May 27, 2015 — UPDATED: First it was non-dealer customers, then it was its dealer customers in California suing TrueCar — now its investors have filed a lawsuit against the online vehicle shopping site. Is it just noise or do the lawsuits indicate a deeper problem for TrueCar? Following last week’s announcement that the California New Car…
May 22, 2015 — Yesterday, Autobytel announced the acquisition of competitor Dealix for $25 million from CDK Global, confirming a prediction The Banks Report made in February. We have the inside story and a full analysis of the deal and what it means for the industry and Autobytel’s future. Meanwhile, numbers show the leads business may…
May 7, 2015 — Audi is testing different car sharing models throughout various international markets, the latest being piloted in the U.S. The Banks Report first reported on March 26, 2014 that Audi was putting together a pilot program in San Francisco similar to its Audi Select initiative in Berlin that allows people to pay a monthly…
April 27, 2015 — So far this year, there have been nine (updated from eight) acquisitions in the automotive retail vendor space, the latest deal being completed today by Reynolds and Reynolds. Today’s deal comes on the heels of last week’s announcement that Solera Holdings had acquired DME Automotive. Meanwhile, we know of at least another three deals…
April 27, 2015 — Solera Holdings announced last week it has acquired marketing firm DME Automotive. It’s the latest in a series a acquisitions and investments in the service and repair space for the industry. It’s a market that has been heating up since Solera jumped into it in late 2013 with an investment/acquisition of AutoPoint…
April 25, 2015 — This week, Gannett Co. announced the new name of the digital and broadcast company that will be created as part of the split with its newspaper business. The split should be completed sometime in the late second quarter or third quarter of this year. Meanwhile, the move likely will position Cars.com as a significant…
This is Section Three of our post 2015 NADA Report. In this section, Cars.com, DealerSocket, Solera Holdings and ELead1One are covered. The entire report, which we will be published in different sections is now over 10,000 words. We decided to break the report into different sections to make it more readable after talking with several subscribers. Section… Continue Reading
This is Section Two of our post 2015 NADA Report. In this section, we evaluate the leading vendors — primarily those in the technology space. Companies covered in this section include CDK Global; DealerTrack Technologies; Cox Automotive; Reynolds and Reynolds; Dominion Dealer Solutions. Section Three will cover Cars.com; DealerSocket; Solera Holdings and ELeadOne. Section Four… Continue Reading
Vendor acquisition activity in the automotive retail space this year will not come close to the mind-blowing $30 billion in equity that changed hands in 2014. So far, through the first week of March, there have been four deals announced ranging from $5 million to more than $190 million. This is Section One of our post…
February 16, 2015 — Ports Slowdown Affecting Automakers; Berkshire Hathaway Acquisition of Van Tuyl to Close this Week? Mass Action Lawsuit Against TrueCar? Ports Slowdown Affecting Automakers Several automakers are taking steps to offset a looming parts shortage caused by a contract dispute between dockworkers and shipping companies at 29 West Coast ports. Following nine months…