UPDATED: Dealer Jim Smail was meeting with his fellow Pennsylvania Automotive Association board members at the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort 70 miles outside Pittsburgh on Thursday when several directors had to leave immediately. As these dealers were finding out, the wrath of the recent storms — which some project may have flood-damaged tens of thousands of vehicles — is […] [Read More]

Almost 100 years after General Motors co-founder William Durant debuted the logo, the Chevrolet bowtie is perhaps the most identifiable mark in GM’s bevy of brands. Thing is, it seems there is no real consensus as to what inspired Durant to create the logo in the first place. Was it hotel room wallpaper? Was it […] [Read More]

Though its destruction appears to have been far less severe than that of Hurricane Irene last month, Tropical Storm Lee certainly had an impact on the Southeast and Gulf Coast during Labor Day weekend and impacted automotive world during a big sale weekend. Fortunately — based on what Auto Remarketing learned Tuesday — the harm […] [Read More]

Automakers are being more cautious and strategic in fleet sales of late, realizing that a sales flood of a certain model into the fleet market could water-down used values when these units come back to market, according to ALG. On Friday, the company talked about how OEM strategies for these sales are shifting to a more long-term view. In ALG’s […] [Read More]

With also gauging how much Hurricane Irene effected the numbers, the chief economist of the National Automobile Dealers Association attributed August’s new-vehicle sales performance to one factor — inventory levels. Paul Taylor believes the amount of vehicles on franchised lots not only swayed last month’s sales, but also likely will be the dominating factor as […] [Read More]

Late last week, Vehix released what it considers to be the top used vehicles for teenage drivers that are not only affordable, but are top-notch in terms of safety and reliability. The “8 Great Used Cars for under $10,000 for Teenagers” features only vehicles that met the numerous requirements from Vehix, which included a minimum […] [Read More]

In what has been an up-and-down rollercoaster kind of year for the Canadian auto market, August continued the streak of unpredictable, volatile car sales, according to DesRosiers Automotive Consultants. After falling 5 percent in July, the new-vehicle market was up 3.2 percent during August, the firm explained. While the 140,361 sales were stronger than year-ago […] [Read More]

CNW Research said August used-vehicle sales slipped 3.3 percent versus the same month a year ago, but the drop had nothing to do with activity at franchised or independent dealerships. So what triggered the August drop? CNW president Art Spinella attributed the decline to a softer private-party market, which tumbled down more than 18 percent […] [Read More]

In a departure from what is typical for the Labor Day holiday at dealerships, Kelley Blue Book believes that leasing incentives and low APR finance deals may be the name of the game this weekend instead of the usual cash rebates that automakers pile on this time of year. Ordinarily, automakers use Labor Day weekend […] [Read More]

CarWoo discovered this week that site data showed the rigor of negotiation appears to be lessening as new-vehicle prices begin to return to first quarter levels after peaking in July. Back in March, the site indicated online new-vehicle buyers were making their purchase decisions in just a little more than one day. By July, as […] [Read More]