Dealership personnel is likely doing a lot of driving nowadays. Picking up and returning vehicles from appointments in the service drive. Or delivering vehicles to potential buyers for test drives and possible purchase. All of these activities stem from the coronavirus pandemic and stores trying to cater to customers wary of going to the dealership. […] [Read More]

Continuing our reports on how used-car operations fared for the publicly traded dealer groups during the second quarter, next up we have Group 1 Automotive. Looking specifically at the retailer’s U.S. operations, Group 1 reported total revenues of $1.8 billion during the quarter, which was down 19.6% year-over-year. Group 1 pulled in total gross profits of […] [Read More]

Dealerships that leverage marketing tools from Dealer Specialties and Experian now have more robust information to present potential buyers about their inventory. Dealer Specialties announced on Thursday that it has teamed with Experian to make C.A.R.Score reports available within Experian’s AutoCheck vehicle history reports. The companies highlighted this new relationship is an added benefit to […] [Read More]

Sonic Automotive’s line of standalone used-car stores proved to be a major bright spot during the second quarter, as EchoPark Automotive notched a 52% year-over-year hike in segment income, the retailer said Thursday in its Q2 earnings release. Saying such a gain underscores “the leverage and profit potential of this model,” Sonic and EchoPark president […] [Read More]

This week, the footprint of the Sewell Automotive Companies in the Lone Star State became even larger thanks to involvement by the Presidio Group. According to a news release from the investment bank specializing in retail automotive and related M&A transactions, Park Place Dealerships completed the sale of Jaguar North Austin and Land Rover North […] [Read More]

Like it was for many retailers in the automotive space, it was a challenging second quarter and first half for Penske Automotive Group’s Used Vehicle SuperCenters due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But some bright spots emerged for these stores toward the end of Q2, according to a rundown of quarterly results released by the retailer on […] [Read More]

On Wednesday, Lithia Motors continued what has already been a busy second half of expansion for the dealer group. The retailer said it has purchased BMW of San Francisco, a dealership it projects will bring $210 million in annual revenues. “We’re very pleased to announce that we have expanded our network in our Southwest Region […] [Read More]

Asbury Automotive Group set a used-car record during the second quarter: a fifth of its pre-owned sales were done online. Announcing quarterly results Tuesday, Asbury had a couple other used-car strong points during Q2, including a 10% hike in average used-vehicle retail gross profit per unit and a 60 basis-point increase in gross margins on […] [Read More]

The coronavirus pandemic is preventing numerous in-person business meetings and other gatherings. But JM&A Group is still trying to keep its dealers and other clients informed about company developments and other industry trends that might have been shared across boardroom tables or in small get-togethers. In an effort to further engage automotive professionals and provide […] [Read More]

In addition to revealing it would be debuting at least 20 more standalone used-car stores in the coming years, AutoNation’s quarterly earnings results announcement this week included data on its overall used-car operations. And while sales were down, gross profits in used were up. Here is a look at the retailer’s pre-owned results, starting with […] [Read More]