October 28, 2014 — CDK’s share prices jump as Wall Street welcomes the news of a new investor in the dealership technology vendor. Only trading on NASDAQ just under a month following its spinoff from ADP, dealer technology provider CDK Global already is being targeted by an activist investment group seeking to discuss with management how to…
Mitch Golub announced his retirement as president of Cars.com earlier today in a letter that was sent to employees a few minutes ago. The Gannett Co.’s acquisition of Cars.com was completed a couple of weeks ago at which time Dan Jauernig was named as CEO of Cars.com. Jauernig had been CEO of Classified Ventures, the parent company of Cars.com… Continue Reading
Whatever bounce the automotive retail stocks received from Berkshire Hathaway’s announcement 12 days ago that it was entering the car sales space disappeared quickly on Monday as several firms watched their shares plummet led by Lithia Motor’s drop of more than 20% — from more than $80 to under $64 in less than a day. Lithia’s…
The Hendrick Automotive Group today closed on the acquisition of Sandy Springs Toyota Scion in Atlanta, GA. Barry, Mike and Brad Jackson ran the 35 year old dealership for the family. It’s Hendrick’s 94th dealership — the group just closed two weeks ago on Ted Linhart’s Dominion Chevrolet Buick GMC in Short Pump,, VA. So far… Continue Reading
October 9, 2014 — Cox Automotive’s investment in AutoMD is continued indication that interest in the dealership service repair sector is growing and represents huge potential for vendors over the next 10 years. Cox Automotive and Federal-Mogul Motorparts announced last night they have made a minority investment in AutoMD, Inc., previously a wholly-owned subsidiary of U.S. Auto Parts Network,…
October 8, 2014 — A federal judge in New Jersey Monday approved the settlement of a class action lawsuit resulting from BMW’s long standing practice of forcing dealers to help inflate its monthly sales numbers in what is commonly known as “punching” sales. The lawsuit alleged BMW cheated customers by reducing the length of its four-year Ultimate…
October 7, 2014 — Lexus has built a virtual test drive simulator that will be in place at upcoming auto shows and customer events over the next several months, beginning with the Orange County International Auto Show, which was held last week. In March, we wrote a piece called The Coming Changes to Automotive Retail, in which we… Continue Reading
Our analysis of yesterday’s stunning announcement from Warren Buffett that he is acquiring the Van Tuyl Group: Welcome to the Industry, Mr. Buffett. I’ve had several conversations and have read numerous blogs that speculate Buffett will usher in a new world for automotive retail — improving the shopping and buying processes both online and offline. Some of… Continue Reading
October 2, 2014 – Warren Buffett’s announcement today that his Berkshire Hathaway Group is acquiring the Van Tuyl Group Group has the potential to change the market over the next year. Certainly, adding his iconic stature to an industry that already has business luminaries such as Roger Penske and MikeJackson only adds further validation that automotive retail is…
Despite our earlier report this morning that a manufacturer may have been trying to block part of the deal, the Lithia Motors’ acquisition of the DCH Automotive Group was just signed this afternoon and includes all of DCH’s 27 dealerships. The purchase closely follows what Lithia laid out in its investor presentation in mid-June. The Medford, OR-based…