Minutes from the June meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee showed the Federal Reserve sees how an official recession could surface later this year. And getting that retail installment sales contract bought by your dealership’s network of finance companies is likely part of the scenario drawing the attention of policymakers. According to the Fed’s meeting minutes ... [Read More]

Editor's Note: This is a small excerpt from Cherokee Media Group's upcoming “State of the Used Car Industry” report. The full report will be available this month. The prime reason vehicles are pricier to purchase in the wholesale market and will likely remain that way for years to come? Blame lack of supply. “The mix of the (used-vehicle supply) is different overall, volume is different,” Black Book chief data science officer Alex Yurchenko said during a presentation at the NIADA Convention in June. The estimated available wholesale supply of vehicles up to 8 years old fell to ... [Read More]

ACV is extending its reach into the commercial consignment segment, the company tells Auto Remarketing in an exclusive interview. It’s a broad strategy that includes ramping up its presence in additional segments of commercial consignment, the prior purchase of a physical auto auction, hiring of two remarketing industry veterans to lead this expanded offering and more. The company said it will offer its entire suite of digital solutions to commercial consignors, including ... [Read More]

CarMax struggled with a difficult macroenvironment in the first quarter of fiscal year 2024 but president and CEO Bill Nash put a positive spin on the market conditions. “What we are seeing now is depreciation, which you would normally see,” he said during the earnings call.  “While it can be a bit of a headwind for the wholesale business, I think overall it is good for the industry because ... [Read More]

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]