The view appears rosy for pre-owned operations at Sonic Automotive, including expansion in its EchoPark standalone used-car stores. The dealer group had its best-ever quarter for used retail sales and achieved more than 58-percent growth in its EchoPark sales, according to its quarterly earnings release. Sonic retailed 30,933 used cars in the third quarter, an […] [Read More]

Not surprisingly, AutoNation chairman, chief executive officer and president Mike Jackson spent most of the company’s quarterly conference call this past Friday explaining why the dealer group is embarking on an aggressive used-vehicle expansion project. After reiterating what the company announced just before greeting Wall Street observers as well as the group’s third-quarter performance, Jackson […] [Read More]

Global auto sales rose by 10 percent in September — the biggest monthly gain in three years. According to Scotiabank’s recently release Global Auto Report, Asia led the way in September’s increase, with purchases of new vehicles climbing 21 percent higher than a year ago. China saw a 32-percent spike in volumes, marking that country’s […] [Read More]

When Penske Automotive Group hosted its third-quarter earnings call this week, chairman Roger Penske had some pleasing news. Used gross profit per unit in the U.S. was up by $179, he said — “and that’s across all brands.” When asked during the Q&A portion of the call what was driving that kind of performance, especially […] [Read More]

At the same time the dealer group made grand announcements about significant broadening of its used-vehicle operations, AutoNation wrapped up the third quarter by keeping its gross profit on its used-car retail sales intact on a year-over-year basis. AutoNation reported on Friday that its Q3 gross profit per used vehicle retailed through its dealer network […] [Read More]

AutoNation not only is strengthening its new used-vehicle retail strategy, but the dealer group also is broadening its footprint in the wholesale space, too. On Friday, AutoNation announced the next phase of what the company classified as its comprehensive brand extension rollout, which includes what’s being called AutoNation USA — standalone pre-owned vehicle sales and […] [Read More]

CarMax is joining the development parade of finding ways to retail used vehicles without the buyer having to step foot on the lot. As outfits such as Beepi and Carvana gain steam, CarMax recently announced it is launching a test of home delivery in Charlotte, N.C. Charlotte is the first city for CarMax Home Delivery, […] [Read More]

Asbury Automotive Group is generating some strong certified pre-owned sales results, but the retailer isn’t satisfied quite yet. No, the dealership group believes it still has growth potential in CPO and its overall used-car operations. The topic of certified pre-owned came up several times during Asbury’s quarterly conference call earlier this week, and for good […] [Read More]

Penske Automotive Group saw its revenue increase 3.9 percent to $5.2 billion in the third quarter — one the company said was again marked by record results. “Our business continued to perform well in the third quarter, producing another quarter of record results despite the translation effects from foreign currency headwinds,” chairman Roger Penske said in […] [Read More]

When the clock strikes midnight on Halloween, the pre-owned side of the car business may been in for a treat. Industry observers have released their expectations for used-car sales in October, calling for figures well above 3 million units. TrueCar said used-car sales could approach 3.29 million units for the month, which would be a […] [Read More]