Dealer OPS & Leadership
Kelley Blue Book Report: New-Vehicle Prices Trend Higher in July as Incentives Decline and Sales Pace Slows
ATLANTA, August 11, 2026 – New-vehicle prices increased in July to $49,855, the highest level of 2026, according to new data from Kelley Blue Book, a Cox Automotive brand. The average transaction price (ATP) was higher year over year by 1.9% but remained below the...
There’s an AI Gap Between Car Shoppers and Dealerships
Key Takeaways: 63% of in-market car shoppers plan to use AI for their next vehicle purchase, yet only 29% of dealerships have adjusted their strategy to account for AI-powered search behavior, according to the Cox Automotive AI in Auto Retail Tracker (Q1–Q2 2026) 82%...
The Weakest Link in Dealership Fraud Isn’t People. It’s Process.
Most fraudulent car deals don't come with red flags or warnings. They're quiet and stealthy. The customer’s great. The driver's license scans. The pay stub looks legit. The credit qualifies. All signs point to a legitimate funded deal. Then the lender calls with bad...
The Post Gross Era: Why Dealership Profit Now Runs Through the Finance Office
For much of the past two decades, front end gross drove dealership profitability. Discounting cycles, shifting market conditions and digital price transparency have steadily chipped away at that model, and the first quarter of 2026 confirmed how far that shift has...
Cox Automotive’s Mo Zahabi and Fullpath’s Christina Rosenbach to Host Session at #DDCE2026
Mo Zahabi, AVP Product Consulting at Cox Automotive and Christina Rosenbach, Chief Customer Officer at Fullpath will be hosting an insightful session at Digital Dealer Conference & Expo 2026! The 20-minute talk is titled "Unified, Actionable, Profitable: Building...
The Equity List Isn’t the Workflow: A 10-Layer Campaign Audit
An equity-mining platform can identify a plausible opportunity. That does not mean the dealership has a working campaign. Between a scored record and a completed dealership visit are several operational handoffs: data has to be current, the customer has to be...
Clay Cooley Auto Group Acquires Norm Reeves Mazda, Hyundai and Genesis
Norm Reeves Mazda, Hyundai and Genesis in Irving, Texas, have been sold by The CAR Group to Clay Cooley Auto Group Pinnacle represented the seller, The CAR Group, in the transaction The dealerships will operate as Clay Cooley Mazda, Hyundai and Genesis under their new...
Storage vs. Display: How Dealerships Are Losing Ground on Both
Ask a dealership principal about floorplan terms, and you'll get an answer down to the basis point. Ask about ad spend, and they'll quote cost per lead from memory. Then ask what the lot contributes to the operation, and the answer almost always arrives as a single...
Dealerships Need to Invest in Customer Experience, Not Just Acquisition
Key Takeaways: Customer retention delivers greater long-term value than customer acquisition. While dealerships continue to invest heavily in attracting new buyers, lasting profitability comes from creating experiences that keep customers returning for service,...
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