September 16, 2013
www.usedcarnews.com
ON THE WEB: Car Shoppers Want Dependable Vehicles
Both car and light-truck shoppers ranked quality/dependability as the No. 1 factor considered when making a new-vehicle purchasing decision, according to the latest survey from NADAguides.com. Fuel economy, cited as the most important preference of both car and light-truck buyers in last year’s survey, was selected as the second-most important factor by car shoppers in this year’s survey.
GM Financial Receives Ratings Upgrade
Ratings agency Fitch has removed GM Financial’s ratings from Rating Watch Positive and revised to Rating Outlook Positive.
Privates Buyers Buy up Franchise Stores
The number of automotive dealerships sold to private buyers climbed more than 2.5 times in the first half of 2013 compared to a year ago, according to the mid-year Automotive Retail Buy-Sell Report.
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NIADA Honors Auction for Service Dealers Auto Auction of the Rockies has been named Auto Auction of the Year by the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association. The award recognized the Denver-based auction’s owners, Brad Sturgeon and Bill Baker, general manager Michele Noblitt and the DAA of the Rockies staff. NIADA has presented the award annually to an outstanding NAAA auction since 2008. The award ceremony took place at the National Auto Auction Association convention in Indianapolis. The winning auction provides the highest level of customer service and resources for NIADA’s independent dealers, displays support for its state association and its dealer members and participates in dealer events and promotes the industry by showing exceptional service to its local community. In presenting the award, NIADA executive vice president Steve Jordan said DAA of the Rockies “has proven its business excellence over the years and is noted for outstanding customer service, consistently going above and beyond as
Photo by Jeffrey Bellant TOP AUCTION: NAAA Chairman Paul Lips, left, accepts the NIADA Auto Auction of the Year Award on behalf of DAA of the Rockies from NIADA Executive Vice President Steve Jordan.
the staff strives to put their clients first.” DAA of the Rockies made numerous contributions to its community through various fundraisers and campaigns, including an annual live charity auction that has raised more than $23,000 over the past three years. That contribution has fully funded a week-
long camp for abused and neglected children in the foster system, contributed to the local Big Brother/Big Sister organization and its mentoring program – a program in which its fleet-lease manager, Stacey Scarnati, has actively participated in for five years as a Big Sister – and raised funds for “Help Out Not Hand Outs,”
an organization that assists veterans. In addition, the auction held a pet drive to support local animal shelters and launched a “Quit Smoking” campaign to help promote a healthy lifestyle among its employees.And it helped send one of its employees to the 2013 Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.
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Certified Sales Top 200,000, Set All-Time Highs August certified pre-owned sales rose above 200,000 for the first time, at 200,332. AutoData Corp. reports that total is up 9.6 percent from the prior month and up 25 percent from August 2012. August’s daily selling rate was 7,155, the third highest ever. There were 28 selling days in August vs. 25 in July and 27 in August 2012. The month benefited from the inclusion of the Labor Day weekend in August sales. August year-to-date sales were 1,429,713, up 16.4 percent from August 2012. Audi, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz,
Mini, Nissan, Porsche, Subaru and Toyota sales were alltime highs. Ford Motor Co. is on pace to set an all-time certified preowned vehicle sales record for the company. Ford revamped the CPO program in February 2012 with 12-month/12,000-mile comprehensive limited warranty and a seven-year/100,000-mile limited powertrain warranty. In 2013, the company improved both the Ford and Lincoln programs by having the CPO warranties begin at the end of new vehicle warranties. Also, the multiple-point inspection process covers new technology such as MyFord Touch and MyLincoln Touch.
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