The autonomous and connected vehicle news coming out of the CES show this week in Las Vegas was fast and furious. The show’s automotive exhibit has become perhaps, the most important auto show in the country. In fact, CES’ growing popularity has forced both Los Angeles and Detroit to incorporate a mobility-related focus into their…
January 6, 2017 — Solera Holdings announced yesterday it has acquired the British-based Autodata from Bowmark Capital and Five Arrows Principal Investments for £340 million ($418 million). Autodata, which was founded in 1975, publishes technical service and repair information to the automotive aftermarket. It licenses data from 136 manufacturers covering 32,000 different models globally. Its owners, Bowmark… Continue Reading
January 3, 2017 — Days prior to the opening of Detroit’s North American International Auto Show, Ford Motor Co.’s President and CEO Mark Fields dropped several bombshells outlining the automaker’s strategy the next three years. Addressing the media and UAW members at Ford’s Flat Rock, MI assembly plant, Fields announced the company is cancelling plans it… Continue Reading
January 2, 2017 — Beck Chevrolet scored another big legal win last week in its five-year battle with General Motors over how it measures sales effectiveness of its dealers and the decision could have a far reaching impact on the overall relationship manufacturers have with their dealers. The ruling last week by New York’s Second… Continue Reading
December 14, 2016 — The McLarty Automotive Group announced yesterday that it has completed the acquisition of five dealerships and two collision centers in Little Rock, AR from the Asbury Automotive Group. The acquisition brings Mark McLarty’s total to 19 dealerships — all acquired since 2014 — generating an estimated $1.4 billion a year in revenue.… Continue Reading
December 1, 2016 — The Penske Automotive Group (PAG) announced today it has acquired specialty automotive retailer CarSense from owner and founder Francis I. McGowen. CarSense has five locations in the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh markets specializeing in reconditioning and retailing high-quality, late-model used vehicles at no-haggle prices. Penske says the acquisition should add an estimated $350… Continue Reading
December 1, 2016 — Following a three year battle amidst tough opposition from car dealers in Virginia, Tesla Motors won the right to open a second store in the state. Tesla says it will begin construction on the store, which is slated for Richmond. It will be the second Tesla dealership in Virginia that is allowed to… Continue Reading
November 15, 2016 — UPDATED: Word is getting out that Scott Painter is soon to be back in the auto industry. His newest initiative is being called, “Fair.” The project has come up in a few conversations that we’ve had the last several months — mainly just cocktail reception gossip. Then, a couple of weeks ago over… Continue Reading
October 31, 2016 — Want to know how the consumer is going to react in an autonomous world? It’s all about the horses. Not horsepower, mind you, but actual horses. And therein lies the key for why private ownership will not only “survive, but thrive” in a world of autonomous vehicles, according to Beau Boeckmann, president… Continue Reading
October 6, 2016 — Lithia Motors announced this morning the acquisition of Audi Auto Gallery in Woodland Hills, CA, from co-founders Harrison Gray and Tony Schwartz. It is Lithia’s 18th dealership acquired this year. The additional $120 million in annual revenue created by the acquisition brings Lithia’s total to approximately $1 billion in acquired revenue this… Continue Reading