Offerings include reviews of car seats and other products and services, videos on proper car seat use, a car seat quiz, and lab-test ratings. Pexels/Muhammad Taha Ibrahim A new partnership is aimed at giving parents guidance on choosing car seats based on safety reviews and other considerations.Consumer Reports is teaming with multiplatform pregnancy and parenting brand…

In a positive turn of events, average repair cycle times have fallen by one day year-over-year to 22 days. Pexels/Mikhail Nilov Auto repair costs claims through insurance have spiked in the past two years, sparking a jump in premiums. J.D. Power research found that the average repair cost is up 26% and the resulting insurance…

The forecast puts retailer profit per unit at $2,245 this month, down 27% year-over-year. Pexels/Shane West A U.S. new-vehicle sales forecast for October brings good business news despite a small bump in monthly consumer payments affecting affordability. The J.D. Power analysis predicts a 6% year-over-year retail sales increase when adjusted for two additional selling days,…

The San Leandro, Calif., dealership opened in December 2020. Harvey Auto will now focus on its remaining six stores. Harvey Auto Group One of the biggest U.S. auto groups picked up its first Mazda store to grow an already-large California presence. In a sale between two family-owned auto retail companies, Victory Automotive Group bought San…

A strategy centered on vehicle service contracts allows dealerships to generate revenue in both the service and sales departments.  Pexels/Nataliya Vaitkevich For decades, dealerships have faced the ongoing challenge of deciphering the effectiveness of their marketing strategies. Monthly meetings with ad agencies often revolve around discussions about what tactics to try next and how successful…

Black Book said in its weekly wholesale market report that it’s making efforts to parse wholesale supply in light of vehicles with potential hurricane damage. It also noted a deeper than normal seasonal market decline. Get all the details in its report.

The supplier of the fuel pumps in question improved their production process in August, and the new pumps were put into vehicle production in September. Honda recalled more than 720,000 vehicles due to risk of fuel leakage that could lead to fire. The recall affects the 2023 and 2024 Accord and Accord Hybrid, 2023 to…

The NADA Foundation’s Emergency Relief Fund is supported by dealers, NADA and industry partners to financially help dealer employees impacted by natural disasters. Pexels/Peter Holmboe The National Automobile Dealers Association is urging the automotive community to help dealership employees affected by the recent hurricanes. Chairman Gary Gilchrist posted a letter to his fellow franchised auto…

The credit-application process, in particular, can be a problem area dealers should audit regularly. Pexels/Mikhail Nilov All business organizations need constant surveillance. Car dealerships are certainly no exception. With some dealership owners being absent from day-to-day operations, how is this surveillance being discharged? General managers and controllers should be trustworthy, but to quote a Russian…

To maintain profitability and compliance, dealers should review their product prices and profit points annually. Pexels/Tima Miroshnichenko F&I departments across the country are some of the most profitable divisions in dealership operations. However, with increasing scrutiny from the federal government, particularly the Federal Trade Commission, the question arises: When does profitability cross the line into…