Have you ever wondered how recalls affect the opinions of visitors considering your vehicles? As it turns out, although consumer perception can be affected based on the size or severity of a recall, how it is addressed and portrayed also plays a key role. Market research firm Phoenix Marketing International (PMI) and Infegy, a social media […] [Read More]

Swapalease.com released a report this week regarding its recent survey asking consumers what they would like to see as options during the overall automotive experience, from the point of acquisition onward. The results, based on the survey of more than 2,500 drivers and car shoppers across the nation, revealed several interesting findings. For one, men and […] [Read More]

Improved sales numbers are usually aided by a good reputation. And that reputation, according to a recent release from J.D. Power and DealerRater, starts in your service department. The March 2015 PowerRater Consumer Pulse, a monthly analysis of — as the title suggests — consumer opinions, is developed jointly by J.D. Power and DealerRater, each of which […] [Read More]

No question, social networks are transforming the way that auto marketers are communicating and engaging with consumers — from building brand advocates to creating viral and content marketing campaigns, to monitoring reviews of specific car dealerships.   While most auto marketer’s social orientation is towards fan engagement, and reputation management, social media is in fact, […] [Read More]

Generation Y, also referred to as millennials, are becoming more influential in the automotive space as their purchasing power increases and they become more of an integral demographic in the car-buying population. And, clearly, their shopping and buying habits will shape the future of the retail auto business. With that in mind, a recent post […] [Read More]

After news broke that powertrain warranties on 2016 model-year Chevrolet and GMC vehicles were being reduced from 100,000 miles to 60,000 miles, Kelley Blue Book’s Eric Ibara weighed in on how this may impact resale values for these vehicles. Rest assured: there probably won’t be any measurable fallout. In fact, Ibara said, the certified pre-owned […] [Read More]

One of the coldest February in years that brought record-breaking snowfall and temperatures with it had a direct impact on used-car prices. And with this slowdown in price growth and disruption to dealers and buyers, pent-up demand is expected to push prices higher than expected this month. That’s according to data shared in the latest […] [Read More]

In what should be music to the ears of franchised store principles and industry leaders, a new study orchestrated by the Phoenix Center highlighted how much consumers benefit from the dealership system currently in place. The study found consumers significantly benefit from "intrabrand" price competition for new vehicles — often in the hundreds of dollars […] [Read More]

Southeast Toyota Distributors announced this week that five dealers in its region have been honored with the 2014 National Leadership Award for outstanding performance in the Toyota Rent a Car program. A total of 56 dealers, overall, received the TRAC award. The Southeast Toyota dealers winning the award were: Toyota of South Dade – Homestead, […] [Read More]

Cars.com recently announced the results of an analysis it performed on nearly 1 million reviews submitted by customers on its site. According to the company’s research, seven out of 10 car shoppers said that reviews of dealerships are either a “very” or “extremely” important part of their research during the vehicle-buying process. To further elaborate on this […] [Read More]