Training
Too few dealership service customers are greeted upon arrival and too many refuse recommended services, squandering trust built by service advisors, according to a new CDK report. +
CDK’s new Friction Points study shows a marked improvement in F&I headcount and efficiency after the finance department earned poor marks a year ago. +
Northwood University and the National Automobile Dealers Association have partnered to offer tuition discounts and scholarships for undergraduate and graduate studies. +
Mosaic Compliance Services and AAMS Training have agreed to merge, combining Mosaic’s multifaceted training and technology suite with AAMS’s expertise in the environmental health and safety space. +
An international survey conducted by Indeed’s Hiring Lab finds 80% of respondents who use AI on the job say it allows them to spend an extra hour per day on higher-value work. +
Does substandard performance stem from a lack of talent or a lack of leadership? Expert shares a five-point checklist to ensure your training program will deliver the results you expect in 2026. +
CDK analysts report U.S. dealers earned a 66% “Easy to Purchase” score last month, down from 85% in October and the single lowest score in the survey’s history. +
Protective’s Rick Kurtz urges dealers and agents to maximize F&I product sales by treating every presentation as an opportunity to help customers manage affordability and mitigate risk. +
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. +
CDK’s fifth annual survey of U.S. service customers finds those who seek maintenance and repairs at dealerships remain loyal at a 70% rate despite a decrease in overall satisfaction. +
A new survey of dealership workers finds 82% are satisfied with their jobs, up from 74% a year ago. “I enjoy the people I work with” is the most frequently cited reason. +
CDK’s 2025 F&I Shopper Study finds most car buyers trust their F&I managers and believe they are tuned to their needs, but long wait times are hurting CSI and repeat business. +
A Phyron survey of U.S. auto dealers finds 87% believe AI will replace some staff members by 2030, only 5% say AI will “never” fully take over some roles and about half believe AI will sell vehicles by 2028. +
Protective Asset Protection has launched an AI-fueled expansion to its Protective Training Institute, including the integration of Anomaly Labs’ AutoTrainer coaching and roleplaying tool. +
A new Carleton survey of 2,000 U.S. lending, bank, auto finance and fintech professionals finds the majority experience loan payment discrepancies on a weekly or monthly basis. +
Impel and RockED have launched the Automotive AI Certification Program and the Advanced Automotive AI Certification Program for dealership workers and managers. +
The National Automobile Dealers Association’s latest annual report includes regional and national insights relating to compensation, turnover, retention, benefits, hiring and demographics. +
Americans who purchased new vehicles in June describe a significantly less enjoyable dealership experience than those surveyed just one month earlier, according to CDK Global’s latest survey. +
EVAI founder Ian Gardner says dealers must arm their sales teams with a broader and deeper understanding of the factors that drive EV purchases, including TCO and charging infrastructure. +
StoneEagleDATA reports U.S. dealers made an average of $242,283 in total F&I income in the first quarter, an all-time record exceeding the post-COVID boom of 2021, despite generating fewer deals per rooftop. +
A Foureyes analysis of more than 1 billion visits to more than 22,500 dealership websites found 43.2% of all sales leads were mishandled in 2024, including nearly 48% of all website-originated calls.+
Germain Toyota’s Wendell Hardy tells WardsAuto’s Alysha Webb the secret to mining the service drive is to “keep it simple” by training, setting attainable goals and making every customer an attractive offer. +
Agent Summit will host the first ACE Trainer certification, a private event open to ACE-partnered agents and trainers who have earned ACE Compliance Officer certification. +
Agent Summit will host the first ACE Trainer certification, a private event open to ACE-partnered agents and trainers who have earned ACE Compliance Officer certification. +
ACE will offer Automotive Compliance Specialist certification to Agent Summit attendees at the upcoming 2025 event, continuing a tradition that began in 2017. +
The compliance training provider announced the launch of a new enterprise designed to forge partnerships through current, actionable content developed in partnership with industry experts. +
Bruce Genthe tells WardsAuto his auto group is thinking outside the box to tackle the technician shortage head-on by creating a path from the quick lube to the service department. +
RockED and Dealer Tire have forged a new partnership that will develop and launch a “cutting-edge” tire sales training program for U.S. auto dealers. +
Agents get the VIP treatment at Agent Entrepreneur eXchange, with free hotel, airfare and limo for those who are selected to participate, plus access to Reinsurance Symposium. +
General Motors’ Chevrolet division announced the launch of “The Chevrolet Experience,” a new, live training program designed to boost EV sales by educating the dealership personnel who educate customers. +
Reynolds and Reynolds has partnered with Skaivision, a provider of “smart space” AI designed to help dealers become more efficient and profitable by leveraging cameras trained on staff and customers. +
Ryan Gremore, president of O’Brien Auto Team and its six Bloomington/Normal-area dealerships, has offered to send staff members to CPR training during work hours at the auto group’s expense. +
Vanguard Dealer Services’ Mike Cintron believes there is a difference between hearing and listening, and knowing that difference separates the good sales and F&I professionals from the greats. +
Marti Evans, the co-founder of PROPEL: Revenue Simplified and a Forbes Coaches Council member, says too many sales leaders are merely instructing their sales teams when they should be teaching and developing them. +
Vanguard Dealer Services' Mickey Quinn urges dealers to address long-term customer engagement in sales and F&I training programs. +
Shelton State Community College of Tuscaloosa, Ala., will serve as a regional training center for Honda dealership service technicians. +
Unboxed Training and Technology's Nathan Purcell says dealers and sales managers would benefit from a training strategy that focuses on skills development. +
Anomaly Labs CEO Marty Hu believes his company’s AI-powered F&I training tool will help dealers complete compliance checklists while F&I professionals sharpen their skills again AI “customers.” +
Lincoln Education Services announced a new partnership designed to help Hyundai and Genesis dealers staff their service departments. +
Every registered attendee of the upcoming Industry Summit is invited to complete their choice of Automotive Compliance Education (ACE) certification for no charge. +
ACE Executive Director Gil Van Over III will get dealers and agents up to speed on the Federal Trade Commission’s new CARS Rule in a keynote address at Industry Summit. +
Automotive Compliance Education (ACE) has updated its logo and launched a new website with unique experiences for agents, dealers and individual users. +
JM Family Enterprises has joined forces with RockED to leverage “personalized learning paths” to identify topics and skills in need of focus and improvement. +
