Dealer Groups and Dealerships

DAVID BARKHOLZ

Why ADP Digital Marketing became GM's neighbor in Detroit

2:32 pm U.S. ET | April 25, 2013
ADP Dealer Services is looking for goodwill and good designers (not necessarily in that order) in deciding to open a digital marketing innovation office in downtown Detroit. The company is the largest provider of dealer management systems in the country.... Read More »

 

Carfax hit with $50 million antitrust lawsuit by 120 dealerships

4:25 pm U.S. ET | April 24, 2013
The owners of 120 auto dealerships have filed a federal lawsuit against Carfax, alleging that the vehicle history reporting company engages in anti-competitive practices and violates antitrust laws.... Read More »

 

Sonic gets over Feb. hiccups to see Q1 profit gains

10:53 am U.S. ET | April 23, 2013
Pricing challenges and a slowdown in California in February put pressure on Sonic Automotive's profit margins during the first quarter. But the nation's third-largest dealership group bounced back to post a 4 percent increase in net income for the first quarter of 2013.... Read More »

 

Dealership groups expected to post first-quarter gains

4:29 pm U.S. ET | April 22, 2013
Dealership groups that announce their first-quarter earnings over the next two weeks should see continued growth as new- and used-car sales outperform 2012 levels, analysts say. Asbury Automotive Group, Sonic Automotive and Lithia Motors release their quarterly reports this week. Penske Automotive Group and Group 1 Automotive report next week.... Read More »

 

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Car customers value efficiency

12:01 am U.S. ET | April 22, 2013
Automakers undergo intense manufacturing cost scrutiny to produce their products more efficiently. Why, then, do those same automakers impose unnecessarily expensive dealer facility requirements, which counteract their production savings?... Read More »

 

AutoNation gobbles stores

12:01 am U.S. ET | April 22, 2013
AutoNation Inc. is on its biggest buying binge since its initial rollup in the late 1990s, and executives say they're not done yet.... Read More »

 

REMARKETING

Retailer CarMax targets smaller markets

12:01 am U.S. ET | April 22, 2013
CarMax Inc., the nation's largest used-car retailer, opened its first small-format store in Virginia last month and plans to open a second such store this fall in Tennessee. Those two stores could be the first of as many as 100 stores.... Read More »

 

AutoNation Q1 earnings soar; acquisitions continue

6:30 am U.S. ET | April 18, 2013
AutoNation said first-quarter net income rose 14 percent to $83 million, up from $73 million a year ago. With profits up in all categories of its business during the first quarter, particularly finance and insurance and parts and service, AutoNation is snapping up more dealerships.... Read More »

 

JAMIE LaREAU

Good news for sellers: Blue sky values appear strong

1:05 pm U.S. ET | April 16, 2013
It appears blue sky values are back, even at dealerships in distress. Take two recent examples out of California.... Read More »

 

Poll: Deal trumps tech for shopper

12:01 am U.S. ET | April 15, 2013
For all the effort automakers lavish on new sheet metal and technology, 79 percent of U.S. car shoppers would rather get a good deal on an older model than wait a few months for a redesign, according to a new survey.... Read More »

 

Much of tax refunds will go for auto-related spending

10:00 am U.S. ET | April 11, 2013
A third of the consumers who received or are expecting tax refunds this year plan to sink some of that cash into vehicle-related purchases such as a new- or used-vehicle or repairs, an eBay study found.... Read More »

 

CarMax quarterly profit rises, but used-car sales momentum drops

9:55 am U.S. ET | April 10, 2013
CarMax, the largest retailer of used cars in the United States, reported a 13 percent gain in fourth-quarter profit, but comparable used-car sales grew at a slower pace than the previous quarter.... Read More »

 

Musk says Texas dealers 'unjust' in preventing Tesla stores

3:04 pm U.S. ET | April 10, 2013
Texas dealers are unjustly trying to prevent Tesla Motors from competing in their state, company founder and CEO Elon Musk told state lawmakers late Tuesday. Musk testified in a Texas House committee hearing on behalf of Tesla-backed legislation that would allow the electric vehicle maker to operate company-owned dealerships in the state.... Read More »

 

Miller deal shows domestics' stores are hot

12:01 am U.S. ET | April 8, 2013
Larry H. Miller Group Dealerships' purchase of seven stores in Arizona, mostly selling Chrysler Group brands, signals two major developments in the increasingly active market for dealership acquisitions.... Read More »

 

Mazda revising store plan; goal is upscale look

12:01 am U.S. ET | April 8, 2013
Mazda is developing new designs for its U.S. dealerships even as dealers continue to adopt the brand's 10-year-old Retail Revolution facility program.... Read More »

 

FINANCE & INSURANCE

Service lane focus lifts Lithia's F&I sales

12:01 am U.S. ET | April 8, 2013
New software and a boost in spiffs have made it easy -- and lucrative -- for Lithia Motors Inc.'s service advisers to sell extended service contracts and lifetime oil change plans.... Read More »

 

AutoNation's March sales rise 7 percent as economy grows

12:08 pm U.S. ET | April 3, 2013
Driven by a strong recovery in the housing market and big gains in pickups, AutoNation, the country's largest dealership group, reported a 7 percent gain in new-vehicle sales in March.... Read More »

 

Larry H. Miller Group adds seven dealerships in Ariz.

2:15 am U.S. ET | April 1, 2013
Larry H. Miller Group Dealerships has acquired seven dealerships in Arizona for an undisclosed price. It is the privately held group's largest acquisition to date.... Read More »

 

N.Y. service center opens, and the rest is history

12:01 am U.S. ET | April 1, 2013
Gary Flom, owner of Bay Ridge Ford, did the near-impossible in New York City. He found an 88,000-square-foot parcel with a 33,000-square-foot building. "That might not sound like a lot to a dealer in Texas but for New York, that's a giant piece of land," he says.... Read More »

 

AutoTrader CEO Perry to resign

12:01 am U.S. ET | April 1, 2013
Chip Perry, AutoTrader.com's only CEO since the company began operating in 1997, will resign effective May 1.... Read More »

 

FIXED OPERATIONS

Lithia tests 2 service dept. apps

12:01 am U.S. ET | April 1, 2013
Lithia Motors Inc. is testing two apps for the service department: one that shows customers if their vehicle needs service and another aimed at streamlining communication with customers.... Read More »

 

EURO ZONE CRISIS

Chill in car sales spreads to northern Europe

March 27, 2013 11:15 CET
Dealers in northern Europe are feeling the chill after a slump in new-car sales spread to countries such as Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden. The outlook is grim for some markets that had until now escaped the worst of the euro zone debt crisis.... Read More »

 

AutoNation boosts pay for Jackson, Maroone

2:41 pm U.S. ET | March 26, 2013
AutoNation, the largest U.S. dealership group, slightly increased pay packages for its top two executives in 2012. CEO Mike Jackson received total pay and compensation of $6.6 million, up from $6.4 million in 2011. Jackson's salary of $1.2 million was unchanged. His bonus was $2.1 million, up from $1.5 million the prior year.... Read More »

 

BEST PRACTICES

Young, inexperienced and very successful

12:01 am U.S. ET | March 25, 2013
Rick Case Fiat's top salesman is a 19-year-old from Jamaica. The finance and insurance manager is a 24-year-old former cashier with no previous dealership experience. But the dealership last year was the top-selling Fiat store in its region and No. 4 in the nation, Chrysler Group says.... Read More »

 

AutoTrader CEO Perry to resign May 1

11:41 am U.S. ET | March 25, 2013
Chip Perry, AutoTrader.com's only CEO since the company began operating in 1997, will resign effective May 1. His duties will be handled by Sandy Schwartz, who will become president of AutoTrader Group and will remain president of vehicle auction giant and sister company, Manheim. Perry, 59, was the first employee of AutoTrader.com, the largest third-party Internet vehicle shopping site.... Read More »