Chaiz, an Austin, Texas-based startup that provides a comparison marketplace for extended car warranties, announced an oversubscribed $3.7 million seed funding round on Wednesday. Leading the round is ResilienceVC, with participation from Anker Capital, Automotive Ventures, Everywhere Ventures, FJ Labs, Monte Carlo Capital, Never Lift Ventures, RedBlue Capital, and Springtime Ventures. Chaiz’s prior investors include […] [Read More]

Next up on our series of shows from the Canada’s Used Car Week Podcast Stage is a conversation with Guy Potvin, digital success manager at iPacket. Potvin discusses his CUCW presentation on how “Informed Buyers are Driving the Future of Retail,” explaining the type of information car buyers want and how dealers should provide that […] [Read More]

Tekion, developer of a cloud-native platform that serves the entire automotive retail ecosystem, has secured $200 million in growth equity capital from Dragoneer Investment Group. In a news release, the company said the financing round raises its market valuation to more than $4 billion and said it plans to use the capital to expand its […] [Read More]

The Presidio Group, an independent banking firm focused on mergers and acquisitions, capital and investments in the automotive retail sector, has named Bloomberg Intelligence senior automotive analyst Kevin Tynan as its new director of research. The company said he’ll be responsible for market insights, content creation and client engagement focused on the U.S. franchised dealer […] [Read More]

Almost overnight, it seems artificial intelligence is revolutionizing industries worldwide, and its impact on automotive is no exception. With the help of AI, automotive finance and lease businesses are already streamlining processes, improving customer experience, and detecting fraud. For lenders, AI offers a more efficient underwriting approval process. For borrowers, AI-powered platforms make it easier […] [Read More]

At this year’s Auto Intel Summit + National Remarketing Conference presented by SmartAuction in Cary, N.C.., a trio of experts discussed how digital auditing is now enabling floorplan and wholesale finance companies to “self-audit” physical auto and equipment inventory, leveraging artificial intelligence, machine learning and API integration. This week, NextGear Capital rolled out that kind […] [Read More]

Digital auditing is now enabling floorplan and wholesale finance companies to “self-audit” physical auto and equipment inventory, leveraging artificial intelligence, machine learning and API integration. At this year’s Auto Intel Summit + National Remarketing Conference presented by SmartAuction in Cary, N.C.., Marguerite Watanabe of Connections Insights moderated a panel discussion about how these digital audits […] [Read More]

Buyers at CarMax Auctions now have a new option for financing their purchases. Kinetic Advantage, an independent floorplan company for independent dealers, has partnered with CarMax to provide dealer floorplan financing at its auctions. “CarMax is recognized as one of the premier, dealer-friendly auto auctions in the country,” Kinetic Advantage president and CEO Marty McFarland […] [Read More]

Coinciding with S&P Global Mobility discovering the average age of vehicles on the road is 12.6 years — an all-time high — Sunbit highlighted its own milestone on Thursday, announcing its buy-now, pay-later financing technology is available at more than 50% of dealership service centers in the U.S. Since launching in the auto services sector, […] [Read More]

Artificial intelligence is everywhere these days. Now it’s coming to the auto dealership buy-sell market. Retail automotive advisory firm Dave Cantin Group has launched an AI-powered data-mining software designed to provide data-driven valuations for U.S. new-car dealerships, regardless of brand, location or direct input from the dealership. DCG said its proprietary software takes in more […] [Read More]