Like peers, Group 1 posts more profitable used-car results

Auto Remarketing continues our reporting on 2020 used-vehicle sales for the public retailers, this time looking at Group 1 Automotive, which released its quarterly and full-year earnings report on Thursday.

Group 1 has international operations, but for the purposes of consistency, we isolate the U.S. results for this story.

And similar to what its peers have reported thus far, pre-owned is among the bright spots.

At Group 1, used retail unit sales and revenue were down, but generating stronger profits.

Here’s how that shakes out.

The dealer group posted used-vehicle retail sales revenues of $2.35 billion for full-year 2020, down from $2.51 billion a year earlier.

Group 1 retailed 108,411 used vehicles for the year, down from 121,016 in 2019.

Annual used retail gross profits climbed from $161.7 million to $162.8 million, with used retail gross margins moving from 6.4% to 6.9%.

Gross profit per used unit retailed was also up, climbing from $1,336 to $1,502.

As far as the fourth quarter, the group generated $629.1 million in used retail revenues, compared to $632.4 a year earlier.

Group 1 sold 26,917 retail used units for Q4, compared to 29,717 in the same period of 2019.

Used retail gross profits climbed from $36.5 million to $37.1 million, while used retail gross margins were 5.9%, up from 5.8% in the prior-year period.

Group 1’s gross profit per used unit retailed climbed from $1,229 to $1,378.

As reported previously, other dealer groups are also reporting more profitable used-car operations. 

For instance, Lithia Motors increased its used-vehicle retail revenue by 13.4% in 2020, and sold 7.5% more used retail units. The group also was making 12.8% more gross profit per unit on used retail sales.

Elsewhere, Asbury Automotive Group, which did see retail used sales and revenue decline, generated 20% stronger average gross profit per unit on used retail sales, with used retail gross margins climbing 60 basis points.  Used retail gross profits were up 9% year-over-year for the dealership group.