic, “I took a different approach than some dealers would: I hit the gas,” Dorazio said in a news release. “I knew that the only way my […] [Read More]

Make that three straight months of records for the Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index. The Cox Automotive business unit’s measure of wholesale car prices came in at 194.0 for April, which beat year-ago figures by 54.3% and was nearly a 15-point jump from the prior record set a month before (179.2). Mix, mileage and seasonally […] [Read More]

Megan Tucker began working for America’s Auto Auction Greenville in South Carolina as a part-time office clerk in 2007. She also helped with some of the auction’s marketing activities, using her training as a graphic arts student at School of Communication Arts in Raleigh, N.C. She went on to handle the marketing for all of […] [Read More]

The Ed Morse Automotive Group has entered into the Missouri market by acquiring four dealerships in the state. The company acquired two dealerships in the city of Lebanon, and one each in Saint Robert and Rolla. These new dealerships will be Ed Morse Chevrolet, formerly Lindsay Chevrolet, in Lebanon; Ed Morse Ford, formerly Lindsay Ford […] [Read More]

There’s nothing magical or mysterious about selling. No secret handshake. No sure-fire script. No abracadabra. It’s a professional skill that can be learned and improved upon regularly. We classify the process of developing the skills necessary to succeed as “training.”  But first, a warning. All training theories and approaches are not equal. On March 31 […] [Read More]

The Federal Trade Commission released a report on Thursday that involves automakers and service departments at franchised dealerships. In a new report to Congress, the FTC said its analysis identifies numerous types of repair restrictions, such as using adhesives that make parts difficult to replace, limiting the availability of spare parts and making diagnostic software […] [Read More]

With an eye toward the future, JM Family Enterprises is turning to an executive with the company for the past 24 years to be its interim chief financial officer. Taking on the CFO role temporarily as well as continuing to be group vice president and treasurer is Eric Gebhard, who now will oversee all financial […] [Read More]

APCO Holdings is looking to cater to the wide array of approaches to retailing vehicles with its latest strategy for reinsurance programs. The provider and administrator of F&I products and home to the EasyCare and GWC Warranty brands said this week that it now is offering dealerships a consultative approach designed to match dealers’ unique […] [Read More]