HOUSTON –

Group 1 Automotive’s management was “particularly pleased” with one used-car metric seen throughout the retailer’s U.S. and international operations during the third quarter: same-store used-vehicle sales climbing double-digits.

In the company’s statement announcing its Q3 earnings results, Group 1 president and chief executive officer Earl Hesterberg said: "We are delighted to announce an all-time quarterly revenue record of $2.8 billion. Continued expense leverage in the United States and strong top-line growth in both the U.S. and U.K. delivered a record third quarter adjusted diluted EPS of $1.91.

“We were particularly pleased with the double-digit growth in used vehicle unit same-store sales that all three of our markets delivered this quarter,” he continued.

“In addition, our U.K. operations had an outstanding quarter, with revenue up 39.6 percent on a constant currency basis,” Hesterberg added. “Finally, while overall market conditions continue to be challenging in Brazil, with new vehicle industry volumes declining over 25 percent on a year-over-year basis, our team in Brazil grew same-store revenue by 7.1 percent on a constant currency basis and delivered another profitable quarter.”

Going back to the across-the-board used unit sales growth that Hesterberg mentions, here’s how that shakes across Group 1’s markets:

  • In the U.S., Group 1 retailed 26,756 used units on a same-store basis during the quarter. This was up 10.3 percent year-over-year.
  • In the U.K., it had 3,153 same-store retail used sales for the quarter, which beat the year-ago sum by 19.0 percent.
  • In Brazil, there were 1,228 same-store used retail sales, a 15.3-percent improvement.

Stay tuned for Thursday's edition of Auto Remarketing Today, where we delve further into Group 1's used-car operations.