October 12, 2017 — J.D. Power announced yesterday that Chief Executive Officer and President Finbarr O’Neill will retire from the company, effective March 2018. The search for his successor is underway. O’Neill, 65, will act as a Senior Advisor to the company following the transition to the new CEO. O’Neill led the firm for 10 years,… Continue Reading
September 6, 2017 — Scott Painter officially launched Fair, his newest venture this week in Los Angeles with plans to roll it out through out California by the end of the year and into other markets in 2018. The Banks Report first reported on the new venture last November. It’s a fintech mobile solution that provides… Continue Reading
August 29, 2017 — Jonathan Ord, CEO of CRM vendor DealerSocket, is stepping down as CEO of the company he founded with Brad Perry in 2001. Replacing Ord is Sejal Pietrzak, who is leaving her position as Chief Administration Officer at Active Network. Under Ord’s leadership, DealerSocket grew into one of the top CRM companies… Continue Reading
August 21, 2017 — The segment is still in its nascent phase but the roll up of marketing attribution firms in the automotive retail space has started. Late last week, Semcasting acquired TransparencyAI, a data analytics firm which has come on strong in the last year helping publishers measure the effectiveness of their digital advertising… Continue Reading
August 9, 2017 — After seemingly being dominated in the early stages in the antitrust lawsuit filed by Authenticom in May, Reynolds and Reynolds and CDK Global have clawed back to what can be described as a tie. The Seventh District Court of Appeals yesterday granted the two technology firms a stay of the preliminary…
August 7, 2017 — UPDATE BELOW — Sources confirm Lithia Motors is nearing completion of its pending acquisition of the Downtown LA Auto Group from the Shammas Group, its second large acquisition this year. The deal is likely to close as early as this week. In May, Lithia acquired six of the Baierl Group dealerships in… Continue Reading
August 1, 2017 — Good news and bad news today on the antitrust front for CDK Global and Reynolds Reynolds. First, in the lawsuit filed by Authenticom, Judge James Peterson of the Wisconsin district court issued a temporary seven-day stay this afternoon of the preliminary injunction he granted Authenticom on Friday to give the appeals…
July 30, 2017 — It is only a preliminary injunction, but the order issued by Judge James Peterson on Friday in the antitrust lawsuit pitting Authenticom against defendants Reynolds and Reynolds and CDK Global appears to have handed the plaintiff a significant victory. Authenticom is calling it a “stunning victory.” The order does grant Authenticom…
June 1, 2017 — AutoNation named Lance Iserman as its new Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President of Sales yesterday. Iserman’s appointment is the latest in a series of executive moves by Chairman and CEO Mike Jackson designed to better position AutoNation for the future as it moves forward with new strategic initiatives to extend… Continue Reading
May 24, 2017 — CDK Global is announcing this morning that it is acquiring Auto/Mate Dealership Systems. The move, which will further consolidate the dealer management system (DMS) space, should be completed in late summer once the regulatory process runs its course. Financial terms for the deal have not been disclosed yet. Auto/Mate was started as… Continue Reading
