BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich. -

Pushed by a used-vehicle performance that left the company’s chairman “extremely pleased,” Penske Automotive Group closed its most profitable year ever on a high note.

Penske’s fourth-quarter used retail sales climbed 20 percent at 32,183 units, which helped lead to a 10.6-percent retail sales spike (including new and used) for the group during the period. That overall retail uptick was a major factor in Penske pulling in $3.0 billion in revenue for the quarter, up 10.8 percent year-over-year.

“Our fourth-quarter results continue to demonstrate the strength of the automotive retail model and the benefit from our premium/luxury brand mix in both the U.S. and international markets,” said company chairman Roger Penske. “We produced another outstanding quarter of profitability while generating same-store revenue increases in each area of our business.

"I am extremely pleased with the continued strong performance of our used-vehicle business, which increased same-store retail unit sales by 16 percent and same-store retail revenue by 14 percent, and our service and parts operations gross margin which added 120 basis points to 57.3 percent," he added.

Sharing more results, income from continuing operations attributable to common shareholders was $42.5 million, up 22 percent. Net income came in at $47.7 million, compared to $28.5 million in the prior-year period.

As for the full-year results, Penske notched its best year ever for income from continuing operations attributable to common shareholders. This came in at $175.1 million, a 41.7-percent hike.

After accounting for tax benefit-related items, the adjusted sum was $164 million.

Total revenue for the year was $11.6 billion, compared to $10.3 billion in 2010. Total retail sales reached 284,481 units, a 9.3-percent increase. This included 17.8-percent gain for the used retail side, with 129,652 sales.

“The performance of our business in 2011 exceeded our expectations. We completed the most profitable year in the history of our company, generating a same-store retail revenue increase of 8.2 percent and $344 million in EBITDA,” Penske noted.

“Further, we continued to grow the business through opportunistic acquisitions of approximately $1 billion in estimated annualized revenue, which includes the January 2012 Agnew Group acquisition in the U.K. We also discontinued non-strategic dealerships during 2011 with annualized revenues of approximately $300 million,” he continued. “These acquisitions, coupled with the continued recovery in the retail automotive market, are expected to drive our business to higher levels in 2012.”