Kelley Blue Book Announces Best Family Cars of 2023
By Dave Bean, FMW Associate Editor
Choosing a car that will suit the requirements of each family member can be a daunting task. Parents are, of course, concerned primarily with safety features and driving experience, while the kids want to be entertained.
To assist in this crucial decision-making process, Kelley Blue Book (KBB) has come up with its list of Best Family Cars of 2023.
The objective of the list is to provide new car shoppers who are in the market for a more family-oriented vehicle with criteria that can guide them in making the most educated decision possible.
Merchants Fleet Names Brad Burgess Senior VP of Fleet Sales and Strategic Solutions
Merchants Fleet is pleased to announce the hire of Brad Burgess as the new senior vice president of fleet sales and strategic solutions.
“We are excited to welcome Brad to the team. His industry experience, passion for clients and dynamic leadership ensure continued innovation and growth for our teams," said Merchant’s Chairman, CEO and President Brendan P. Keegan.
A tenured fleet industry professional, Burgess has more than two decades of experience in selling value-based B2B service solutions to Fortune 500-1000 companies as an individual sales contributor, regional, and national sales leader.
J.D. Power Study: Decline in Satisfaction with Independent Vehicle Service Providers
By Dave Bean, FMW Associate Editor
The newly released 2023 J.D. Power U.S. Aftermarket Service Index (ASI) reveals that vehicle owners are less satisfied this year than last year with all three vehicle service categories that contribute to the study.
The most noticeable decline appears in ‘quick oil change’ which suffered an eighteen point dip. ‘Full-service maintenance and repair’ dropped seven points and ‘tire replacement’ lost six points. Also worth noting within these segments is a marked decline in satisfaction with the level of courtesy offered by service advisors.
“Independent service providers must remain focused on retaining their customer base,” said Leonard Martin, director of automotive retail at J.D. Power. “Aftermarket service facilities can increase customer loyalty and revenue by taking advantage of what they do best—being easier to do business with.
The White Metal Market Report: Encouraging Trends, A Few Predictions
By Bill Bishop, SVP of Sales and Marketing for FLD Remarketing
Welcome to FLD’s quarterly White Metal Market Report for Q2 2023.
As we have for the better part of the last decade, the team at FLD has been hard at work during this first quarter of 2023 getting a beat on the pulse of the used medium duty wholesale market to share with our customers, partners, and friends in the fleet space.
And as it has for just about every quarter in the past 18-24 months, very little has changed with respect to what we’re seeing. And while the market isn’t exactly trading sideways, there is so little variance in the important indicators we watch that it might as well be.
Texas Wants EV Owners to Pay a $200 Annual Fee for Highway Costs
Under bill SB 505, which has already passed the Texas State House, EV owners in the Lone Star State would pay $200 annually in vehicle registration fees; it seems to be implied that this fee would be in addition to a vehicle’s existing registration fees.
The bill’s authors and backers say that the fee is for EV owners to pay their share of highway costs, something that drivers of gas vehicles already do through a gas tax they argue. Not everyone is buying the reasoning for fees on EVs, though. Some experts say the fees will slow EV adoption, calling them “punitive.”
