TORONTO, Ontario — General Motors of Canada and a group of 21 rejected dealers who were suing the company have reached a settlement, a GM Canada spokesperson confirmed to Auto Remarketing Canada this week. Jason Easton, corporate communications manager for GM Canada, confirmed "that a conditional settlement has been reached … " in this particular suit — Stoneleigh Motors Limited […] [Read More]

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — Average wholesale prices in Canada softened a bit during July, according to OPENLANE's Canadian Market Index, which came in at 103 for the month, compared with 105 in June. In addition to the 2-percentage-point month-over-month decline in auction prices, July was 3 percentage points weaker on a year-over-year basis. "Canadian prices decreased in […] [Read More]

RED DEER, Alberta — In a strong kick-off to the 2011 fiscal year, RIFCO pulled in almost 35 percent more net income during the first quarter than it did for all of fiscal 2010. And, company management is expecting they should hit full-year profits for the fifth straight time. Specifically, the company took in net income of $416,370 for the […] [Read More]

DETROIT — Are many dealers turning to Twitter to drum up sales and service activity? Turns out, the social media website that limits messages to 140 characters has been welcomed by dealers in varying degrees, according to AOL Autos.  In fact, AOL Autos correspondent Gary Hoffman recently looked at how dealers harnessed Twitter during one 24-hour period […] [Read More]

RICHMOND, Va. — CarMax already operates dealerships in 26 states. After a hiatus of more than two years, the company started construction on a new rooftop this week to raise its state penetration by one more. Executives highlighted the ongoing work now being done on a new CarMax superstore in Baton Rouge, La. This marks the company's […] [Read More]

CARMEL, Ind. — ADESA and NADA University are teaming up for what they're calling the Industry Insight Series, a gathering of experts such as Tom Kontos and Dale Pollak to discuss the current state of the used-vehicle market and where it's headed. The free lunch is followed by a program that begins at 11:30 a.m. CT […] [Read More]

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — While Cash for Clunkers might skew the year-over-year comparison, analysts from TrueCar.com believe just one of the top seven automakers will post a greater sales figure in August than July. That lone manufacturer is Honda, which the site projected this week to have a 1.4-percent sales-performance rise in August over the previous […] [Read More]

SALT LAKE CITY — DrivingSales.com recently revealed the keynote speaker for the second annual DrivingSales Executive Summit. Giving the address will be Jeremiah Owyang, a popular media analyst, blogger and Web strategist. Owyang, who is a partner at digital strategy advisory firm Altimeter Group, writes a Web Strategy blog that delves into ways corporations can utilize Web technologies […] [Read More]

MILWAUKEE — A 25-year-old Milwaukee man who thankfully survived a 20-foot drop into a downtown sinkhole while driving his black 2007 Cadillac Escalade got a helping hand from a local Cadillac dealer and the brand's certified pre-owned program after his SUV was totaled in the accident. An onlooker helped Lance Treankler out of the sinkhole, and […] [Read More]

ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. — Five courses aimed to provide salespeople with greater tools on closing the deal in today's market have been added to Joe Verde's virtual sales training site. The shorter installments now included in the Joe Verde Training Network are under the title, "The Mini-Series Collection." Verde said the focus is on the selling skills dealership staff […] [Read More]