CARY, N.C. –

In what appears to be a growing pattern among the public retailers reporting earnings results thus far, Penske Automotive Group had lower used-vehicle retail volume, but their pre-owned operations were more profitable.

Below is a rundown of some of the used-car specifics in the group’s retail automotive operations results shared in its latest earnings report.

Overall (including U.S. and international results), Penske retailed 57,013 used units in the fourth quarter, a 12.7% decrease. Full-year used retail sales fell 17.8% to 233,469 units.

Penske generated $1.675 billion in used retail revenue for Q4, a 2.2% drop.

For the year, used retail revenue came in at $6.415 billion, an 11.4% decline.

However, Penske saw some strong signs on the used-car profitability and per-unit revenue fronts.

Retail used gross profits climbed 27% in the fourth quarter, coming in $104 million, with full-year numbers up 6.2% at $388.9 million.

Revenue per used vehicle retailed in Q4 ($29,380) was up 12%. The full-year amount ($27,476) was up 7.8%.

Penske pulled in gross profits of $1,823 per used vehicle retailed in Q4, a 45.3% spike. For full-year 2020, gross profit per used vehicle retailed climbed 29.3% to $1,666.

Used retail gross margins were at 6.2% in the fourth quarter, up from 4.8% a year earlier. Likewise, for full-year 2020, used retail gross margins came in at 6.1%, up from 5.1% for 2019.

Penske also has plans to broaden its used-car standalone stores. More details on that, and a rebrand within that program,  can be found in a forthcoming Auto Remarketing story.

As far as its peers reporting results so far,  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.

Over at Group 1 Automotive, when isolated to U.S.-only numbers, the retailer 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.