Chattanooga Auto Auction posted a record for Honda Financial Services, recording the largest number of bids by and the largest numbers of cars sold to Internet buyers at its June 10th Online Ringman sale.
DaimlerChrysler has made changes to the Chrysler group certified used-vehicle program. The company has dropped its per-vehicle certification fee for dealers by $100, to $295, on used 2003-model Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep vehicles. In addition, it has added a three-month/30,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty.
Carl Miskotten, co-founder of Auction Broadcasting Company (ABC), announced on July 21, 2003 that he will be selling his interest in the company to Mike Hockett, the other co-founder, and to ABC.
Doron Levin, columnist for Bloomberg News, says that prices of used cars have been falling faster than those of new cars, widening the gap between them. He added that that is bad news if you own a used vehicle or plan to trade one in. But it could be an advantage for those in the market and willing to consider buying a slightly used car instead of a new one.
A pilot program between Wal-Mart and Asbury Automotive here to sell used cars at Wal-Mart Supercenters ended on July 11, 2003, because the volume of customer traffic did not meet expectations. Asbury Automotive, the country’s fourth-largest automobile retailer, shut down its Price 1 Auto Stores at Wal-Mart stores in Richmond, Uvalde, Pasadena and Orange, TX.
CenterOne Financial Services (CenterOne) announced on July 14, 2003, that it has entered into an agreement to manage pro-active lessee contact and vehicle remarketing of the Florida region lease portfolio for The Huntington National Bank (Huntington). Headquartered in Columbus, OH, Huntington provides indirect auto retail, lease and commercial lending products and services through more than 3,000
Automobile Consumer Services, Inc., (ACS) specializing in online, direct-to-consumer automotive leasing, has launched a new Web site, bringing consumers an online marketplace for late-model, used vehicles. The site, called FrontRowCars.com, offers vehicles which are available for purchase, finance, or lease.
DaimlerChrysler announced on July 22 that it has added a three-month/3,000-mile limited warranty to its Certified Pre-Owned Vehicle program. Units that qualify for the warranty already carry the seven-year/70,000-mile transferable new vehicle warranty, which includes 2003-model vehicles and those to come.