In the U.S., across all demographics groups, the top factors consumers weigh when buying a vehicle include upfront price, fuel efficiency, ride…
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Hyundai Developing Secondary Air Bag System for Improved Safety in Multi-Collisions
Air bags are highly effective as long as they deploy at the right time. There is increasingly evidence that they’re not always…
Read more...Studies Find That Keyless Vehicle Entry is Easy to Hack with Basic Equipment
Keyless vehicle entry is far more secure than using mechanical keys, correct? Not according to a new study, which found that most…
Read more...New Study Finds That 28 Percent of Callers to Dealerships Will Purchase a Vehicle
How well do you rate your dealership when it comes to handling inbound phone calls? The answer may weigh heavily on your…
Read more...And the Newest GM Model Is…an E-Bike?
When General Motors announced, back in the fall, that it would begin manufacturing electronic bikes, no one was really sure what to…
Read more...Americans Delinquent on Car Loans Hits High Water Mark
It’s a signal of how well the economy is doing for ordinary Americans. People behind on their car payments are probably struggling…
Read more...Carmakers’ Dilemma: Build Connected Car Systems from Scratch or Partner?
Auto makers are facing a dilemma. They’re aware that in the next generation, they’re going to be building more than just cars:…
Read more...In Australia, Automakers Must Now Share Information with Independent Service Shops
As vehicles become more complex, they’ve also become more difficult to service and repair. Auto makers haven’t always been transparent about sharing…
Read more...New Engine Oils Can Directly Improve Fuel Efficiency
Auto makers are under a lot of pressure these days, with concerns about gas mileage in the vehicles they produce not least…
Read more...AAA Confirms that EVs Lose Battery and Range in the Cold
“Range anxiety” is the phrase used to describe the doubt that car buyers have over the battery life of electric vehicles. It…
Read more...Toyota Launches KINTO Subscription Company in Japan
The latest auto maker to jump into the car subscription ring is Toyota, which this week announced that it’s forming a new…
Read more...Fiat Chrysler Discloses Two Separate Recalls for 750,000 Ram Trucks
Fiat Chrysler began the week with a headache, facing the recall of more than 750,000 Ram trucks for two separate defects. The…
Read more...AI in the Dealership Can Boost Sales Contact Rates
Once a feature suited only to high-level processes like computing and research, or consumer applications like Siri, artificial intelligence (AI) is showing…
Read more...Ward’s Auto Reports Cease Publication After 96 Years
For nearly a century, Ward’s Auto Reports newsletters have been a staple of the automotive industry. The 96-year-old publication, which first debuted…
Read more...NADA Predicts a Modest Decline in 2019 Vehicle Sales Numbers
We may be only one month into 2019, but auto makers and sellers are already worried about what kind of a year…
Read more...Ford Plans “Massive Overtime” for Ranger Production Plant in Detroit
When Ford retired the Ranger in 2011, industry watchers were surprised that it didn’t introduce a replacement vehicle…something like a smaller companion…
Read more...Everyone Hates Cold Calling. But Does It Still Work?
Cold-calling. It’s what every salesperson dreads most of all. It tends to feel like a thankless, onerous process that never results in…
Read more...SEC Opens Investigation into Nissan’s Carlos Ghosn
Back in November, Japan’s Nissan Motor Co.’s board unanimously voted to fire Chairman Carlos Ghosn based on allegations that Ghosn misused company…
Read more...EV Batteries and a Global Shortage of Cobalt
Cobalt is one of those elements we’ve all heard of, and we know it’s dug out of the ground, but we’re not…
Read more...Japan’s Technology Ministry Gets Serious About Flying Cars
Remember the original Blade Runner film, a dystopian story that (among other things) assured us we would have lab-grown replicant humans and…
Read more...Colorado Joins the California Zero Emissions Vehicle Program
California’s pioneering Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) program is a policy that induces and ultimately requires automakers to sell a certain number of…
Read more...Ford President Announces All-Electric F-150 Is in the Works
Ford’s F-150 pickup truck is the best-selling vehicle in the United States, and the company has now confirmed that an all-electric version…
Read more...New Jersey Lawmakers Reintroduce Bills to Protect Used Car Buyers
Lawmakers in New Jersey have taken steps to clean up what they say are nefarious practices in the used car industry. The…
Read more...NY Governor Cuomo to Extend State Testing of Autonomous Vehicles
When New York State began a program in the summer of 2017 to test autonomous vehicles, the plan was to have the…
Read more...China’s Auto Sales Shrink for the First Time in Two Decades
It’s an economic indicator that’s making some economists worry. The Chinese car market – the largest in the world — shrank in…
Read more...Toyota North America CEO Says Cars Are Not Dead
Is the passenger car a thing of the past, at least in the U.S.? If you’re watching sales and manufacturing trends as…
Read more...BMW’s “Shy Tech” Makes Use of Smart Materials for Gesture Control
Attendees of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) saw something interesting in the BMW pavilion: the curious interior of the BMW Vision iNEXT,…
Read more...Customer Convenience Improves Loyalty to Dealer Service Departments
How loyal are your customers when it comes to returning their vehicles to you for service? If you’re like most other dealers,…
Read more...Before You Finalize Your 2019 Advertising Budget, Analyze Last Year’s Budget
By Brian Brown, COO, Dave Cantin Group It’s the beginning of a New Year, which means a lot of things for your…
Read more...BlackBerry Returns…to the Vehicle Cockpit
Remember BlackBerry? While the popularity of the Canadian company’s iconic early smartphone may not be long in the past, in the digital…
Read more...Volvo’s All-Electric Polestar 2 Will Be the First to Feature Integrated Android Auto
When Android Auto, Google’s smartphone app for vehicles, was first introduced in March of 2015 in conjunction with tech supplier Nvidia and…
Read more...Success in Dealership Sales and Acquisitions Requires Due Diligence
In the buying and selling of dealerships, one of the most critical aspects is having the right information to evaluate and ultimately…
Read more...Avoid Over-Communicating with Too Many Email Blasts
By Brian Brown, COO, Dave Cantin Group How many times a month does your store send out an e-mail blast to customers?…
Read more...Accenture Recommends that OEMS Lead the Fix for the Dealership Sales Model
Low profit margins, high turnover and fewer visitors are some of the hallmarks of running a dealership today. Buyers, who have become…
Read more...SheCar Aims to Make the Car Buying Process More Transparent
Many women report being wary of car shopping. They’re worried they may be the targets of “bait and switch” sales tactics or…
Read more...Getting Good Reviews: You Can’t Outsmart Google
Positive online reviews are important to all businesses today. Consumers rely heavily on online ratings, social media shares and reviews, and they…
Read more...In Buying and Selling Dealerships, Relationships Are the Driver of Success
There’s an old adage that maintains that success is not about what you know, but who you know. This is never truer…
Read more...Online Wholesale Vehicle Auction Platform Secures Funding
While car buyers have a variety of digital platforms available to them when it comes to searching for, financing and purchasing vehicles,…
Read more...Demoting the Reindeer: Santa’s Dodge Redeye Express Sleigh
At the turn of the last century, citizens of the world marveled at the thought of horseless carriages. Now, in 2018, it’s…
Read more...2019’s Mind-Blowing Concept Cars on Exhibition at CES
As the world looks to develop vehicles that are smarter, greener and more autonomous, there’s been a noticeable change in the quantity…
Read more...Tiremetrix Expands Partner Agreements for Tire Registration Plus
Since the passing of the FAST Act, tire shops have been taking on a bigger burden when it comes to registering tires….
Read more...NADA Predicts 2019 Vehicle Sales Will Fall Below 17 Million
While there are still 12 days left until the end of 2018, automotive business associations are already putting forth some numbers for…
Read more...2019 Hyundai Santa Fe SUV Debuts with Fingerprint Scanner
While much of the world remains impressed by the idea of smart keys, at least one company is showing us how the…
Read more...Newsweek’s Automotive Consumer Awards Shows Americans’ Brand Favorites
When Newsweek and TechnoMetrica partner to seek consumers’ favorite automotive brands to compile The Newsweek Automotive Consumer Awards, they’re pinning down a…
Read more...Let’s Take the Dog: Vehicle Buyers Want Pet-Friendly Features
Younger Americans from the Millennial generation cherish their pets (“fur babies”) more than any other demographic group, splashing out money on everything…
Read more...New Map Shows How Americans Are in Debt for Auto Loans
There are many reasons for the record high loan levels. Americans still prefer larger vehicles such as SUVs and trucks, which tend…
Read more...TrueCar Acquires DealerScience; Promises Better Experiences for Dealer-Customers
Today, software and apps have given some of the power back to car buyers, allowing them to map the process out visually…
Read more...Cox Dealer Sentiment Index Finds Increased Concerns About Vehicle Market
Interest rates, rising prices and political turmoil have combined to make consumers nervous about vehicle buying at the moment, and this is…
Read more...Vehicle Sellers and Buyers Increasingly Rely on Technology to Spot Fraud
The last two hurricane seasons have been rough for people and vehicles alike. In 2018 alone, between 20,000 to 40,000 vehicles were…
Read more...Deer in Massachusetts Car Dealership Causes Chaos and Damage
While earlier this week, we detailed a spate of crimes in car dealerships in New York, Connecticut and Florida, they were human…
Read more...California Dealer Association Asks Volvo to Suspend Subscription Service
The start for vehicle subscriptions has been bumpy. Cadillac has indefinitely suspended its BOOK vehicle subscription service. According to the Wall Street…
Read more...The Disconnect Between Dealer Marketing and Technology
At a twenty-first century dealership, it’s hard to see sometimes where marketing ends, and technology begins. Most marketing is done via technology…
Read more...Analysts Speculate That After GM Workforce Cuts, Ford Is Next
Last week, GM announced that it plans to lay off about 15 percent of its workforce, or 14,000 people in total, and…
Read more...New York, Connecticut, and Florida Dealerships Targeted by Crime
Car dealerships are no strangers to robbery and violent altercations, given the items of value they keep on the premises (not only…
Read more...Do Car Buyers Really Want Larger Vehicles?
With the announcement of the closure of five plants by GM this week, it was hard to miss that the plants chosen…
Read more...Turo Go Dongle Turns Car Sharing Company into the Airbnb of Vehicles
It would take a particularly Zen kind of person to be comfortable with allowing strangers to use their car, but this type…
Read more...White House Escalates “Subsidies” Rhetoric Against GM
The spat between the Trump Administration and GM took a more dramatic turn recently, with the White House tweeting disapproval and threats…
Read more...GM to Shutter Plants, Shed Jobs and Move Goalposts
General Motors (GM) is calling it a “transformational acceleration,” or a fast-track of its plans laid out in 2015 to strengthen its…
Read more...Speech Tech Company Nuance Creates New Automotive Spinoff
If you’ve ever wondered who built the voice recognition technology behind Apple’s conversational personal assistant Siri, wonder no more: the company is…
Read more...Nissan’s Board Votes Unanimously to Oust Carlos Ghosn
Japan’s Nissan Motor Co.’s board has unanimously voted to fire Chairman Carlos Ghosn based on allegations that Ghosn misused company money to…
Read more...“I Wasn’t Driving the Car, Officer. My Autopilot Was.”
It was only a matter of time. Drivers have been looking for loopholes to get out of traffic tickets since the dawn…
Read more...An Accurate Tool for Pricing in Online Car Shopping
“What will my total monthly car payment be?” It’s a hard question to answer, and one that comes up a lot at…
Read more...A Technology to Eliminate “New Car Smell”
The Detroit Free Press is reporting this week that Ford Motor Company has filed a patent application for an odor-removal process that…
Read more...“Siri, Unlock My Volkswagen”
The ability to use Siri – the ubiquitous artificial intelligence associated with Apple devices – to unlock and lock your vehicle isn’t…
Read more...Marketing End-of-the-Year Dealership Promotions to Holiday Buyers
It’s that time of year again, when television commercials portray that holiday trope of people buying new cars for one another and…
Read more...White House Reportedly Delaying Vehicle Tariff Report
When the Trump Administration announced tariffs of 25 percent on foreign made vehicles and auto parts earlier this year, it did so…
Read more...California Dealership Near Wildfire Blasted for “Hot Deals” Marketing Message
Here’s a lesson that a California car dealership is learning the hard way this week: when rescuers are still finding bodies from…
Read more...Costs and Loan Terms for Used Vehicles Reach Record Highs
With rising interest rates and the shadow of tariffs across their wallets, more Americans are opting for used vehicles. This, in turn,…
Read more...Car Subscriptions at the Auto Dealership: Worth a Try?
Consumers won’t stop buying and leasing cars anytime soon. But could auto dealers find a revenue opportunity in new mobility models, such…
Read more...EV Fortunes Staked on Cobalt from Troubled Democratic Republic of Congo
Finally, the electric vehicle seems to be attracting the attention of the mass market. Sales have been brisk lately for many EV…
Read more...Flexible Factories Give Japanese Automakers an Edge
It’s a trend that shows up in the monthly sales figures: Americans have a taste for trucks, SUVs and crossovers, and they’ve…
Read more...A New Solution to Lessen F&I Process Pain
The finance and insurance (F&I) process seems to become more complex every year. Once done through a (seemingly endless) series of phone…
Read more...A Perfect Storm of Economic Factors Raises the Appeal of Vehicle Leasing
Car buyers are nervous for a variety of reasons. Rising interest rates, stagnant inflation-adjusted wages despite low levels of unemployment, and rising…
Read more...Has Driverless Car Hype Reached Its Pinnacle?
In the media coverage of every new technology, there comes a moment that could be called “peak absurdity.” It’s the moment when…
Read more...October Vehicle Sales Numbers Bring Mixed News
Once again, sales news is somewhat mixed for the month, depending on vehicle category. October vehicle sales numbers in the U.S. came…
Read more...The Great Recession Blamed for Scarcity of “Mid-Life” Used Cars
Used-vehicle sales are becoming a larger part of dealers’ portfolios today. For starters, profit margins are higher on used vehicles. Secondly, growth…
Read more...Automakers Testing Vehicles That “Talk” to Traffic Lights; Other Vehicles
Ever have one of those days when it seems like every traffic light is against you? That you have a face that…
Read more...Auto Dealers See Challenges; Opportunities in Mobility
Most auto dealers realize there are changes coming in the way people purchase, lease, own and use vehicles, and that the tried-and-true…
Read more...Consumer Auto Loan Defaults Declined in September
Good financial news hasn’t been plentiful lately, but it’s there if you look for it. By at least one measure important to…
Read more...Edmunds Predicting Modest Vehicle Sales Decreases in October
It’s autumn, and the weather is getting cooler. Analysts are predicting that so too will auto sales. While the finalized October numbers…
Read more...Workflow Management Solutions Speed Up Estimates and Repairs
When it comes to vehicle service, what are customers’ biggest complaints? Long repair times, and bills that unexpectedly come in higher than…
Read more...Improving the Quality of the Vehicle Photos on Your Web Site
Running a busy dealership means staying on top of a lot of tasks. One of those tasks is photographing vehicles available for…
Read more...The Biggest Disconnects in Vehicle Buyer and Seller Expectations and Attitudes
When is a car sale most likely to happen? Usually when the wants of the buyers are most closely aligned with those…
Read more...FCC Will Vote to Free Bandwidth for Some Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communications
For years, auto makers have been investing in, partnering with and working on vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure, and dedicated short-range communication (DSRC) technology,…
Read more...J.P. Morgan Predicts Strong Global Growth of EVs and HEVs Through 2025
The J.P. Morgan Research team has released a study that explores the rise of the electric vehicle (EV) and what the industry…
Read more...Cow Enters Car Dealership; Causes $2,000 in Damage
Car dealers are used to all sorts entering the showroom to have a look around, but a Mazda car dealership in Scotland…
Read more...Congress Can’t Decide What to Do With the EV Tax Credit
What’s the future of the electric/hybrid vehicle tax credit? Should we keep it and continue it? Implement a new one? Or do…
Read more...Vehicle Shoppers Overwhelmed by Trim and Option Packages
If there’s one thing car shoppers dread about the buying experience today (beyond the rising interest rates on loans), it’s navigating the…
Read more...New Jersey Bill That Limits Damages Against Car Dealers Comes Under Scrutiny
A bill that passed the New Jersey Senate in July with little fanfare is coming under scrutiny for being unfair to consumers,…
Read more...Finally, an AI-Driven App for Dealer Appraisal
When customers enter a dealership with a trade-in, their primary goal is to get the best possible deal. There are a variety…
Read more...Ford Plans Reorganization and Layoffs, Cites Trade Tariffs for Troubles
While it’s been a brutal week for markets in general, Ford has suffered a particular hit. The number two automaker’s shares dropped…
Read more...AutoGravity Believes Car Shoppers Should Control the Buying Process
When we shop on Amazon, we’re used to clicking a few buttons on our search window before we even see any results:…
Read more...New North American Trade Agreement Will Affect Some Auto Makers More Others
The new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the replacement treaty for NAFTA, won’t fully go into effect until 2023, but North American companies are still…
Read more...Carvana Expands to Queens, New York
New Yorkers, who are used to odd sights, saw a new arrival recently in the form of cars wrapped in take-out containers….
Read more...Returning Calls and Emails: The Art of Communicating
At some point, most people have set out to make improvements on their homes. It might be for a new roof, or…
Read more...FCA Outsells Ford in September for the First Time in 11 Years
While it may still be the nation’s number three auto maker, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) outsold Ford Motor Company in September for…
Read more...Shift Technologies’ Online Car Buying and Selling Portal to Expand Out of California
Shift Technologies, Inc. is a California-based company that enables vehicle buying and selling through its online portal. Shoppers can view quotes on…
Read more...The Symbiotic Relationship between Dealership Marketing and BDC
It won’t be news to anyone who runs an auto dealership business that sometimes, interdepartmental relationships can be tricky and competitive. (You…
Read more...Anemic August Automotive Sales May Be the Beginning of a Slump
While automotive sales for the month of August in the U.S. don’t look bad on paper – they’re up 2.4 percent overall…
Read more...Do You Have a Succession Plan in Place for Your Dealership?
By Dave Cantin, CEO and Founder, The Dave Cantin Group Unless you’re a poet or a heavy metal musician, chances are good…
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