Even with the looming threat of an autoworkers strike, rising interest rates and a shaky economy that might or might not be on the verge of a recession, car dealers should come out OK the rest of this year. That’s the reassuring message sent by Cox Automotive senior economist Charlie Chesbrough in “Charlie's Real-Time Quarterly Market Update,” a webinar presented last week by the American International Automobile Dealers Association. Experts are split on whether there will be a significant economic downturn, but, Chesbrough said ... [Read More]

Growing vehicle theft in Canada: It's a trend that has been hiding in the wings for a while, says Michael Rothe of  the Canadian Financing and Leasing Association. But for many in the auto industry, it didn’t hit their radar until 2020, when the data became hard to ignore. According to a recent report from the CFLA, there were over ... [Read More]

With macroeconomic pressures like high interest rates and increased cost of livin, Transunion Canada is tracking the auto industry’s lending performance. Year-over-year, originations are up by just under 2%, a rise mostly driven by more used inventory coming back online. “People weren't able to ... [Read More]

This week, electric utility Duke Energy unveiled an unveiled an EV charging subscription pilot program that will allow North Carolina consumers to pay a flat monthly fee to power home chargers for electric vehicles. The next day, automaker Stellantis announced its latest partnership to provide EV charging infrastructure to help prepare its dealers for selling and servicing EVs. Bob Glaser, president of the North Carolina Automobile Dealers Association, said he is 100% on board with both of those moves. “We are very excited about the thought of ... [Read More]

Live virtual auction platform EBlock recently chose a former Hyundai Capital Canada executive as its new director of commercial sales: Bryan McIntyre, the prior senior manager of remarketing and ops support at Hyundai Canada’s captive arm. McIntyre was with Hyundai Capital since 2017. He has 15 years of auto industry experience and has held management jobs within auto finance organizations that include subprime lending, major bank and captive finance lenders. McIntyre spoke with Auto Remarketing Canada shortly after he took the new role at EBlock ... [Read More]

ADESA chief economist Tom Kontos demonstrated his vast vocabulary again to explain what’s happening with wholesale values, detailing how prices are coming down from “exorbitant” levels and what might cause some “lumpiness” later this year. Auto Remarketing connected with the industry expert this week as he released his newest installment of the Kontos Kommentary. According […] [Read More]

OEMs continue to pump out new electric vehicle models, and supply of some of the legacy models is backing up as new-car inventory continues to expand slowly but surely. Although Canadian consumers are leaning toward smaller vehicles due in part to high prices and interest rates, as well as gas prices and environmental concerns, there could be a shift in the near future. With the rise of electric SUVs becoming more commonplace, this could help ... [Read More]

During a quarterly earnings call this month, ACV chief executive George Chamoun covered the company’s program that it describes as three pillars of “Maximizing Long-Term Shareholder Value.” Those three pillars are “growth,” “innovation,” and “scale.” Addressing the “growth” portion, Chamoun started by ... [Read More]

Multiple sources of auto-finance data and more intriguing economic trends surfaced in recent days, with experts touching on defaults, interest rates and the possibility of a recession. Let’s begin this roundup with the auto portion of the S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices. Experts determined the July auto default rate came in at 0.82%, ticking up […] [Read More]

With revenues climbing from a year ago, AutoCanada chairman Paul Antony and his team dove deep on how various operational initiatives have pushed the publicly traded dealer group. These initiatives, including selling more pre-owned cars while keeping less inventory in stock, were supported by “robust market conditions,” said Antony during a call to announce and analyze AutoCanada’s second-quarter operating results. "New light inventories have begun to replenish, and this coupled with high demand following the pandemic supply constraints has resulted in [Read More]