CARY, N.C. -

Franchised car dealers, particularly some of the large, publicly traded groups, are putting a big emphasis on used cars, upping their pre-owned operations in 2020.

While there are certainly sales challenges, as in most of automotive in a pandemic-sagged 2020, several retailers have plans to expand programs like standalone used-car stores, and some are seeing used-car sales jump, even amid COVID-19.

“We have seen the share of private-party sales in the used-vehicle market come down, and this is a trend that’s been happening for the last decade or so as both franchised dealers and independent dealers, of course, focus on used-vehicle operations,” Cox Automotive analyst Zo Rahim said during the company’s Q3 2020 U.S. Auto Sales Forecast Call in late September.

“And you’ve seen it especially this year from the franchised dealers, regarding their announcements and moving a lot of their focus on used-vehicle sales and used-vehicle operations.”

Looking at some of those franchised dealer groups in more detail, here is how used-car operations have fared for the six publicly traded groups, based on their respective third-quarter earnings reports.

AutoNation retailed 64,587 used units in the third quarter, up from 63,581 in Q3 2019. In the first three quarters of the year, its used retail sales reached 179,656, down from 187,091 in the same period a year ago.

The retailer is expanding its pre-owned operations and intends on having more than 50 AutoNation USA used-car standalone stores built by the end of 2025, with the end goal of building more than 100 of these used-car outlets.

AutoNation anticipates opening five of these by the end of next year.

“AutoNation USA stores will continue to leverage the AutoNation brand and its proven processes for a competitive advantage. With its expansion, AutoNation has set the long-term goal of retailing over 1 million combined new and used vehicle units per year,” the company said in an earnings release.

Sonic Automotive’s franchised dealers sold 26,363 used vehicles during the quarter, down from 29,247 in Q3 2019. Through nine months, they moved 76,374 used units, compared to 85,530 in the same period of 2019.

Sonic’s EchoPark standalone used-car stores sold 15,127 used vehicles in the third quarter, a 14.5% increase. In the first nine months of the year, they moved 42,320 pre-owned units for a 14.9% gain.

Those quarterly numbers from EchoPark were an all-time record, Sonic and EchoPark president Jeff Dyke said in a news release when Q3 earnings were released.

“Our guests continue to see incredible value in the inventory selection, pricing and buying experience that EchoPark offers and we remain focused on accelerating the expansion of this brand nationally,” Dyke said.

“Our recent EchoPark expansion in Greenville, South Carolina, Houston, Texas, and Nashville, Tennessee, plus expected new openings by year end in Plano, Texas and Atlanta, Georgia, continue to drive toward a 140-point nationwide distribution network, expected to retail over half a million pre-owned vehicles annually by 2025,” he said.

Over at Lithia Motors, used retail sales were up 11.8% in Q3, as it moved 49,363 units. In the first nine months of the year, Lithia sold 135,499 used vehicles, an increase of 6.1%.

In a news release, Lithia president and chief executive officer Bryan DeBoer pointed out that used cars were among the drivers of Lithia’s strong quarter.

“Our strong used vehicle performance and sequential improvements in service, body and parts throughout the quarter, coupled with our strategic cost saving measures taken earlier in the year, led us to the highest quarterly earnings per share in our company's history, more than doubling our adjusted earnings per share compared to the third quarter of last year,” DeBoer said.

“This record performance and profitability demonstrate the high performance being achieved at our existing stores and only the very beginning of the benefits to be realized through the activation of Driveway, our ecommerce digital home solution,” he said.

Penske Automotive Group retailed 70,800 used units in the third quarter (including international operations), compared to 74,096 a year ago. In the year’s first nine months, its used retail sales reached 176,456, compared to 218,906 a year ago.

Active in the standalone pre-owned store segment, as well, the group has 16 Used Vehicle SuperCenters throughout the U.S. and U.K.

Third-quarter profitability for these stores was at $16.0 million in Q3, up from $4.8 a year ago. Penske attributed that spike to same-store variable gross profit per unit retailed jumping 36%.

The number of sales for those stores (18,372) actually fell nearly 7%. But they had a 7.6% jump in revenue, which came in at $352.5 million for the quarter.

“We expect to open two additional Used Vehicle SuperCenters in the next 90 days and have four additional sites under development which would increase the current footprint of SuperCenters by 40%,” the company said in its late October earnings release.

At Asbury Automotive Group, it sold 20,464 used retail units in the third quarter, compared to 22,988 a year ago. In the first nine months of the year, it moved 59,151 used vehicles, compared to 66,330 in the same period of 2019.

Next up, Group 1 Automotive retailed 38,347 used units (including international operations) during Q3, a 7.1% dip. In nine months, it had retailed 105,665 used units for an 11.9% decrease.