Presidio Group and NCM Associates analysts say U.S. dealers enjoyed their first full-year net pretax profit gain since 2021 last year despite a 9.7% decline in the fourth quarter. +
BizzyCar has expanded beyond recall-driven campaigns with Service Engine, a new AI platform designed to autonomously find, engage, schedule and follow up with customers. +
StoneEagle will debut Flex Story, a new repair story experience for its Pencilwrench fixed ops documentation solution, at next month’s NADA Show 2026. +
Cerence AI will debut two new conversational AI agents — one for dealers and the other for car buyers — at the upcoming CES 2026, which will be held in January in Las Vegas. +
More than 1 million U.S.-sold and Panoramic View Monitor-equipped Toyota, Lexus and Subaru units are subject to a new recall due to an issue with rearview camera images. +
Numa’s newest tool was designed to enhance communications with service advisors, parts teams and BDC reps by adding customer-specific context to every call and voicemail. +
Toma’s new Safeguards tool was designed to detect and reroute irate customers. It launches alongside Inbox, a new dashboard that displays every queued call, voicemail and text. +
BLiNK AI has integrated with Tekion, adding a multifaceted automated customer engagement solution to Tekion’s APC platform to streamline service workflows. +
VMS’s David Prusinski makes the case for pairing AI tools with telematics to escape the traditional, reactive “break/fix mentality” and maximize uptime for commercial vehicle buyers. +
Cox Automotive’s inaugural Automotive Service Industry Study shows dealers are in a service retention “crisis,” having lost 12% of visits to independent competitors since 2018. +
