As part of its "50-50 strategic plan" — through which the company aims to reach $50 billion in revenues and $50 in earnings per share over five years — Lithia & Driveway said Tuesday it has expanded the senior leadership in its marketing department. That includes the hiring of a chief marketing officer. Appointed to the […] [Read More]

CARY, N.C. — While Sonic Automotive leadership declined to comment further after announcing a strategic review of EchoPark Automotive, company president Jeff Dyke did share more details about Sonic’s investment in its standalone used-car program in an interview with Auto Remarketing on Thursday. The wide-ranging conversation included more details on the digital retailing platform in the works for […] [Read More]

For Toyota and Lexus dealerships in southern California with overwhelmed service drives and recon shops, help literally is on the way. On Friday, Universal Technical Institute announced the first local cohort of students have begun their accelerated 12-week training to complete eight Toyota and five Lexus class credentials preparing them to join one of the […] [Read More]

SoCal Penske Dealer Group closed July with some excitement by opening a trio of luxury showrooms on Friday. The company began retailing at Jaguar Puente Hills, Land Rover Puente Hills and Penske Volvo Cars in the Puente Hills Auto Center. These new dealerships serve the greater Los Angeles Area, including the Inland Empire, San Gabriel […] [Read More]

Like its fellow publicly traded contemporaries, the used-vehicle department at Group 1 Automotive posted superb performance metrics during the second quarter. When looking at just its U.S. data on a year-over-year comparison, Group 1 reported a whopping 63.2% jump in used-vehicle retail sales revenue and a 113.2% spike in used-vehicle retail gross profit in Q2. […] [Read More]

Sonic Automotive said Thursday its board of directors has begun a review of “potential strategic alternatives” for its EchoPark Automotive standalone used-car store program, given the success in the program’s strategy and “our confidence in our runway for continued expansion.” Sonic’s board is working with Lazard as its financial advisor in this process and Kirkland […] [Read More]

The used-car market was a strong suit for publicly traded dealer groups in the first half of the year, including Asbury Automotive Group and Penske Automotive Group, both of which released earnings reports this week. Starting with Asbury, it retailed 50,375 used vehicles during the first half of the year, a 30% increase from the same […] [Read More]

In addition to a couple moves on the franchised side of its operations, Sonic Automotive said Wednesday it has opened an EchoPark Automotive delivery center in Pensacola, Fla., the fifth new EchoPark location the retailer has announced in the past week. Sonic launched its first Florida location for EchoPark last year, opening a Tampa location […] [Read More]

After announcing the opening of three EchoPark Automotive locations last week, Sonic Automotive has expanded its standalone used-car store program yet again. And Lithia & Driveway continues its rapid M&A activity. Starting with the Sonic news, the retailer said Tuesday it has opened an EchoPark delivery center in Louisville, Ky. “The demand for a modern, […] [Read More]

Continuing a buzz of M&A activity among auto retailers, Zeigler Auto Group said Monday it has purchased four stores in Wisconsin from Home Run Auto Group, a move that marks its first acquisition in the state. The four acquired stores include Honda of Racine, Toyota of Racine, Kenosha Subaru, and Racine Hyundai, which have been […] [Read More]