Traditionally registration and titling have been complex parts of the vehicle purchase process. This complexity has been amplified with the COVID-19 pandemic in which dealerships have had to rethink how they sell cars while adhering to social distancing and more than 40 states have ordered significant changes to department of motor vehicles (DMV) standard operating … Continued

Welcome to Dealer Forward: Reimagining Automotive Retail, a weekly panel discussion that focuses on building resilience in three key auto retail areas – marketing, dealership performance and fixed operations. The latest panel discussion Re-engaging the Workforce focuses on tactics for re-engaging your workforce and continuing to drive business forward in the new normal. This week’s episode … Continued

Any hope for a sales rebound for traditional cars was dashed as shopping consideration for SUVs and pickups climbed to new highs, according to the Kelley Blue Book Brand Watch Report for Q1 2020. The Brand Watch Report is a consumer perception survey that also weaves in consumer shopping behavior to determine how a brand … Continued

Wholesale used vehicle prices (on a mix-, mileage-, and seasonally adjusted basis) decreased 11.41% month over month in April. This brought the Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index (MUVVI) to 125.8, a 9.2% decrease from a year ago, and the lowest level in three years. Access the full report. For 25 years, the MUVVI has been the … Continued

UPDATED, May 4, 2020 – The sales numbers are in, and April’s results were bad but not as bad as expected. On a seasonally adjusted basis, April’s rate of 8.6 million was the worst back to January 1976.  However, based on pure volume, April 2020 still did about 50,000 better than the worst volume month which was … Continued

There’s an interesting game of roulette being played in the new-car business right now, with about half of the dealers betting on red and the other half betting on black. The wagered bet is how dealers should be handling new-vehicle inventory. Earlier this month, many dealers became understandably unnerved by this pandemic and placed themselves … Continued

Welcome to the second episode of Dealer Forward: Reimagining Automotive Retail, a weekly panel discussion that focuses on building resilience in three key auto retail areas – marketing, dealership performance and fixed operations. The latest panel discussion The Sales Experience and Social Distancing explores specific tactics dealers are employing to continue the sales experience during … Continued