SANTA MONICA – Edmunds.com reported that Japanese car manufacturers are finally back on track in the United States one year after the March 11, 2011, earthquakes that struck Japan. The website reported that the market share for Japan’s top automakers – most notably Toyota and Honda – are back to pre-earthquake levels following a year … Read More »

HENDERSON – Retail automotive industry veteran Ron Fortt announced the launch of Automotive Retail Solutions (ARS), an independent consulting and training company providing products and services to the automotive industry. The company had been piloting in select dealerships for the past two years and is now ready to launch. ARS’ programs include service advisor training, … Read More »

AUSTIN – IAS announced that it will release an email based F&I presentation program called SmartOffer, the latest addition to the SmartDealerProducts F&I software suite. SmartOffer helps dealers present and sell product to Internet based customers who are typically excluded from the normal F&I process. Demonstrations of the product will be available this week at … Read More »

Joel Appelbaum, Global Chief Underwriting and Actuarial Officer at The Warranty Group, presented on successful implementation of predictive warranty modeling at the 2012 Warranty Chain Management Conference in Orlando. Appelbaum spoke on different applications for predictive analytics that can improve business processes, reduce expenses, change risk selection processes, and improve the bottom line. “Our investment … Read More »

McLEAN – NADA University announced it is now offering all of its legal and regulatory webinars – live and on-demand – at no cost to NADA and American Truck Dealer (ATD) members and their staffs. Dealer members may extend this benefit to their contracted financial and legal professionals by adding those professionals as licensed users … Read More »

ALEXANDRIA – The American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) announced that total bankruptcy filings in the United States increased 19 percent in February vs. January. Filings totaled 104,418 in February, up from the 87,981 filings in January. “The stagnant housing sector and high unemployment continue to stress the cash flow of consumers and businesses,” said Samuel J. … Read More »