Dealer Groups and Dealerships

AutoNation's U.S. new-vehicle retail sales rise 4% in February

11:21 am U.S. ET | March 4, 2014
AutoNation's U.S. new-vehicle retail sales rose 4 percent in February from a year earlier to 21,987 units. It was the dealership group's top-selling February since 2007.... Read More »

 

AutoNation aims to beef up service

12:01 am U.S. ET | March 3, 2014
AutoNation Inc., the nation's largest dealership group, plans to expand its service business by year end, adding 400 technicians and increasing its express service operations to 180 stores from 80 now.... Read More »

 

Penske to open 7th U.S. Porsche store

12:34 pm U.S. ET | Feb. 28, 2014
Penske Automotive Group signed a letter of intent to open its seventh Porsche dealership in the United States. The store is scheduled to open in Davie, Florida, in the second quarter of 2015.... Read More »

 

How U.S. dealers can boost their margins, according to McKinsey study

11:28 am U.S. ET | Feb. 26, 2014
U.S. dealerships can significantly improve on the industry's average profit margin if they upgrade the capability of sales and service employees and pursue new sales formats, a McKinsey & Co. study concludes.... Read More »

 

Report: CPO sales could double in 3-5 years

12:01 am U.S. ET | Feb. 24, 2014
U.S. new-vehicle sales slipped in January, but certified used-vehicle sales ushered in the new year with double-digit percentage increases.... Read More »

 

Lithia, Sonic: Service is key to '14 growth

12:01 am U.S. ET | Feb. 24, 2014
Lithia and Sonic Automotive, the nation's third-largest dealership group, see significant opportunities for revenue growth this year by improving customer experience and increasing customer-pay, as opposed to factory warranty, service business. The dealership groups share a goal, but they have different plans to achieve it.... Read More »

 

The Battle for Billings

A Montana dealer fights to reopen his terminated Chrysler-Jeep store

12:01 am U.S. ET | Feb. 24, 2014
Nearly five years after Chrysler terminated his Billings, Mont., Chrysler-Jeep store, along with 788 other dealerships around the country, Steve Zabawa believes he is on the threshold of reopening. If it happens, he will be one of a small band of Chrysler dealers in the country to pass from termination to reinstatement to reopening.... Read More »

 

Sonic extends hours to make up for time lost to weather

3:15 pm U.S. ET | Feb. 21, 2014
Sonic Automotive is extending store hours in parts of the country hit by severe winter weather in an effort to make up vehicle sales and service revenue lost during the storms.... Read More »

 

ADESA to open more online auctions to more dealers

3:27 pm U.S. ET | Feb. 20, 2014
ADESA, the nation's second largest auto-auction company, this year will focus on building online auctions that are open to all dealers, its parent company's top executive said.... Read More »

 

Lithia reports 38% rise in Q4 net income on better cost controls

10:49 am U.S. ET | Feb. 19, 2014
Lithia Motors today reported a 38 percent gain in fourth-quarter net income along with the highest annual revenue in company history, as it credited continued cost controls and robust sales of new and used vehicles.... Read More »

 

JIM HENRY

Auto loans just keep growing

12:01 am U.S. ET | Feb. 19, 2014
Auto loans had another double-digit growth spurt in the fourth quarter, Experian Automotive reports.
Total auto loan balances outstanding reached $798.5 billion in the quarter, an increase of 11 percent from the 2012 period and the highest total since Experian started publishing its numbers in 2007. The third-quarter total of $782.9 billion had also been a high, up 15 percent from the same 2012 period.... Read More »

 

Public group F&I results strike gold in Q4

7:33 am U.S. ET | Feb. 19, 2014
All six large publicly traded new-car retailers reported higher average F&I revenues per vehicle in the fourth quarter vs. the year-earlier period. The gains reflected ongoing efforts to increase sales penetration for F&I products such as extended service contracts, GAP and prepaid maintenance.... Read More »

 

Sonic posts 8% drop in Q4 profit, but expects new pricing strategy to prevail

8:52 am U.S. ET | Feb. 19, 2014
Sonic Automotive today posted an 8 percent slide in fourth-quarter net income, but the retailer says it continued to gain traction on a new pricing strategy that some of its stores have struggled with.... Read More »

 

Group 1 warns weather will dent 1st-quarter sales, profits

5:33 pm U.S. ET | Feb. 18, 2014
Group 1, citing severe winter weather that has forced stores to close and showroom traffic to decline, warned Tuesday that its first-quarter earnings will come in lower than expected.... Read More »

 

Public retailers scout for U.S. stores

12:01 am U.S. ET | Feb. 17, 2014
Public retailers Group 1 Automotive Inc. and Asbury Automotive Group see opportunities to buy more U.S. dealerships this year and are wasting no time getting started. Group 1 acquired Ford and Hyundai stores in Escondido, Calif., on Jan. 21. The stores are expected to generate $135 million in annual revenues. In early February, Asbury said it bought a Land Rover store in Greenville, S.C., that is expected to add $20 million in annual revenues.... Read More »

 

Penske reports record net income for Q4 and year

11:47 am U.S. ET | Feb. 13, 2014
Penske Automotive Group reported its highest fourth-quarter and full-year net income in company history, driven by higher retail sales and cost controls. For the fourth quarter, Penske's net income rose 21 percent to $59.7 million, as revenue increased 15 percent to $3.86 billion.... Read More »

 

Q&A

JM&A: Pursue compliance, consistency for the sake of consumers – and the CFPB

12:01 am U.S. ET | Feb. 12, 2014
Some F&I administrators have said they're concerned that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau could go after F&I products this year the way it has campaigned against dealership's discretion in setting customer interest rates on auto loans. But Forrest Heathcott, president of F&I administrator JM&A Group, says that so far, he hasn't seen any indication the CFPB is targeting F&I products.... Read More »

 

Public group F&I results hit high note in Q4

12:01 am U.S. ET | Feb. 12, 2014
Group 1 Automotive's U.S. operations set a record with average F&I revenue per vehicle retailed of $1,418 in the fourth quarter, an increase of 9 percent from the same period a year ago. The first publicly traded new-car retailers to report fourth-quarter earnings -- Group 1, AutoNation and Asbury Automotive -- all topped an average of $1,300 in F&I revenue per vehicle retailed.... Read More »

 

Dealer reserve caps catch on

12:01 am U.S. ET | Feb. 12, 2014
The notion of capping dealer reserve and documenting exceptions as a way for auto dealers and lenders to avoid possible allegations of discrimination is gaining industry acceptance.... Read More »

 

Super Bowl XLVIII: The post-game stats

12:01 am U.S. ET | Feb. 10, 2014
Now that this year's Super Bowl commercial frenzy is over, what did automakers get for the $133,333 they plunked down for each second of airtime?... Read More »

 

Vicious circle: Saving money by skipping training is no bargain

12:01 am U.S. ET | Feb. 10, 2014
Chances are those new auto dealership sales hires won't be around long enough to need training. But failing to train them is one reason they won't be around.... Read More »

 

AutoNation, Asbury boost spending plans

12:01 am U.S. ET | Feb. 10, 2014
Two of the nation's largest publicly owned retailers are preparing to invest more in their businesses in 2014 than they did last year, according to numbers released with those companies' 2013 earnings reports.... Read More »

 

Group 1's Q4 net income, revenue rise despite challenges

9:09 am U.S. ET | Feb. 5, 2014
Group 1 Automotive said today its fourth quarter and 2013 net income and revenue grew despite challenges to new- and used-vehicle profits in the United States. The auto retailer saw profit gains from its parts and service business and finance and insurance sales.... Read More »

 

Public dealer groups receptive to NADA compliance plan

12:01 am U.S. ET | Feb. 5, 2014
Some of the big public retail groups are reacting positively to the National Automobile Dealers Association's recommendations that dealerships adopt a hard percentage cap on dealer reserve and then document any discounts offered.... Read More »

 

Q&A

Subprime, delinquencies, loan terms will grow, Experian says

12:01 am U.S. ET | Feb. 5, 2014
Subprime financing -- and delinquencies -- are likely to grow in 2014, and vehicle loan terms, which hit an average of 65 months for new cars during the first 10 months of 2013, also will continue to stretch out, Experian Automotive says.... Read More »

 


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