April 1, 2016 — Despite most of its 236 dealers not in favor of offering no-haggle pricing, Lexus will begin piloting a one-price initiative at 11 stores within the next few weeks, says Jeff Bracken, general manager for the luxury automaker. Lexus has spent more than two years designing the program, called LexusPlus, along with… Continue Reading
March 31, 2016 — Fraser McCombs Capital (FMC) announced last night it is launching a second automotive-focused investment fund, FMC Fund II. The Banks Report will have more on this story in the next couple of days. Below is the press release the company issued last night. FMC was founded by Billy Joe “Red” McCombs and Chase… Continue Reading
March 10, 2016 — The blows keep coming for Volkswagen dealers in the U.S., who lost a key ally yesterday with executive Michael Horn’s sudden departure. According to a statement from Volkswagen, Horn, who had been CEO Volkswagen Group of America for nearly two years, is leaving the company immediately to pursue other interests. His exit is… Continue Reading
March 4, 2016 — After several weeks of uncertainty created by a tanking junk bond market, Vista Equity Partners completed its acquisition of Solera Holdings, a global firm that provides risk and asset management software for the automotive industry. Vista led an investment group comprised of Koch Equity Development and Goldman Sachs in the approximately $6.5… Continue Reading
March 3, 2016 — Cox Automotive made a series of executive changes this week as part of the continued integration resulting from last year’s $4 billion purchase of DealerTrack. The Atlanta-based firm also extended its global reach with the purchase of Dealer Solutions, a technology firm in Australia, in a move that could herald further acquisition activity in the area.… Continue Reading
February 26, 2016 — Tesla has won its latest battle fighting state franchise law designed to keep it from selling vehicles to consumers. at least for a few months. The Indiana Senate Commerce and Technology Committee decided yesterday to send a controversial bill banning manufacturer-direct automotive sales to customers to an interim study committee later this year. House… Continue Reading
February 25, 2016 — CDK Global made it official yesterday announcing it has acquired the product portfolios of NewCar IQ and Red Bumper from Pearl Technology Holdings LLC. NewCar IQ is a new vehicle inventory management system while Red Bumper helps dealers manage their used vehicle inventories. CDK will combine the two products to create a solution…
February 23, 2016 — Reynolds and Reynolds will announce today that it has acquired ReverseRisk, a web-based analytics reporting platform for automotive dealers. It will become part of Reynold’s Retail Management System. Additionally, NCM Associates’s agreement to resell the platform under the NCM axcessa name will continue following the acquisition. David Spisak, co-founder and president of… Continue Reading
February 20, 2016 — Building on a strategy he hinted at more than a year ago, Cadillac President President Johan de Nysschen outlined a retail strategy this week at a dealer meeting in California that calls for hundreds of the brand’s smaller dealerships to become virtual showrooms. A key part of de Nysschen’s strategy is how… Continue Reading
February 12, 2016 (UPDATED February 15 – in bold) — The U.S. junk-bond market may be giving the folks at Vista Equity Partners and Solera Holdings some heartburn this week. According to a report in Reuters this morning, Solera is having trouble convincing investors to participate in $4 billion debt sale to back its acquisition…