AI is rapidly reshaping dealership operations, yet most stores are still in early experimentation mode. According to the Cox Automotive...
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Sponsored Episode: Winning Trade-Ins and Trust – Navigating Today’s Affordability Challenges
Affordability challenges are reshaping the automotive landscape—vehicle prices and payments are at all-time highs and negative equity is on the rise. In this episode, Micah Tindor offers a data-driven conversation with real-world strategies around acquisition tactics and long-term profitability to ... Listen Here
Sponsored Episode: Winning Talent Strategies for Car Dealerships – with CDK & Industry Leaders
In this sponsored episode of the Auto Remarketing Podcast, host Bruce Johnson from CDK sits down with Tyler Jones, President of EV Auto, and Joe Brown, CMO at Frank Leta, to explore proven strategies for attracting and retaining top talent ... Listen Here
Dissecting evolving credit scores with Shams Blanc of FICO
As much as auto-finance underwriting has become sophisticated, a potential starting point to determine if the applicant will be offered an installment contract is the credit score. Shams Blanc, who is vice president of auto scores at FICO, described the ... Listen Here
Retail
AutoNation buys 1st Toyota store in over a decade, partners with NHL’s Panthers for DRV PNK effort
AutoNation has made its first purchase of a Toyota store in more than a decade, acquiring Jerry’s Toyota in the Baltimore-Washington area, according to Dave Cantin Group, which advised the seller. James Stautberg is president of Jerry’s Toyota, which has ... [Read More]
Asbury names next CEO
Asbury Automotive Group will have a new CEO this spring. Announcing its leadership succession plan, the dealership group said Monday that longtime president and chief executive David Hult will transition to the role of executive chairman, with current chief operating ... [Read More]
Wholesale
Commercial consignor sales at auction reflect strength in off-rental, repo volumes
Auction sales of 2-year-old vehicles from commercial consignors climbed nearly 32% year-over-year in November and beat October numbers by 4%. Through 11 months of the year, sales of these vehicles have jumped 33.6% from the same period of 2024. What ... [Read More]
Lane watch: Auction activity moderates as industry celebrates Thanksgiving
Last week’s trends connected with wholesale prices and conversion rates reflected how auctions, consignors, and dealers probably spent at least part of the timeframe celebrating Thanksgiving. That’s the summation from Black Book’s latest installment of Market Insights, that covered the ... [Read More]
Technology
CarGurus debuts predictive pricing tool utilizing AI, real-time consumer data
CarGurus said Tuesday it has launched an artificial intelligence-powered used-car pricing tool that uses real-time consumer data from the auto shopping platform. The solution, called PriceVantage, is designed to offer predictive pricing guidance to dealers, based on the store’s individual ... [Read More]
Widewail founder Murray steps aside as new CEO begins ‘new era’ of reputation management
Widewail’s founder has stepped away from the day-to-day. Matt Murray, who started the reputation management and customer experience platform with his wife Angi in 2017, has transitioned out of his role as CEO to serve as a board member and ... [Read More]
Analysis
Black Book used-car price index hits 5-year low
Black Book’s monthly measure of wholesale used-vehicle values fell to its lowest level in nearly five years last month, with price depreciation “outside normal seasonal expectations.” Specifically, the company’s Used Vehicle Retention Index came in at 140.3 for November. The ... [Read More]
Dealership traffic drops in Q4 amid economic uncertainty, affordability issues
For independent dealers, the view inside the dealership looks like recent business as usual. For franchised dealers, it looks … empty. According to Cox Automotive’s Q4 Dealer Sentiment Index, customer traffic in dealerships overall during the past three months matched ... [Read More]
