The June dealer survey by KeyBanc Capital Markets showed stores utilized growth in F&I gross profit per unit during the second quarter to overcome mixed results in gross profit per used vehicle sold.

KeyBanc reported that 57 percent of respondents indicated an increase in F&I gross profit of more than $50 per unit year-over-year throughout the second quarter. Another 34 percent of dealers surveyed told KeyBanc that their F&I gross came in flat during Q2, while only about 10 percent sustained a decline of more than $50 per unit in F&I.

Those F&I numbers generally reflected more positive trends than performance of the used department of stores surveyed by KeyBanc.

First the good news — stores generally saw used sales volume climb in Q2. The majority of respondents — 64 percent in fact — indicated a volume increase in the 0-to-10 percent range year-over-year.

However, the remaining 36 percent of dealer participants sustained year-over-year declines in used-sales volume of up to 5 percent

“We believe retailers under our coverage will report largely at the high-end of this range driven by company specific actions such as competitive Internet tools, a wider range of inventory selection and multi-sourcing efforts,” KeyBanc analysts said.

Moreover, those analysts described used-vehicle gross profit per unit trends appearing to have remained largely negative in the quarter.

The survey showed 42 percent of respondents indicating an average decrease of more than $50 per unit year-over-year during the second quarter. Another 32 percent said used-vehicle grosses came in flat year-over-year.

But 26 percent of participants enjoyed a used-vehicle gross increase of more than $50 per unit in the quarter.

“We believe this trend was largely driven by stronger than expected wholesale used-vehicle pricing in the quarter, as Manheim index increased on average 4 percent year-over-year in Q2, driving up the acquisition cost of inventory,” KeyBanc analysts said.

“NADA and Manheim’s used vehicle pricing outlook remains favorable, and they expect wholesale used vehicle pricing to decline as we move through the year driven by the anticipated increase in late model used vehicle supply,” they continued.

Finally on the new-vehicle side, the KeyBanc survey noted July volume continued to accelerate in the first half of the month relative to June.

Analysts indicated 63 percent of respondents reported accelerating new-car sales in the month, followed by 25 percent who reported volume remained relatively the same, and a minority of 13 percent reported a deceleration below seasonal trend.

KeyBanc recapped that June’s U.S. light vehicle SAAR (seasonally adjusted selling rate) of 16.9 million units was a record month since 2006 and the fourth consecutive month above the 16 million unit mark. The firm pointed out this level marked a substantial lift following a weaker Q1 when SAAR pulled back to 15.6 million units impacted by extreme and disruptive weather patterns.

Analysts added that June substantially outperformed industry expectations of 16.3 to 16.4 million units, bringing the second quarter to 16.5 million units, above full year consensus expectations of 16.0 to 16.3 million.

“This appears to have restored investors’ confidence in the low to mid-single digits new vehicle annual growth outlook for the next few years driven by attractive product offerings, financing availability, attractive financing options, and more,” KeyBanc said.

“We are conservatively maintaining our 2014 assumptions at the low-end of the consensus at 16.0 million at this time,” analysts added.