January 13, 2019 — Two somewhat obscure press releases last week hint at what may be the next “disruption” in the auto retail industry. Disruption is an easy term to throw around, but in automotive retail, three areas are ripe for significant innovation — CRM, service, and dealer management systems. The Banks Report isn’t in… Continue Reading
January 13, 2019 — As part of its transformation into becoming a leading player in automotive mobility, Cox Automotive’s Mobility Group launched its new Pivet brand Sunday at a media event in Detroit prior to today’s opening of the North American International Auto Show. Pivet aims to build a network of service and maintenance hubs…
December 20, 2018 — Fueled by a $385 million Series B investment led by SoftBank, vehicle subscription platform Fair is going global. After officially launching in August 2017, Fair is now in 26 U.S. markets with nearly 52,000 vehicles from 3,200 dealerships available on its mobile app. More than 20,000 consumers have used the platform… Continue Reading
November 13, 2018 — A flurry of 26 deals since the beginning of September has pushed the year’s total to 64, a record for investments and acquisitions in the automotive retail vendor space. The blistering pace continued into the first week of November with data analytics firm Marchex’s purchase of Telmetrics and Infomedia’s acquisition of…
November 7, 2018 — CDK Global announced this morning it has named Brian Krzanich as president and chief executive officer, replacing Brian MacDonald. Krzanich, 58, spent 36 years at Intel, including serving as its CEO from May 2013 to June 2018. He also was named to CDK’s board of directors. Krzanich generally received high marks… Continue Reading
October 2, 2018 — The Reynolds and Reynolds Company and several dealers part of a class action lawsuit filed against the technology vendor agreed in principle last week to settle, according to a court document filed late Friday. There is no word on what the terms of the pending settlement are. A similar agreement with…
September 20, 2018 — Two years ago, Amazon launched its Amazon Vehicles page setting off a flurry of industry predictions the tech giant was preparing to upend and take over the automotive retail space. Not so fast. Amazon is preparing a huge push into automotive, but it’s not going to be in the sales and…
September 19, 2018 — After nearly 20 years at the helm of the nation’s largest dealer group, the AutoNation Mike Jackson joined in October 1999 strategically is not much different than the one he will step away from in the next few months. Jackson, 69 years old, announced earlier this morning he will step aside… Continue Reading
August 13, 2018 — Cox Automotive is announcing early Monday morning it has acquired vehicle subscription startup Clutch Technologies as part of the creation of its new Mobility Solutions Division. The moves are part of a restructuring that includes an ongoing intensive review of where its 34 brands and investments fit in its overall strategy…
August 12, 2018 — Sources have confirmed CDK Global will announce Monday morning it is partnering with ride hailing company Lyft to provide a transportation solution for dealership service departments to integrate into their loaner fleet programs. Lyft Business’ Concierge dispatch solution — already being used by approximately 300 dealerships — will be integrated into… Continue Reading