As Hurricane Sandy — or “Frankenstorm” as people have dubbed the pre-Halloween tempest that made landfall in the Northeast just yesterday — ravages the coast the industry waits for news of how it will affect car sales. News of power outages in Manhattan and serious flooding in New Jersey hits the papers, and the storm […] [Read More]

AutoNation is continuing to sharpen its strategy on how to get the most out of high-mileage vehicles, including the concept of rolling out lots that carry only premium brand models. President and chief operating officer Mike Maroone explained why, so far, AutoNation has opened just one premium value outlet, while it already has 28 non-luxury […] [Read More]

A Wall Street analyst wondered why Group 1 Automotive is aggressively acquiring more dealerships while other groups seem to be throttling back their store-growth activities. Group 1 president and chief executive officer Earl Hesterberg said the fact that the company acquired 14 stores during the first three quarters is all about generating the most return […] [Read More]

After revealing third quarter results that included double-digit increases in used sales, Lithia Motors announced late last week it has acquired a new Toyota store out West. The dealer group has bought Bitterroot Toyota, which is located in Missoula, Mont. The store will be renamed Lithia Toyota of Missoula, and will add $45 million in […] [Read More]

As Group 1 Automotive  posted record third-quarter net income as a company and watched its used-vehicle retail operations generate strong gains, too, president and chief executive officer Earl Hesterberg said he “wasn’t particularly happy” with the wholesale side of its performance. First reiterating the upbeat news, Group 1 reported record third-quarter net income of $31.3 […] [Read More]

As the October sales month winds down, used-car sales projections for the period are up. Auto Remarketing compiled the sale forecasts for October from TrueCar.com, Edmunds.com and CNW Research. While the numbers may vary, the experts agree that sales are headed in a positive direction.    TrueCar, in its October used-car sales projections, estimates that […] [Read More]

Part of a timeframe in which the company posted a record for earnings per share from continuing operations in a third quarter, AutoNation retailed more used vehicles and generated more revenue and gross profit on those models. The company reported on Thursday that its dealerships turned 3.2 percent more used vehicles during the third quarter, […] [Read More]

Joining the list of dealer groups reporting third-quarter results this week, Lithia Motors reported Wednesday that it pushed its used retail sales up more than 26 percent year-over-year, selling 13,320 used units. The company generated $230.3 million in used retail revenue, compared to $184.6 million in the same period of 2011.  Meanwhile, Lithia sold 5,173 […] [Read More]

The percentage of change in used-car prices hit double digits for one luxury model from September to October, according to Cars.com. Meanwhile, a certain domestic model made a big comeback on the pricing front, the site noted. In the latest used-car price report posted to the "Kicking Tires" blog, Mike Hanley of Cars.com noted the […] [Read More]

Used-car operations for franchised dealers have been buoyed by a “boat-load of trade-ins,” and independents have been on the comeback trail, according to CNW Research’s look at October used-car sales. Overall, the year-over-year increase in used-vehicle sales this month will likely eclipse 8 percent, CNW said, basing its analysis on the first 20 days of […] [Read More]