Dealer Groups and Dealerships

Family feud disrupts DARCARS

12:01 am U.S. ET | Jan. 26, 2015
Tamara Darvish, a well-known face of the DARCARS dealership group, filed a lawsuit against her father, John Darvish Sr., and the company he founded. The suit will have a ripple effect on the chain’s 22 dealerships, experts say. Such conflicts usually worry manufacturers, too.... Read More »

 

As the new year begins, Sonic goes shopping

12:01 am U.S. ET | Jan. 26, 2015
Sonic Automotive Inc. plans to buy more dealerships in 2015 than the four it bought last year.... Read More »

 

Used-vehicle prices finish 2014 strong

12:01 am U.S. ET | Jan. 26, 2015
Greater volumes of off-lease, retired rental and other used vehicles returned to the market last year, but overall values of used vehicles closed 2014 with prices in December registering year-over-year increases.... Read More »

 

TrueCar: App can 'hypertarget' consumers

12:01 am U.S. ET | Jan. 26, 2015
Online car-buying service TrueCar Inc. said the mobile app it will release this year will enable dealers and automakers to collect an unprecedented amount of information on customers.... Read More »

 

Certified used sales poised for another record

12:01 am U.S. ET | Jan. 26, 2015
Buoyed by an uptick in off-lease vehicles flowing back into the market, the industry will sell at least 2.5 million certified used vehicles this year, breaking last year's record, some analysts predict.... Read More »

 

DAVE GUILFORD

Money's cheap, so here come the store upgrades

9:30 am U.S. ET | Jan. 24, 2015
One of the better indicators of the health of a business is its willingness -- and ability -- to make capital expenditures. By that measure, auto retailers are doing well.... Read More »

 

George Soros' Wall Street fund shops for dealership groups

10:30 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 24, 2015
Wall Street fund Soros Fund Management wants to partner in, invest in or outright buy a large auto dealership group, according to four sources familiar with the situation. Two representatives of Soros Fund Management are at the NADA convention in San Francisco this weekend to research the industry and explore opportunities, sources say.... Read More »

 

Michelle Primm of Cascade Auto Group named Woman of the Year

5:52 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 24, 2015
Michelle Primm, managing partner of Cascade Auto Group in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, received the Barbara Cox Anthony Automotive Woman of the Year award from Cox Automotive on Saturday.... Read More »

 

Q&A WITH DAN FIELDS | PRESIDENT, FIELDS AUTO GROUP

Dealership group invests for 'nice, exciting, fun' stores

2:00 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 24, 2015
Merit Earl Fields was sales manager at Cadillac before becoming a Cadillac dealer on Chicago's North Shore in 1971. After his son, John Fields, quit a career as a contract-law attorney to join the car business, the duo began adding franchises: BMW, Saab, American Motors and more.... Read More »

 

SERVICE MASTERS

Dealerships boost fixed-ops spending to fend off rivals, retain customers

2:00 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 24, 2015
Many dealerships are investing heavily in fixed operations. They are adding service bays, longer hours, dedicated express lanes and technology to boost efficiency. Dealers say the investments are justified by strong profits, a big pool of potential customers who defected to independent shops and national service chains, and opportunities to boost customer satisfaction.... Read More »

 

At Miami store, no more 'beat up' customers

2:00 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 24, 2015
F&I managers at Dadeland Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep in Miami are responsible for the gross profits from both vehicle sales and F&I and handle vehicle purchase negotiations with customers as well as financing. They also get a cut of both to motivate them.... Read More »

 

BEST PRACTICES

Second-chance store lets staff shine

2:00 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 24, 2015
At AutoNation's Houston Mitsubishi store, General Manager Irfan Siddiqui has found top performers by hiring people who have struggled in their roles at other nearby AutoNation dealerships.... Read More »

 

AutoNation aims to beef up service

2:00 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 24, 2015
AutoNation Inc., the nation's largest dealership group, plans to expand its service business by year end, adding 400 technicians and increasing its express service operations to 180 stores from 80 now.... Read More »

 

Q&A WITH GREG MILLER | CEO, LARRY H. MILLER GROUP OF COS.

Miller learned from his dad and learned how to delegate

2:00 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 24, 2015
Greg Miller, 48, learned a lot about the car business from his father, Larry H. Miller. But he is a very different leader from his dad.... Read More »

 

Cooperative spirit

6:07 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 23, 2015
Rivals CDK Global and Reynolds and Reynolds have two of the largest stands at the NADA Expo -- and well apart from each other. But the companies also have two joint ventures.... Read More »

 

Mazda targets 11% U.S. sales bump in 2015

5:15 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 23, 2015
Mazda expects an 11 percent jump in U.S. sales this year, aided by the launch of the new CX-3 small crossover and redesigned MX-5 Miata roadster, Mazda executives told dealers Friday at the 2015 NADA convention.... Read More »

 

NICK BUNKLEY

NADA, Tesla, pitchforks and torches -- a missed opportunity

1:00 am U.S. ET | Jan. 23, 2015
If there's one thing many car dealers can't stand right now, it's Tesla. Yet here they are, thousands of them, spending a few days right in Elon Musk's backyard.... Read More »

 

DAVE GUILFORD

Navigating the great digital divide

3:30 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 23, 2015
Among the devotion to all things digital and data-driven in San Francisco, there are still some qualms over how today's shoppers want to kick the tires and take delivery of new wheels.... Read More »

 

2014 rental fleet purchases are most since '07

2:36 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 23, 2015
Rental car companies bought 1.63 million new vehicles in 2014, almost 4 percent more than they purchased the year before. It was the highest purchase volume since 2007, but well below the 2.1 million new vehicles that were sold into rental fleets in 2005 and 2006, according to Manheim's annual Used Car Market Report.... Read More »

 

AutoNation wants more service lane hospitality

2:00 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 23, 2015
AutoNation Inc., the country's biggest dealership group, is recruiting service advisers among restaurant waiters and other service-industry workers, part of a new plan to reduce turnover in a key position.... Read More »

 

BODY SHOP COMEBACK?

Trade group chief sees growth in dealer-owned operations

2:00 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 23, 2015
The share of dealerships operating expensive body shops has shrunk since 2006. But that hasn't stopped some dealers, such as Otto Belovich, who want to be one-stop sources for all their customers' automotive needs.... Read More »

 

BEST PRACTICES

Dealership adjusts as traffic changes course

2:00 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 23, 2015
It used to be that whenever a customer called AutoNation Honda Roseville, the call reverberated around the dealership for anyone to answer, regardless of their specialty.... Read More »

 

BILL COLE, DEALER, COLE AUTOMOTIVE GROUP

A voice for dealers, business in West Virginia Senate

2:00 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 23, 2015
Dealer Bill Cole, 58, is poised to become president of the West Virginia Senate next year, and the state's lieutenant governor.... Read More »

 

JOHN DARVISH, CEO, DARCARS AUTOMOTIVE GROUP

DARCARS' new leadership regroups to grow in U.S., beyond

2:00 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 23, 2015
DARCARS has bought limited rooftops over the past 10 years, but Darvish intends to double the company's size -- whether through acquisitions or revenue or both -- in the next five years.... Read More »

 

Mobile is king, but third-party sites chart unique paths to connect dealers, buyers

10:00 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 22, 2015
Mobile is king when it comes to car shopping, representatives of third-party shopping sites say. But the sites will take different approaches to help automakers and dealers connect with potential customers as they compete for users and the industry's good will.... Read More »

 
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