August 3, 2015 — HGGC, co-founded by former San Francisco 49ers and NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young, has a portfolio of 19 investments, including two in the automotive retail space. Following up on its investment in Auto Alert in April 2014, HGGC announced its second play with an automotive retail vendor last week… Continue Reading
August 2, 2015 — Looking for the next big idea in automotive retail? Or do you want to get your idea in front of potential investors? AutoVentures, a new and unique conference launching in October, seeks to bring entrepreneurs, investors and dealers together for an automotive “Shark Tank” experience. It’s a concept that’s a first… Continue Reading
July 31, 2015 — The first six months of 2015 have not been kind to TrueCar. The stock price, which was just under $23 on December 31, is now trading below $7. The question is, can the company rebound? The challenges seem to be piling up — multiple lawsuits; a significant second quarter earnings miss;…
July 29, 2015 — One lawsuit down, several more to go. In what is some much needed good news for online car buying platform TrueCar, it announces it has reached a settlement with Sonic Automotive in a trademark dispute dating back to August 2013. The Banks Report first reported the dispute in September 2013 (TrueCar… Continue Reading
The news last week that two researchers were able to remotely hack into a Jeep from several miles away and shut off its engine has significant implications for the automotive retail space. Make no mistake, we are now in the hackable vehicle era. As Charlie Vogelheim, an automotive consultant and host of MotorTrend’s Audio Podcast… Continue Reading
July 13, 2015 — The Holman Automotive Group acquired Princeton BMW MINI in New Jersey today from the Asbury Automotive Group. It is Holman’s second acquisition in the last several weeks as it acquired Audi of Willow Grove outside of Philadelphia in June. Holman operates approximately 22 franchises located in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Florida. The… Continue Reading
July 11, 2015 — Headlines in the trade press in January hyped the increasing involvement private equity would play in automotive retail — specifically in the acquisition of dealerships. On the heels of Warren Buffett’s announcement of that Berkshire Hathaway was buying the 81-store Van Tuyl automotive group (a deal that ended up being for… Continue Reading
July 5, 2015 — Through June, dealership buy-sells continues to be vibrant and is on a record pace fueled by a strong May and June coupled with Berkshire Hathaway’s purchase of the Van Tuyl Group in March. Meanwhile, automakers continue to leverage the Right of First Refusal to scuttle deals. The industry hit the mid-point…
July 2, 2015 — In this report The Banks Report analyzes the financials of Cox’s pending acquisition of Dealertrack; why the deal makes sense; and its effect on the industry and other companies. Background Cox Automotive’s pending acquisition of Dealertrack is big on several levels. Not only is the $4 billion deal the biggest acquisition financially… Continue Reading
July 2, 2015 — Its stock price has more than doubled since October, yet CDK is transforming its company. Executives recently announced a series of moves that will have a long term effect on the company’s future. The moves include an ambitious financial plan to return value to shareholders; a new board member who could end… Continue Reading