NADA plans to try to keep the FTC's CARS Rule regulations from taking effect July 30. Blocking the rule rests with Congress or the court system.
Saturday, December 30, 2023
Leo Michael cartoon: New Year's regulations
Tuesday, December 26, 2023
Guest commentary: Unlocking the next wave of EV buyers
Improving EV customer affordability and value proposition can reaccelerate sales.
Sunday, December 24, 2023
Column: Looking back at 2023, someone should write a book
For the auto industry broadly, 2023 was the year when the UAW struck the Detroit 3 all at once, the microchip crisis ended and inventory returned.
Friday, December 22, 2023
Parts and service and body shop revenue leaders
A look at the top 50 dealership groups based in the U.S., ranked on 2022 parts and service and body shop revenue.
Thursday, December 21, 2023
Employment commission sues Texas Nissan store over sexual harassment claims
The lawsuit cites three former female employees who say they were harassed by three different managers at the store.
Vehicle shipments to rise 3.3% in 2024, trade group predicts
Exports will remain the main driver of growth next year, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers predicts.
Wednesday, December 20, 2023
Texas highway crash involving dealership employee leads to lawsuit
A July 2022 rear-end collision on an interstate highway has triggered a personal injury lawsuit against a Texas dealership group and its employee.
Tuesday, December 19, 2023
Fla. dealership sued for retaliatory discharge, sexual harassment by fired finance manager
A former finance manager at a Tallahassee dealership has filed a retaliatory discharge suit, alleging sexual harassment by the store's general manager.
Canada ZEV sales mandate, including incentives to build infrastructure, released
The targets begin for the 2026 model year, with a requirement that at least 20 percent of new light-duty vehicles offered for sale in that year be ZEVs. They tick upward from there, culminating with 100 percent of sales being of the zero-emissions variety by 2035.
Kia allegedly withholding Canadian deliveries after 2023 sales target was met, CBC reports
Kia Canada is deliberately delaying delivery of vehicles to customers in a bid to distort sales numbers, according to a CBC News report.
Monday, December 18, 2023
Jan. 3: Retail Technology newsletter becomes Retail Roundup
Technology remains part of the weekly roundup but there will also be regular inclusion of stories featuring best practices, online used retailers, auctions and buy-sells.
Sunday, December 17, 2023
Column: Will new FTC CARS Rule benefit consumers or bog down car-buying process?
The FTC's new CARS Rule lays out specific requirements for advertising, record-keeping, customer interactions and lineups of finance-and-insurance products.
Saturday, December 16, 2023
Editorial: No pessimism needed in return to normal market
Sky-high profits for car retailers raised expectations to a level that doesn't seem possible to repeat given current economic and industry conditions.
Friday, December 15, 2023
Number of negative-equity trade-ins decreases, but amount owners are underwater grows, data shows
Fewer new- and used-car transactions at dealerships involve a trade-in that's underwater on existing debt compared with pre-pandemic 2019, but the degree of negative equity in those trades has increased, data from Edmunds indicates.
Ford dealership opens private restaurant with Michelin-starred chef
Sarasota Ford, which also has an 11-seat movie theater and a relaxation room with massaging chairs, brought in an award-winning chef to help build customer loyalty.
Thursday, December 14, 2023
Annual vehicle shipments to hit new high after 27% surge in Nov., trade group says
Annual vehicle shipments industrywide this year are on track to surpass the 28.9 million tallied in 2017, setting a new record, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said after disclosing higher-than expected volume last month.
Used-car market rebounds in Nov.
More than 1.32 million used light vehicles changed hands in China last month, the China Automobile Dealers Association said. Sales rose 2.3 percent from October and jumped 29 percent from the year-earlier month.
Wednesday, December 13, 2023
McLaren pivots to customer order-based allocations for stores
McLaren said that an order-based allocation model creates supply flexibility, drives retailer profitability and rewards good customer experience.
Fed flags end of rate hikes, sees lower borrowing costs in 2024
For the auto industry, interest rates continue to be the top issue mentioned by franchised dealerships during the fourth quarter.
Kan. Kia dealership falsified incomes, inflated jobs and forged signatures of customers, lawyers say
Car shoppers unaware that Lawrence Kia in Kansas had inflated their income on their credit applications were harmed by the scheme, their attorneys said.
Monday, December 11, 2023
EV sales at SAIC-GM spike 160% in Nov.
SAIC-GM, General Motors’ passenger-vehicle joint venture with SAIC Motor Corp., delivered some 15,000 electric vehicles under Buick, Chevrolet and Cadillac brands last month, surging 160 percent from a year earlier.
Friday, December 8, 2023
New York dealerships team with CarEdge for sales event
The one-day event, which promised no hidden fees and that buying a vehicle would take no more than an hour, generated 13 sales for two dealerships on Staten Island.
Cybersecurity threats loom in '24
Stephen Gonzalez of CDK Global said that AI and ransomware will vex dealerships in 2024 as they seek to comply with the FTC Safeguards Rule.
November inventory grows to 2.5 million
Inventory in the U.S. grew to its highest level since early spring 2021.
Thursday, December 7, 2023
Cox: Comedown from favorable market making dealers pessimistic
The return to more normal market conditions has soured auto dealer moods despite what remains a state of heightened profitability, according to the Q4 2023 Cox Automotive Dealer Sentiment Index survey.
BYD’s Nov. deliveries rally 31%
Sales at BYD Co., China’s largest electrified-vehicle maker, kept forging ahead last month, surging 31 percent year on year to 301,903.
Geely poised to beat annual sales target
Sales at Geely Automobile Holdings Limited are on track to exceed its annual target of 1.65 million. In November, its deliveries rose 38 percent year on year to 200,079.
New-car market rebounds 25% in Nov.
Retail sales of new sedans, crossovers, SUVs and multi-purpose vehicles industrywide jumped 25 percent year on year to 2.06 million in November, the China Automobile Dealers Car Association said Thursday, drawing on its preliminary tally. The sales surge came mainly as a result of favorable comparison to the same month last year.
Friday, December 1, 2023
Making space in F&I
Discrimination, doubt, distrust and sexual harassment all stand in the way of the expansion of women into F&I, women finance managers say.