Tennessee and Vermont are polar opposites based on at least one statistic from Experian’s Q2 2020 State of the Automotive Finance Market report. Turns out the states well known for country music and maple syrup, respectively, are at the top and the bottom of Experian’s data set for the amount of used-vehicle financing originated during […] [Read More]

Just before the holiday weekend, the Federal Trade Commission announced a group of dealerships in Arizona and New Mexico must cease business operations. It’s all part of a court-approved settlement resolving charges the regulator made two years ago that the dealerships deceived consumers and falsified information on vehicle-financing applications. In a case filed in 2018, […] [Read More]

KAR Global has reached a deal to purchase BacklotCars, an online dealer-to-dealer wholesale platform, for $425 million. KAR announced the definitive agreement Tuesday morning, and the purchase is subject to certain regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. Assuming those conditions are met, KAR expects the deal to close by the end of the year. […] [Read More]

In what the company’s chief executive called a “critical part” of a strategy to expand its standalone used-car store program, Sonic Automotive announced Tuesday that it has opened a second EchoPark Automotive store in Houston. This is Sonic’s 11th EchoPark retail hub, its fifth in Texas and is part of the retailer’s plan to grow […] [Read More]

Only two months remain until the Nov. 3 election. Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book say they are committed to educating consumers on making sure their voice is heard by casting their votes. On Wednesday, visitors to the Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book websites began seeing resources for registering to vote, along with information on how […] [Read More]

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ronald McDonald House has been forced to suspend or modify many of its scheduled fundraising efforts, says David Wickwar, sales associate at AutoNation Toyota Corpus Christi. “When we learned about the needs at Ronald McDonald House to help fund programs that keep families together when children are undergoing serious medical […] [Read More]

Prior to COVID-19 changing the landscape of live events and travel, I was fortunate enough to have a Goldilocks-like rotation of auto industry events to cover as a journalist and/or help run as a member of the Cherokee Media Group team. There were enough industry events to keep things interesting, while at the same time, […] [Read More]

Auction sales hit a bit of snag in the final full week of August, due in part to the impact of Hurricane Laura. According to the latest Used Market Update from J.D. Power, there were 73,000 auction sales of vehicles up to 8 years in age for the week ending Sunday (Aug. 30). That is […] [Read More]

A firm highlighted among the Special Finance 175 — McGlinchey Stafford — recently announced that 19 attorneys and eight of its practice areas have been recognized in the 2020 edition of Chambers USA – America’s Leading Lawyers for Business. Each McGlinchey practice area maintained its 2019 ranking, and the firm added two “band-ranked” attorneys in […] [Read More]

Westlake Financial is deepening its presence in vehicle leasing, expanding upon that market segment it entered via an acquisition three years ago. This week, Westlake rolled out its own lease program with franchised dealers in California and Arizona while looking to move into more markets throughout the rest of 2020. The company said franchised dealers […] [Read More]