CARY, N.C. -

The Queen City is already home to two of the nation’s largest auto retailers in Sonic Automotive and Hendrick Automotive Group, each of which is headquartered in Charlotte, N.C.

And soon Charlotte will have standalone used-car stores from two of the country's publicly traded dealer groups.

AutoNation announced in its quarterly earnings report Thursday that it plans on opening an AutoNation USA used-car store in Charlotte during the fourth quarter.

(Sonic’s EchoPark Automotive program already has a location in the city.)

AutoNation, which currently has eight USA locations, recently opened two used-car stores Denver, following a launch of an AutoNation USA store in San Antonio earlier this year.

And in the fourth quarter, AutoNation intends on opening stores in Phoenix and Charlotte.

AutoNation does not currently have any stores in North Carolina, so Charlotte would be a new market for the retailer.

(And in a related move from earlier this year, another public retailer — Penske Automotive Group — entered the Charlotte market, buying Mercedes-Benz of South Charlotte, located in Pineville, N.C.)

In Thursday’s earnings call, outgoing chief executive officer Mike Jackson said that opening USA stores in markets beyond AutoNation’s footprint is a plus.

Jackson said that “we’re now opening USA stores outside the traditional footprint of AutoNation. And that’s gone extremely well, launching the brand in new markets.

“We’re very optimistic and confident about the future of AutoNation USA and the returns it’ll produce and the fact that we can grow this company, in effect, organically with a brand without paying goodwill,” he said. “And we control the pace and the growth.”

AutoNation plans on launching 12 more stores in 2022, as part of its goal of having 130-plus stores operating by year-end 2026.

AutoNation had previously said it planned on opening a USA location in Austin, Texas, this year. As to whether those plans have changed, AutoNation did not immediately respond to an email from Auto Remarketing, as of press time, asking for confirmation.

In other expansion news from the retailer, AutoNation also said Thursday it has entered a deal to acquire Priority 1 Automotive Group. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter and would represent roughly $420 million in annual revenue acquired.