Marchionne: Industry can hit 54.5-mpg goal
 Chrysler-Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne said Saturday that the auto industry will need to meet proposed 54.5 mpg standards by 2025, and can do so despite NADA's opposition to the proposal. ...  story
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Time magazine honors Mike Shaw as its 2012 dealer of the year
Mike Shaw is the 2012 Time Dealer of the Year. Shaw, 65, was scheduled to receive the honor here Saturday. He is dealer principal of Mike Shaw Chevrolet-Saab in Denver and owns six other dealerships in Colorado, Louisiana and Texas. ... story
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NADA study questions value of factory-driven dealership renovations
 The National Automobile Dealers Association's long-awaited study of automakers' facility-renovation mandates concludes they cost too much, produce uncertain results and matter little to shoppers. ... story
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JASON STEIN
If NADA is the bellwether, the auto industry's back
 From a standing-room-only press conference for the Factory Image Program to a concourse crowded with attendees, when the doors opened Saturday there was little doubt about the state of this convention: NADA is back. ... story
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NADA Chairman Wade addresses 'frustration' over facilities programs
 Dealers are expressing “widespread frustration” over automaker requirements that force them to spend big on renovating their facilities but with little evidence of a payback, said Stephen Wade, in his farewell address as chairman of the National Automobile Dealers Association. ... story
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TrueCar stops offering dealer prices online
TrueCar.com, the online vehicle shopping service, has stopped offering vehicle prices from dealers and promising big discounts. TrueCar shoppers now request price quotes from local dealers after they visit the TrueCar Web site. TrueCar also eliminated its "Best Local Price" feature. ... story
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NADA forecasts nearly 14 million U.S. sales this year
NADA presented a bullish outlook for this year, forecasting that U.S. light-vehicle sales could hit 13.95 million. ... story
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New vehicle leasing rises to 20 percent of U.S. sales in 2011
 New light-vehicle leasing increased in 2011 from a year earlier, to 20 percent of U.S. retail sales, according to the Manheim 2012 Used Car Market Report. That’s one percentage point higher than in 2010, according to the annual report released today at the convention. ... story
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Hyundai weighs Genesis upscale subbrand
 Hyundai may market its premium vehicles under a Genesis subbrand to further distinguish its upscale cars from its mainstream vehicles, the brand's U.S. sales boss said. ... story
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Manheim: Leasing increases in '11
New light-vehicle leasing increased in 2011 from a year earlier, to 20 percent of U.S. retail sales, according to the Manheim 2012 Used Car Market Report. That's one percentage point higher than in 2010, according to the annual report released Saturday here. ... story
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Batey: Chevy lures younger buyers
 Chevrolet is bringing in younger customers and attracting buyers from non-General Motors brands, says Alan Batey, vice president of sales and service. He says that will help dealers overcome a dearth of leasees coming back into the market. He spoke here with Staff Reporter Mike Colias. ... story
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New look
 Dealers visit the Toyota Image USA II prototype facility display at the Toyota stand Saturday. About 550 of Toyota’s 1,200 stores have completed the renovation with another 120 slated for this year. Some dealers have complained that the exterior portal is too expensive. ... story
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Ford: Lincoln dealers agree to improve stores
More than half of the Lincoln dealers in the top 130 U.S. markets have agreed to improve their dealerships, according to Ford marketing chief Jim Farley. ... story
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Ford honors dealers
 Jim Farley, left, Ford Motor Co.'s marketing chief, presents an award to Gus Machado, a Florida Ford dealer, at Ford's Salute to Dealers celebration, which honors dealers who serve their communities. Machado, 77, has supported charities that benefit schools and cancer research. ... story
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Factory reps, dealer agree on renovations -- to a point
Dealers and the factory are not far apart on the need for dealership renovations, but the semantics can be a mile wide. A panel of three automaker representatives and the outgoing NADA chairman debated factory demands for dealership improvements during the J.D. ... story
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Used-car prices likely to rise 2%
Used-vehicle prices will rise on average about 2 percent byyear end, with prices peaking in April, Jonathan Banks, executive automotive analyst at NADA Used Car Guide, predicts. That's on top of a 3 percent average increase in 2011, he says. ... story
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Saab dealers plan to meet with lawyers
A group of Saab dealers will meet with lawyers Sunday before what is likely Saab's final make meeting Monday. The dealers are grappling with issues surrounding the Swedish carmaker's bankruptcy. ... story
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Chrysler Group sales boss sees 'room to grow'
 Chrysler Group's head of U.S. sales said the automaker and its dealers have "plenty of room to grow." Reid Bigland, also CEO of Dodge brand, cited Chrysler's 11.1 percent market share in 2011 as a sign of its potential. ... story
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On the record
Quotes from Darcars Automotive Group Vice President Tamara Darvish and Earl Hesterberg, CEO of Group 1 Automotive ... story
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VW dealers' profitability, sales per store on the rise
 Profitability and throughput for Volkswagen Group of America dealers are improving, despite the fact that they are selling their highest-volume vehicles at lower prices. VW Group of America CEO Jonathan Browning said that 89 percent of the roughly 600 U.S. VW dealers are profitable. ... story
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Infiniti will create regional ad associations
 David Rosenberg became an Infiniti dealer five years ago, but it was far from his first brush with auto retailing. His father, Ira Rosenberg, had been successful with two Massachusetts dealerships, Ira Oldsmobile-Toyota and Ira Lexus. David became general manager in 1990. ... story
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Buick-GMC's focus: Better customer experience
 Buick-GMC dealers pulled through a relative product drought in 2011 with respectable sales gains. Now, they're gearing up for an expanded lineup. Mike Bowsher, co-chairman of Buick-GMC's National Dealer Council, spoke with Staff Reporter Mike Colias. ... story
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Question of the day
What is the biggest personnel issue at your dealership? ... story
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Despite earthquake, dealers had good year
 Even an earthquake and tsunami in Japan couldn't stop Subaru of America from making 2011 its third consecutive year of record sales. Kirk Schneider, chairman of the Subaru National Dealer Advisory Board, was interviewed by Staff Reporter Diana T. Kurylko. ... story
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Council chairman: Chevrolet's a renaissance brand
 New cars and customer service are the watchwords for Chevrolet dealers in 2012. Steve Hurley, co-chairman of the Chevrolet National Dealer Council, spoke with Staff Reporter Mike Colias. ... story
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NADA foundation launches safety grant program
The National Automobile Dealers Charitable Foundation is launching a grant program to help new-car dealers start or promote road safety initiatives in their communities. ... story
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Volvo dealer: 'We need to be out of survival mode'
 After six years of declining sales, Volvo dealers saw their prospects start to turn around last year. Sales soared 25 percent to 67,240 vehicles, but the momentum came to a halt at the end of 2011 as inventory dried up. ... story
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Mitsubishi's core models are rockin'; next step, the i
 Mitsubishi shifted into overdrive last year, posting a 42 percent sales increase from 2010. Its gains were fueled in part by fleet sales of its aging Endeavor, Galant, Eclipse and Spyder vehicles, but sales of its core Lancer, Outlander and Outlander Sport vehicles were nearly all retail. ... story
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Dealer rep: Cadillac must stand out as GM's luxury brand
 This spring, Cadillac will launch the XTS, a large, front-wheel-drive sedan that will replace the recently phased-out DTS and STS sedans. By late summer, the rear-wheel-drive ATS compact arrives with a chance to become Cadillac's volume leader within a few years. ... story
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Toyota is 'still the best brand in the industry'
 Given the recall crisis, the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, Thai floods, the strong yen and the recession, Toyota and its dealers may wonder when they are going to catch a break. Carl Swope, Toyota's new dealer advisory council chairman, spoke with Staff Reporter Mark Rechtin. ... story
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