Matt Murray says online customer engagement through reviews and social media has a strong impact on search rankings today. Murray is founder and chief executive officer of Widewail, an automotive industry reputation management and social media engagement service. Murray says that engagement can have an immediate influence on a customer’s decision to buy, recommend, or make […] [Read More]

Used-car sales this month are likely to be about two-thirds of what they were a year ago, but more than double the total from April. That’s according to a forecast released Tuesday by the ALG division of TrueCar, which is projecting 2,342,597 used sales for May. That marks a 34% year-over-year dip but a 116% […] [Read More]

With a new feature from dealership management system software provider Auto/Mate, customers can pay service repair orders and parts invoices without having to step inside the dealership. Auto/Mate is a business unit of DealerSocket, and the company says that with the new feature, called Remote Payments, dealership personnel can now send customers emails containing a […] [Read More]

Foundation Automotive has acquired the Freestone Auto Group in Fairfield, Texas, stating that Freestone’s local roots will help Foundation expand its Central Texas footprint. Foundation, an international group with Canadian and U.S. locations, said Freestone has a long-standing history of selling Ford, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, RAM, Chevrolet and custom commercial trucks. Freestone, through the Service […] [Read More]

As industry experts predicted might happen, late on Friday afternoon Hertz Global Holdings announced it and certain of its U.S. and Canadian subsidiaries have filed voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. According to a news release, Hertz said the company still has $1 billion […] [Read More]

ComplyNet president and general counsel Adam Crowell recently debuted on the podcast to share how dealers are becoming more concerned about the health of their businesses than contracting the coronavirus. Crowell, who oversees the compliance solutions and risk mitigation provider that developed a system with the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association, also discussed how insurance can play […] [Read More]

Like so many individuals, TransUnion described the auto-finance industry as healthy before the coronavirus pandemic arrived in earnest more than two months ago. And in a special episode of the podcast, TransUnion senior vice president and automotive business leader Satyan Merchant described how he and fellow analysts will be monitoring auto-finance performance similarly to healthcare […] [Read More]

KAR Global got a big shot in the arm to help its operations, technology, digitization and development amid the recovery. The company announced a $550 million strategic investment Tuesday led by Apax Partners-advised funds that KAR’s chief executive says will “help us continue to support our global customers and further accelerate our digital transformation.” KAR plans […] [Read More]

The data series used by KAR Global Analytical Services goes back to 1994 — another time when Major League Baseball wasn’t being played, but for a far different reason than the current coronavirus pandemic. When KAR Global chief economist Tom Kontos and his team finalized their wholesale price information for March and April, they found […] [Read More]

This episode of the Auto Remarketing Podcast ventures into the investment world with Gina Cocking, who is managing director of Colonnade Securities, a Chicago-based investment banking firm that specializes in merger and acquisition advisory services. Cocking not only shared an assessment of the current investment landscape, she also discussed the firm’s recent examination of the […] [Read More]