AutoNation's October sales rise 13% despite Sandy
 |
AutoNation's import-brand sales rose 15 percent to 9,980 vehicles last month. |
Reprints
Print
Respond
With little drag on its performance from Hurricane Sandy, AutoNation Inc., the country's largest dealership group, reported its vehicle sales rose 13 percent in October.
AutoNation's sales for the month totaled 20,958 units, up from 18,530 a year ago. The 13 percent increase was better than the industry gain of 7 percent. Automakers and industry analysts said Sandy slowed vehicle sales during the final days of October along much of the East Coast.
AutoNation was largely unaffected by the storm, spokesman Marc Cannon said. Outside of Florida, the retailer's only East Coast presence is seven stores in the Washington and Baltimore markets. Sandy did not hit those areas as hard as it did parts of New Jersey and New York.
AutoNation said it had strong October performances from import-brand, domestic-brand and luxury-brand stores. Import-brand sales rose 15 percent to 9,980 vehicles. Domestic-brand sales increased 10 percent to 6,396 vehicles. Luxury-brand sales rose 12 percent to 4,582 vehicles.
You can reach Amy Wilson at awilson@crain.com.
