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When Shawn Vaughan looks at what’s ahead for the automotive market in 2024, he sees much uncertainty — about the economy, interest rates, politics. But there’s one thing he’s sure of. “Retail is back,” said Vaughan, president and CEO of Vaughan Automotive, which operates two Toyota dealerships in Houston and Boerne, Texas that retail some 1,500 units with annual sales of about $500 million. As the auto industry continues to evolve in the post-COVID era, many dealerships are having to ... [Read More]

Customers now have the option to lease certified pre-owned Honda and Acura vehicles, American Honda Motor Co. announced Thursday. The leasing option is the latest addition to the automaker’s CPO program, which recently expanded to allow vehicles from ages 6 to 10 through the respective HondaTrue Used and Acura Precision Used Programs. Eligible models include ... [Read More]

As CEO Peter Kelly reminded listeners on an investors call Monday, there is a “high hurdle” OPENLANE must clear when making decisions regarding mergers and acquisitions. “I believe that this transaction clears that high hurdle by offering a compelling financial return, but also significantly advancing our digital strategy in one of our core markets,” Kelly said. The transaction to which Kelly refers is OPENLANE’s deal, announced late Monday afternoon, to buy Manheim Canada for $130 million (CAD), which is $95 million (USD). The deal, once it closes, includes ... [Read More]

“Intentionally, these doors are closed because what you're going to see when you go beyond these doors is a completely new way to support the automotive supply chain,” a.i.m. CEO Tim Frank tells a crowd of auto industry professionals in mid-November. They’re gathered here for the grand opening of a.i.m’s first-ever vehicle reconditioning facility, located in Oxford, N.C., some 30 miles northeast of Durham. The building is a former tobacco production facility, a common sight in a state whose economy has shifted further towards tech-related fields, especially in the nearby Research Triangle region. That's not unlike the wholesale auto industry, where ... [Read More]

China’s leading used-car online marketplace was in Scottsdale, Ariz., this year with a booth at Used Car Week, held in mid-November. TaoCheChe’s reason for being there was two-fold. “Our main purpose in coming to UCW is to learn from our industry partners,” TaoCheChe CEO Jiang Dong told Auto Remarketing at its booth. “But another purpose is to tell the American used-car industry to look at China’s used-car market. It is a gold mine.” China’s used-car market is the world’s fastest growing, with a compounded annual growth rate of ... [Read More]

Much of ACV Auctions’ third quarter 2023 earnings call on Nov. 6 focused on supply of new and used inventory in the market, with CEO George Chamoun saying, “we have in our planning that the market returns by 2026.” “Normal” and “normalize” were frequently used words during the earnings call, and Chamoun made that 2026 market return comment during the Q&A portion of the earnings call in response to a question on when ACV believes the industry will “normalize.” Chamoun answered with ... [Read More]

Note: After a tumultuous two years, the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association has emerged in 2023 with new leadership and a new outlook. In this three-part series, Auto Remarketing examines the state of NIADA now, the events that led to the transition and what’s ahead in the future. The question was an obvious one. In the Expo Hall of the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association Convention in June, just two days after he had begun his term, Gordon Tormohlen was asked about his first priority as NIADA’s 74th president. “There’s a plan in place,” he replied, “and the first thing is to ... [Read More]

Canadian Black Book is seeing a pretty poor level of sales rate in the auctions right now, and they are monitoring this data daily and adjusting values on a weekly basis. “But if nothing's converting to an actual transaction, nothing's moving out there, and that's causing the sellers to hopefully bring down their prices. But they're kind of fixated on not doing that,” said Daniel Ross, CBB's senior manager of industry insights and residual value, in an interview with Auto Remarketing Canada. Instead, dealers are trying to ... [Read More]

The key to a good customer experience is customization, said panelists at the “Top CX strategies to set dealers up for success in 2024” panel during Used Car Week, which was held earlier this month in Scottsdale, Ariz. Creating a good customer experience starts with your choice of digital marketing vendors, said panelist Samantha Splane, marketing and customer experience director at Sterling Auto Group. Sterling Auto Group in Louisiana has 15 locations including seven used-only stores. In a vendor, Splane looks for ... [Read More]

Inventory shortages the last few years may have hurt new-car sales, but they were a boon for used-vehicle sales, including those that were certified pre-owned. New inventory may be improving, but consumer interest in CPO models will remain and dealers and manufacturers should take note, said participants on the “Top Used Car Strategies from ‘Best CPO Dealers’” panel during Used Car Week. “We saw a huge value in ... [Read More]