January 30, 2018 — Cars.com continues to unwind its affiliate contracts with previous owners which include six major newspaper publishing firms, a relic from the company’s founding 20 years ago. The latest move, announced this morning, converting eight of newspaper publisher tronc’s affiliate markets into Cars.com’s direct sales channel effective February 1. As part of… Continue Reading
January 30, 2018 — Fair announced this morning a strategic partnership with Uber along with the acquisition of the lease portfolio of the ride-hailing firm’s XChange Leasing program. As part of the agreement, Fair will become Uber’s exclusive U.S.leasing partner for drivers leasing vehicles for a month or longer. Financial terms of the acquisition were… Continue Reading
January 25, 2018 — The Banks Report research has found 21 companies that offer some type of online vehicle transaction solution. In the last four years, companies offering such solutions have exploded onto the scene attracting more than $1 billion in investment money — more than $200 million since July (Not including Fair’s $1 billion… Continue Reading
January 24, 2018 — Over the last several months, numerous automakers and dealers have launched flexible ownership models creating a new means of interacting with customers beyond the typical loan or lease. The question is whether flexible ownership and vehicle subscriptions will move beyond being a novel and cool idea to becoming an accepted method of…
January 15, 2018 — For the second time in the last week, CDK Global shares have spiked to record highs due to rumors of a potential sale. Fueling the most recent spike was chatter last week (later confirmed to TBR by sources familiar with the process) that at least three groups are submitting second round…
January 10, 2018 — Spireon Inc. is demonstrating a vehicle subscription concept it is dubbing Drive On Demand at the International Consumers Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week. Calling it a Mobility as a Service (MaaS) technology, the company says the new solution will allow new car dealers to select specific vehicles in their… Continue Reading
January 8, 2018 — As 2017 came to a close, two seemingly innocuous announcements hint at the pending impact LiDAR technology may have on automotive retail in the near future. First was AutoNation’s agreement with Waymo to provide maintenance and repair services to its fleet of self driving vehcles. And second was an under-the-radar press release…
January 8, 2018 — Fueled by continuing rumors of a potential sale, CDK Global shares hit a 52 week high this morning and is now trading above $72.50 a share. Shares have jumped more than $10 since mid-November when reports first broke that CDK again was exploring a possible sale. The reports continued in late…
January 8, 2018 — Eight of the 10 antitrust-related lawsuits filed against Reynolds and Reynolds and/or CDK Global in 2017 may be headed to multi-district litigation (MDL) this year. The cases include five dealer class action lawsuits that were filed the final two months of 2017 and three of the five third-party vendor lawsuits that…
December 11, 2017 — This afternoon, Cox Automotive and several of its subsidiaries filed a $200 million lawsuit against CDK Global alleging ongoing antitrust and unlawful competition. The suit is the latest in a series of legal actions taken against CDK and Reynolds and Reynolds since February this year by competitors and dealers complaining about… Continue Reading