Lithia drives used-car gross profit per unit 20% higher from Q1
Image courtesy of Lithia & Driveway.
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Lithia & Driveway posted its best-ever second quarter revenues, but the highlight in its pre-owned operations was a sharp quarter-to-quarter increase in used-car profits per unit.
Releasing second-quarter results Wednesday, Lithia said it sold 106,114 used retail units in the second quarter, down 2.7% year-over-year. So far this year, it has moved 215,265 used retail units, a 0.1% decrease.
The retailer generated $3.53 billion in used-vehicle revenue for the quarter, up 1.4% from Q2 2025. So far this year, used-car revenue is up 4.3% at $7.02 billion
Gross margins on used-car sales reached 6.1% for the quarter, up from 5.9% a year ago. Through six months, used gross margins are at 5.7%, down from 5.9% in the first half of 2025.
But gross profit per unit appeared to be the used-car star.
Lithia’s GPU on used retail sales climbed 5.4% year-over-year, coming in at $2,014 for Q2. That was a 20% increase (or $339 spike) from the first quarter.
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In the first half, Lithia generated $1,848 in gross profit per used unit retailed, a 0.4% increase.
Used vehicles represented 36% of Lithia’s revenue mix for the quarter, down from 36.3% a year ago. However, its share of revenue for the first half climbed from 35.9% to 36.8%.
Meanwhile, used represented 14.3% of gross profits in the quarter (up from 13.8%) and 13.8% of gross profits for the first half (up from 13.6%).
Days’ supply on pre-owned vehicles was 60 at the end of the quarter, compared to 48 at the end of both Q2 and Q4 of 2025.
Overall revenue for Q2 was $9.8 billion, up from $9.6 billion a year ago. Quarterly net income reached $261.6 million, up 1.3% year-over-year.
Discussing overall results, Lithia president and CEO Bryan DeBoer said in a news release: “Our team delivered differentiated growth across the platform, with record quarterly revenues, stable new-vehicle margins, improved used-vehicle profitability, and meaningful sequential SG&A improvement.
“Financing operations delivered 80% income growth, with expanding margins and increasing penetration,” DeBoer said. “We continued to return value to shareholders this quarter, expanding our repurchase authorization by $500 million and purchasing nearly 4% of shares. Our ecosystem is delivering on its design, and we carry strong momentum into the second half of the year.”
