Cox Automotive sees multiple challenges automakers could face if they embark on significant strategies to generate revenue from subscription-type features, also known as Features on Demand (FoD). A trio of North Carolina dealers pointed out even more potential pitfalls for the fellow retailers as well as the OEM’s legal departments. Furthermore, another industry expert gave an example of how Features on Demand could create a quagmire for auto auctions and the wholesale industry, too ... [Read More]

Although overall wholesale vehicle values this month have “plateaued” at the spring/tax season peaks reached in April, prices on late-model units continues to rise. That’s according to the latest Kontos Kommentary report from ADESA chief economist Tom Kontos released Thursday. The average wholesale vehicle value was at ... [Read More]

Next up in Auto Remarketing’s “4 Questions With” series of Q&As with industry executives, we connect with Brad Rosenfeld, CarGurus executive vice president of digital retail commercialization. The following Q&A with Rosenfeld is available to CMG Premium subscribers ... [Read More]

Chris Holzshu says vehicle affordability continues to be a focus for consumers as interest rates for new and used vehicles have increased three percentage points since last year. Factory incentives “have yet to match relative demand,” said Holzshu, who is executive vice president and chief operating officer for Lithia & Driveway. “However ... early recovery in new-vehicle inventory and most domestic and luxury nameplates, modest increase in incentives, strong used vehicle trade-in values [and] a decrease in the average amount financed, leave consumers’ monthly payments relatively flat year-over-year,” Holzshu said. Holzshu made his comments during Lithia’s first quarter 2023 earnings call that took place on April 19. Although the company reported the highest first-quarter revenue in company history ... [Read More]

Carvana, which hit a roadblock last year when its unit sales slowed and its losses did not, said it has made significant progress toward profitability by implementing operating efficiencies and reducing expenses. “We still have a long way to go to achieve our broader goals,” admitted Carvana CEO,Ernie Garcia, during the used-car retailer’s first quarter earnings call on May 4. “But we are on the right path, and we are moving quickly.” The company reported retail unit sales of ... [Read More]

“Living within our means” has become something of a mantra for Vroom, and that continues to impact the online used car retailer’s bottom line. But Vroom should start to grow again later this year, executives said. “While the route is uphill for (gross profit per unit) in Q1 and Q2, we expect GPPU to normalize […] [Read More]

EchoPark, Sonic Automotive’s stand-alone used vehicle operation, strives to acquire vehicles at prices that allow it to keep its customers’ used vehicle monthly payments under $500. “That’s going to be in the $24,000 price range,” said Sonic Automotive president Jeff Dyke, during the company’s earnings call covering its quarter that ended March 31. But that goal was challenged when wholesale vehicles prices suddenly ... [Read More]

Michael Manley said AutoNation decided to “realign, reposition and reduce” its used-car inventory in the first quarter of 2022. That appeared to be a wise move as the year went on, said Manley, who is AutoNation’s CEO. “It did, however, set us up for a tough comp per unit volume in Q1,” Manley said during AutoNation’s first quarter 2023 earnings call on April 20. Manley said during the call that the company will “remain nimble” in its approach to used vehicles. “And expansion of our AutoNation USA footprint remains ... [Read More]

Wholesale vehicle prices fell in April, and it’s a decline that’s likely not going to end any time soon. That’s according to indices released this week by Black Book and Cox Automotive, respectively, which signaled that last month’s softening may only be the beginning of a broader downslope in used-car pricing. While still significantly stronger […] [Read More]

In 2019, as OPENLANE was celebrating its 20th anniversary, Jim Hallett — who at the time was CEO of then-KAR Auction Services — looked back on the company’s 2011 acquisition of OPENLANE as an “inflection point” for KAR that “changed our company overnight.” “Over the years, of all the acquisitions we did, I would look at OPENLANE as being one of the most transformative acquisitions we made in the history of our company,” Hallett said in a January 2019 phone interview. “And we went from being a laggard to a leader with the acquisition of OPENLANE.  “And it didn’t change our company only because we sold more cars. It changed our company because of ... [Read More]