September 9, 2015 — In late July, following a sometimes bitter debate, the House Financial Services Committee cleared the way for legislation repealing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s 2103 bulletin governing automotive lending. The move is a victory for The National Automobile Dealers Assn. which has lobbied vigorously the last two years to build bi-partisan… Continue Reading
September 9, 2015 — A few weeks ago, AutoNation took the bold step of putting a stop on all sales of vehicles in it inventory that have open recalls. The move includes all new and used vehicles — including ones slated for wholesale. AutoNation estimates it will affect between 5% to 10% of its overall inventory… Continue Reading
September 3, 2015 — Last Friday, Stuart Hayim, owner of Recovery Racing, a group that owns Maserati and other luxury franchises in New York, New Jersey and Florida, filed a $200 million lawsuit against Maserati North America alleging the automaker forced dealers to participate in discriminatory incentive and sales programs designed to prop up sales numbers… Continue Reading
July 31, 2015 — The first six months of 2015 have not been kind to TrueCar. The stock price, which was just under $23 on December 31, is now trading below $7. The question is, can the company rebound? The challenges seem to be piling up — multiple lawsuits; a significant second quarter earnings miss;…
July 29, 2015 — One lawsuit down, several more to go. In what is some much needed good news for online car buying platform TrueCar, it announces it has reached a settlement with Sonic Automotive in a trademark dispute dating back to August 2013. The Banks Report first reported the dispute in September 2013 (TrueCar… Continue Reading
July 7, 2015 — An investor in Dealertrack filed a lawsuit yesterday afternoon seeking to stop Cox Enterprise’s $4 billion acquisition of the Long Island, NY-based technology firm contending the deal prohibits investors from participating in Dealertrack’s projected growth while providing executives with golden parachutes. The suit claims the agreement is the “culmination of a…
June 6, 2015 — An erupting scandal involving former Fiat Chrysler and Mercedes Benz executives in Australia snags website provider MotorTrak and potentially threatens its business globally while raising questions about its deal to provide websites to Mercedes Benz retailers in the U.S. For the last week, media outlets in Australia and New Zealand have been… Continue Reading
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…
March 17, 2015 — Yesterday’s overwhelming vote by New Jersey’s state Senate (30 – 2) to allow Tesla to sell directly to consumers, appears, on the surface, to be a political loss for the state’s car dealers. The reality, though, is far different. It’s definitely a win for Tesla in that it gets to sell its vehicles… Continue Reading
February 27, 2015 — Software piracy is a big problem, and unfortunately, dealerships have unwittingly — or knowingly — contributed to the issue. At least four dealer groups have paid out nearly $1 million in settlements the last three years for alleged violations. And now, we’ve heard of two more groups — one which reportedly is… Continue Reading