When is a car sale most likely to happen? Usually when the wants of the buyers are most closely aligned with those…

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,…

The J.P. Morgan Research team has released a study that explores the rise of the electric vehicle (EV) and what the industry…

Car dealers are used to all sorts entering the showroom to have a look around, but a Mazda car dealership in Scotland…

What’s the future of the electric/hybrid vehicle tax credit? Should we keep it and continue it? Implement a new one? Or do…

If there’s one thing car shoppers dread about the buying experience today (beyond the rising interest rates on loans), it’s navigating the…

A bill that passed the New Jersey Senate in July with little fanfare is coming under scrutiny for being unfair to consumers,…

When customers enter a dealership with a trade-in, their primary goal is to get the best possible deal. There are a variety…

While it’s been a brutal week for markets in general, Ford has suffered a particular hit. The number two automaker’s shares dropped…

When we shop on Amazon, we’re used to clicking a few buttons on our search window before we even see any results:…

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…

New Yorkers, who are used to odd sights, saw a new arrival recently in the form of cars wrapped in take-out containers….

At some point, most people have set out to make improvements on their homes. It might be for a new roof, or…

While it may still be the nation’s number three auto maker, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) outsold Ford Motor Company in September for…

Shift Technologies, Inc. is a California-based company that enables vehicle buying and selling through its online portal. Shoppers can view quotes on…

It won’t be news to anyone who runs an auto dealership business that sometimes, interdepartmental relationships can be tricky and competitive. (You…

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…

By Dave Cantin, CEO and Founder, The Dave Cantin Group Unless you’re a poet or a heavy metal musician, chances are good…

Thanks to worldwide jitters over U.S. trade policies, the growth of new light-vehicle sales is slowing down in global markets for the…

Many auto dealers, faced with younger workforces as well as consumers who are changing they way they shop for cars, are finding…

J.D. Power, an information-services firm known especially for its customer-satisfaction studies of new cars, has relaunched its primary public-facing website, converting the…

It’s no secret that the lack of qualified service technicians has become a serious problem for many auto dealerships. Various solutions have…

Last week, Cantin Automotive Insider detailed how car manufacturers are lining up behind competing connected car platforms, though a few companies have…

Automakers Taking Sides in Competing Vehicle Communications Platforms You may have noticed something last time you went to the doctor: the electronic…

Rising costs of vehicle ownership are moving consumers toward mobility solutions, such as ride-hailing, car-sharing, and subscription services. That’s the conclusion of…

“You can’t find good staff nowadays.” It may be an old joke, but it’s one that many auto dealerships are feeling nowadays….

While interest rates, unemployment rates and other hard economic numbers have a great deal to do with the pace of auto sales,…

At a recent conference in New York City, product development executive Hau Thai-Tang announced that Ford Motor Company will be shrinking its…

In some parts of the country today, the need for qualified vehicle service mechanics is becoming so urgent that car dealers are…

Car Buyers Choose Reviews as Most Important Purchase Factor What’s most important to car shoppers when it comes to choosing a vehicle?…

There are many visions of the future of transportation today. Some believe that it will be autonomous. Others believe that car ownership…

What do you value most about your relationship with lending partners? Is it their finance offerings? Their reputation? Their application processes? If…

To listen to the daily stream of automotive news, you’d imagine that the self-driving car has been perfected and is 99.99 percent…

Class-action lawsuits and auto dealerships have a rather deep history, one that is rather messy, filled with high-stake settlements and negotiations. A…

Does your car dealership business still engage in direct mail? You probably do, though you may also have had people tell you…

Cars.com, which is now the second-largest automotive classified site in the world, recently announced it would be embracing social selling more fully with the…

The Trump Administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Transportation (DOT) issued a proposal this week to unravel Obama-era fuel economy…

Tesla seems to have an issue maintaining sales continuity across all of its stores, at least that is what one survey tells…

The auto retailing industry could see tremendous changes between now and 2030, according to Mark O’Neil, chief operating officer (COO) of automotive…

Marvell Technology announced the grand opening of its automotive electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) lab. The state-of-the-art EMC testing facility is CISPR 25 qualified…

At a July 19, 2018, hearing before the U.S. Department of Commerce, auto industry representatives spoke out in unison against the Federal government’s…

With profit margins still being squeezed, auto dealers are looking for more ways to boost profits. Some are beginning to find it…

Harry’s on the Hill, a family-owned GMC-Buick dealership in Asheville, N.C., recently removed a 23-foot-tall “Muffler Man” statue known as “Chief Pontiac,” which had…

By Al Bredenberg, Senior Writer In recent months, the U.S. auto industry has been sweating it out over a potential trade war…

Back in 2014, CBS News’ “60 Minutes” did a profile on Tesla’s Model S as well as an interview with Tesla and…

As a car dealer, you may find yourself spending a lot of time explaining to would-be customers what you can offer them…

All used car dealers know that the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Used Car Rule requires dealers to display a Buyer’s Guide in…

Many technological advancements come out of California’s Silicon Valley, so it’s no surprise that the latest self-driving vehicle experiment – a partnership…

Now that the millennials are the largest generation in recorded history, every car dealership should be asking the question: how do we…

Used car dealerships doing business in New York City have some new rules to observe thanks to legislation crafted late last year…

With income stagnant and debt on the rise, more customers are finding themselves shut out of traditional loans. This has caused a…

How safe is your vehicle against being hacked? (“Who on earth would want to hack my vehicle?” you may be thinking.) In…

What’s the most valuable thing in your car dealership? While your first instinct – the cars – is correct enough, there’s something…

Listening to or reading dealership ads makes it sound like an easy process. Talk up your dealership, use some sales buzzwords and…

Two suspects have been charged in an identity fraud scheme that has affected six New York dealerships. Jankely Hidalgo and Jonathan Sevilla…

Car loan costs are on the rise, which is news to no one who hasn’t been living in a cave. According to…

As a dealer and service provider, you make and take a lot of phone calls. Whether the tone of the call was…

Oil giant BP has announced that it intends to buy the UK’s biggest electric vehicle charger suppliers Chargemaster. BP predicts there will…

What’s one of the hardest things to accomplish in an auto dealership? Increasingly, it’s finding financing solutions for subprime customers as well…

Most people spend no more than 15 minutes searching online for the right rental car before they feel overwhelmed at the thought…

We buy many things using our smartphones nowadays: music, entertainment, goods from Amazon and groceries. So why not vehicle service? Thanks to…

An automotive salesperson does more than sell cars. He or she is an extension of the brand that’s being sold. They’re the…

So you’re a city dweller and you need a car for a short time, but you don’t have the time or the…

On the road of SUVs, crossovers, and minivans, buyers still want smaller, efficient cars, at least that’s what recent trends are indicating….

Perhaps just in time for tariffs that are expected to cause automakers a host of headaches, Swedish car maker Volvo has opened…

By Ryan J. McDonell, Tax Supervisor, O’Connor & Drew, PC  Many dealerships are still trying to understand how H.R. 1, the Tax Cuts…

What’s a guy to do if he wants to test drive a new car, but doesn’t want to give it back right…

Ford has its sights on helping the ecosystem in a very unusual way. The company announced its global beekeeping program by introducing…

Word of mouth communication is an essential part of selling, as honest reviews about a car or dealership can go farther than…

There’s no doubt that talk of tariffs is making the auto industry – manufacturers and sellers alike – nervous, and for good…

With decades of increasing pressures in the automotive dealership space, the financial and operational challenges of running single stores and small multi-store…

In terms of auto sales, May 2018 offered some unexpected good news, and some expected not-so-good news. The not-so-good but unsurprising news…

In spite of the growth of digital channels, phone-based interaction remains a crucial part of the automobile sales process. But as previously reported…

The car subscription model sounded a bit odd when it was first introduced. Who subscribes to car ownership? In reality, however, customers…

By Ryan J. McDonell, Tax Supervisor, O’Connor & Drew, PC Do you understand the implications of recent tax reforms on your dealership?…

The automotive industry isn’t as black and white as it used to be. In the past, there were two basic types of…

To try and fill the need for qualified technicians, some auto dealerships and even automakers have banded together and created their own…

Automated outbound calls that use a recorded voice (“robocalls”) are part of everyday life today. As we all know, there are “good”…

What happens if Amazon gets involved in selling cars? Should dealerships simply hang up their businesses and hope the real estate is…

Imagine this scenario: it’s been a slow month in the dealership. The sales guys are playing Angry Birds or fiddling with their…

By Kendall Rawls, The Rawls Group To many owners, the idea of succession planning reflects the end since it’s a strategy for…

Email marketing is one of the most effective and inexpensive ways for auto dealerships to stay in touch with their customers and…

You probably spend a lot of time making sure your showroom looks great. The floors are clean and shiny, the cars are…

Automaker General Motors is completing improvements to three key manufacturing plants in New York State and a fourth in Ohio. The improvements…

Class-action lawsuits and auto dealerships have a rather deep history, one that is rather messy, filled with high-stake settlements and negotiations. A…

It’s unlikely to be news to dealership owners, but floorplan expenses – always a significant cost for any dealership – are on…

While a lot of the profit and loss depends on the vehicle itself, Lyft and Uber drivers could see some cost savings…

Uber has thrown in the towel on self-driving vehicle testing in California following a crash involving one of its autonomous test SUVs…

The White House proposed a 25 percent tariff on steel and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum, and in the auto industry,…

The automotive industry is at a crossroads, and what we’re seeing is the industry, as a whole, facing its biggest technological transformation since the Model T made its debut over a century ago.

Successful marketing in the automotive industry can be a complex venture. There are many different avenues dealerships can use to reach their target audience, but it’s no longer about newspaper and magazine advertisements.

One of the most important things I ask dealers is “Can you show me your succession plan?” I can’t stress enough the importance of ensuring all of your hard work and determination is passed on in a manner that leaves you a legacy.