Sonic Automotive generated a record quarter for franchise dealer revenues of $3.4 billion, representing a 17% year-over-year increase and an 11% rise on a same-store basis. Fixed operations was a bright spot, helping to drive this success in the publicly traded dealer group’s latest quarterly report, with same-store gross profit up 8%, while same-store customer […] [Read More]

Suspicions are intensifying about the current health of auto finance, especially within the subprime space stemming from the bankruptcy filings of Tricolor Holdings and PrimaLend. For example, the first question from an investment analyst during Carvana’s quarterly conference call last week focused on its outstanding portfolio. And Cox Automotive chief economist Jonathan Smoke wrote an […] [Read More]

The appetite for electric vehicles hasn’t evaporated. Far from it. It’s just that now, with the $7,500 tax credit having expired, the demand that exists (albeit smaller) is more genuine interest and “less deal-driven.” Or as Jessica Caldwell of Edmunds put it in an analysis, perhaps alluding to the most electric of singer-songwriters, EVs have […] [Read More]

Sonic Automotive’s third-quarter earnings report revealed its strongest quarter for franchised dealer revenues in the history of the dealer group, but the picture painted by results for its used-only brand — EchoPark Automotive —wasn’t quite as rosy, mainly due to expected pressure on vehicle gross margins and unexpected off-rental supply headwinds. The dealer group’s used-only […] [Read More]

Asbury Automotive Group had a strong third quarter, but used vehicles were a weak spot. That’s the area the group sees the most room for improvement, said an executive on the earnings call. “We see our performance in used vehicles as our biggest opportunity to improve execution,” Asbury vice president of operations Paul Whatley said. […] [Read More]

Rick Kurtz, senior vice president and chief distribution officer for Protective Asset Protection, spent a few minutes with Cherokee Media Group on Thursday after the company entered into an agreement to acquire Portfolio Holding and its subsidiaries from Abry Partners. Kurtz shared that he had just chatted with Portfolio leadership about how the latest acquisition […] [Read More]

Used-car retailer Carvana reported very strong third-quarter results, driven in part by growing economies of scale, said executives on the earnings call. Though the stock price plunged after the call on concerns about subprime loan performance, Carvana's chief financial officer said its loan performance was strong. “We're getting better as we get bigger, aided by […] [Read More]

The primary result of this week’s meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) was the Federal Reserve reducing the federal funds rate below 4% for the first time since 2022. The reduction of the target rate to 3.75% to 4.00% arrives as Cox Automotive reports the average rates for new- and used-car financing originated […] [Read More]

Many in the auto industry believe that lower-priced vehicles, or what Lithia calls “Value Auto” vehicles, are driven off of “low-quality credit.” However, “it’s the exact inverse of what you think,” said Bryan DeBoer, president and CEO of Lithia Motors and Driveway. Buyers only finance lower-priced vehicles about half of the time, he said. A […] [Read More]

With the end of federal tax credits on Sept. 30, sales of electric vehicles are taking a hit after a record third quarter, industry observers say, but there still are some “encouraging” signs for the EV market. There were 438,487 new EVs sold in Q3, which beat second-quarter figures by 40.7% and prior-year figures by […] [Read More]