Dec 14 2020
This blog has been updated since its original publish date in Dec 2011
Like almost every area of expertise, VIN Decoding has unique terminology associated with it. If you haven't worked with a VIN decoder or VIN data in the past, many of these term's meanings may not be intuitive. Below are the definitions of 25 common terms that you will likely come across as you work with automotive and VIN data.
Read MoreTopics: Automotive Data, VIN
Dec 7 2020
In the last ten years vehicle technology, specifically in regard to safety features, has become increasingly complex. These advanced vehicle safety features are often bucketed under the category “Advanced Driver Assistance Systems,” more commonly known as ADAS. While the key motivator of this growth has been driver safety, ADAS will play a larger role for those on the business side of automotive in everything from data collection to lending to titling over the next few years. Some of the most popular ADAS features are: braking assist, adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning, blind spot detection, and rear cross traffic alert.
Read MoreTopics: Safety, Automotive Technology, ADAS
Dec 7 2020
Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, aka ADAS, are a hot topic in the auto industry, especially as these safety features become more widespread across manufacturers and their model lineups. Whether your business is in the retail, insurance, auto repair/service, or logistics space, you’ve likely been impacted by ADAS in some way, shape, or form.
Read MoreTopics: Safety, Automotive Technology, ADAS
Sep 17 2020
This post has been republished with updates since its original publish date in June 2012
While the light-duty and passenger segments encompass a large portion of the vehicles that one might be looking to VIN decode, it certainly doesn't cover them all. These additional segments, such as mid-duty, heavy-duty, and motorcycles, each represent huge markets with large direct and allied business opportunities. As a result, there is a fair amount of interest in services to VIN decode these vehicles.
Read MoreTopics: VIN
Aug 31 2020
This post has been republished with updates since its original publish date in April 2012
The NHTSA standard for VIN assignment is applied to all motorized vehicles, motorcycles, and trailers that travel on the roads, streets and highways of the US. However, the NHTSA has no jurisdiction over recreational vehicles not intended to ever be driven on a street or highway.
These "off-road" recreational vehicles are hugely popular and account for millions of purchases and tens of millions of vehicles in use in the US every year. As a result, there is a need to decode and identify these vehicles for initial sales and marketing efforts, resale, registration, insurance, and taxation.
Are these vehicles able to be VIN decoded using the same principles and decoders used for light-duty and passenger vehicles? The answer is a solid... maybe.
Topics: Auto Portals, Automotive Data, Vehicle, VIN, Powersports
Aug 25 2020
While e-commerce has taken the retail industry by storm, there are a few businesses, including dealerships, that have been reluctant to embrace an e-commerce (or digital retailing) business model. Rightfully so. Purchasing a vehicle is a big decision, and many consumers would still prefer to complete some of the steps at the physical dealership, such as test drives and financing.
Read MoreTopics: Vehicle Shopping, Roundup
Aug 19 2020
Today’s automotive landscape is much different than 20 years ago, with the average life of a vehicle at a record high of 11.8 years. Automotive manufacturers across the board are building high-quality, longer-lasting vehicles, provided the owner keeps up with maintenance.
Read MoreTopics: Automotive Data, Parts & Services, Insurance, Dealers
Jul 17 2020
We are living in a strange time right with a pandemic (COVID-19) that has greatly affected people worldwide and shuttered economies. Millions of people in the United States are out of work (hundreds of millions worldwide) and many businesses have had no choice but to furlough or lay off their employees, or even worse, close their doors permanently.
Read MoreTopics: Parts & Services, Insurance, Automotive, Dealers, Fleet Management
May 6 2020
As a dealership vendor, it should come as no surprise that dealerships see the largest profit margins from their fixed operations department. In fact, you’ve probably had your hand in the creation of content around this topic on some level, whether it be a comprehensive study or articles on your blog.
Read MoreTopics: Automotive Data, Dealers, Service Data
Feb 4 2020
NADA is just around the corner, and with it comes a packed-full agenda of speakers, networking, and private parties. However, if you anticipate any downtime around the show, here’s a list of fun things we found to do in Vegas.
Read MoreTopics: NADA Conference, Conferences
