Group 1 Automotive

Retired Texas dealer McCall supports Tesla

12:01 am U.S. ET | May 13, 2013
Retired Texas auto dealer Sterling McCall surprised fellow dealers in April when he testified in favor of Tesla Motors Inc.'s bid to carve out an exemption to state franchise law. But after buying two Teslas himself -- and taking delivery of his Model S in a high school parking lot -- McCall became convinced that the current Texas law is unfair to the electric vehicle maker.... Read More »

 

Public retail groups: 'We're fighting tooth and nail' for margins

12:01 am U.S. ET | May 6, 2013
Profit margins on new vehicles are slipping for the nation's largest dealership groups as manufacturers and retailers slug it out for market share. New-car margins dropped for all the public dealership groups during the first quarter of 2013.... Read More »

 

Group 1 operating income rises on higher new-vehicle sales

10:40 am U.S. ET | May 2, 2013
Higher new-vehicle sales and increased gross profits in all business segments drove Group 1 Automotive's operating income higher during the first quarter of 2012, but net income dropped 4 percent.... Read More »

 

TOP 125 DEALERSHIPS

Some groups have overseas outlets

12:01 am U.S. ET | March 18, 2013
Like much of the auto industry, some American dealership groups, both public and private, are going international.... Read More »

 

Group 1 adds 4 U.K. Ford stores

12:01 am U.S. ET | March 4, 2013
Group 1 Automotive Inc. continued to expand its overseas portfolio last week by acquiring four Ford dealerships in the United Kingdom.... Read More »

 

Group 1 acquires 4 Ford dealerships in U.K.

5:30 pm U.S. ET | Feb. 27, 2013
Group 1 Automotive acquired four Ford dealerships in the United Kingdom that the Houston-based dealership group expects to generate approximately $177 million in annual revenues. The dealerships are being acquired from Inchcape Retail Ltd., one of the largest new-vehicle dealership groups in the United Kingdom.... Read More »

 

Group 1 of U.S. buys four Ford dealerships in England

Feb. 27, 2013 23:30 CET
U.S. auto retailer Group 1 Automotive Inc. acquired four Ford dealerships in England, adding to its UK holdings. The dealerships are being acquired from Inchcape Retail Ltd.... Read More »

 

Public groups plan U.S. acquisition blitz

12:01 am U.S. ET | Feb. 25, 2013
Despite forays into overseas markets by Group 1 Automotive Inc. and Penske Automotive Group, public retailers intend to roll full speed ahead on U.S. acquisitions this year.... Read More »

 

Group 1 to revise pay plans after Q4 net income drops 18%

1:16 pm U.S. ET | Feb. 19, 2013
Group 1 Automotive will tweak its pay plan for dealership sales staffers after the retailer's fourth-quarter variable compensation expenses came in $2 million higher than expected -- contributing to an 18 percent drop in fourth-quarter net income.... Read More »

 

Group 1's foothold in Brazil

12:01 am U.S. ET | Jan. 28, 2013
Group 1 Automotive Inc. plans to acquire one of Brazil's largest dealership groups. In a single move, the Houston company will add almost as much in annual revenues as it did with all of its 2012 acquisitions and will establish a retail foothold in the world's fourth-largest new-vehicle market.... Read More »

 

Group 1 deal for Brazil's UAB Motors opens new frontier for growth

8:38 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 24, 2013
Group 1 Automotive's plan to acquire one of Brazil's largest dealership groups signals another frontier for the U.S. auto industry's expansion-minded publicly traded dealership groups. Until now, Group 1 and Penske Automotive Group have concentrated on Europe when it came to overseas acquisitions while joining their four big peers in selectively adding U.S. stores.... Read More »

 

Penske, Group 1, Lithia shares rise to records after analyst report

4:55 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 23, 2013
Penske Automotive Group, Group 1 Automotive, and Lithia Motors reached record prices after a KeyBanc Capital Markets report about the auto retailers cited a "confident" outlook on vehicle sales in the United States. Penske gained 4.2 percent to $32.32 at the close in New York, the highest since its 1996 initial public offering.... Read More »

 

Penske Automotive, Group 1 rebounding from Sandy's wrath

4:19 pm U.S. ET | Nov. 8, 2012
When Superstorm Sandy hit last week, stores owned by many of the nation's largest dealership groups mostly avoided damage, with two exceptions: Penske Automotive Group and Group 1 Automotive. Each has about a quarter of its stores on the East Coast.... Read More »

 

Discounts may decide race for luxury crown

12:01 am U.S. ET | Nov. 5, 2012
Retailers are preparing for a luxury-brand slugfest to end the year.... Read More »

 

Group 1's East Coast dealers expect $2 million in inventory losses

4:21 pm U.S. ET | Nov. 1, 2012
Group 1 Automotive's 24 East Coast dealerships are facing $2 million in inventory losses after Superstorm Sandy. Group 1, the nation's fourth-largest dealership group, estimates it will incur a $250,000 pre-tax deductible charge for facilities damages in the fourth quarter and $2 million in inventory losses.... Read More »

 

Group 1 eager for more acquisitions as profits rise

11:33 am U.S. ET | Oct. 25, 2012
Store acquisitions slowed during the third quarter for Group 1 Automotive Inc., but CEO Earl Hesterberg is still working to put deals together. “It's still our intention and desire to grow the company, and that's still our preferred use of our cash,” Hesterberg said today after the retailer announced record third-quarter earnings.... Read More »

 

As sales soar, VW stores are hot items

12:01 am U.S. ET | Oct. 22, 2012
As Volkswagen sales have surged in the United States, so has interest in acquiring VW dealerships. Fifty-five VW stores have changed hands this year, 50 percent more than in all of 2011.... Read More »

 

JIM HENRY

Regulation threat keeps F&I'ers up at night

12:01 am U.S. ET | Sept. 19, 2012
Dealers and F&I vendors fretted about possible tougher regulations last week at an F&I conference.... Read More »

 

Group 1 reports minor damage to its Gulf Coast dealerships

4:12 pm U.S. ET | Sept. 4, 2012
Group 1 Automotive said today that its Gulf Coast dealerships were spared major damage last week from Hurricane Isaac, but they expect light customer traffic while the region recovers from the storm.... Read More »

 

Private buyers snapping up stores

12:01 am U.S. ET | Aug. 20, 2012
Despite more optimism in 2012, the dealership mergers and acquisitions market hasn't taken off the way many experts predicted. Through the first half of the year, acquisitions of U.S. dealerships by the public retailers ran at less than half the pace of 2011.... Read More »

 

JIM HENRY

Sell more service contracts? That may get tough

12:01 am U.S. ET | Aug. 15, 2012
Is the glass 40 percent full, or is it 60 percent empty? Perhaps it's neither. A couple of the publicly traded new-vehicle retailers reported their extended-service contract penetration was around 40 percent for the second quarter -- specifically, Group 1 Automotive and Lithia Motors Inc. The other public groups don't usually break out detailed F&I numbers.... Read More »

 

DEALERSHIP BUY/SELL

Group 1 picks up Volkswagen store in Florida

12:01 am U.S. ET | Aug. 13, 2012
This Automotive News feature lists recent dealership acquisitions as reported by brokers, official announcements and news media.... Read More »

 

Political ads push dealerships out of TV, radio

12:01 am U.S. ET | Aug. 6, 2012
The presidential election will push many dealerships off the airwaves this fall. With political campaigns snapping up prime TV and radio air time early -- and driving up prices for those spots -- auto retailers such as Asbury Automotive Group are shifting advertising spending to other media.... Read More »

 

Strong F&I profits buoy 2nd-qtr. earnings for public retailers

12:01 am U.S. ET | July 30, 2012
Cheap and easily available credit, more subprime business, higher sales and additional training drove finance-and-insurance profits higher for the five public dealership groups that have released second-quarter earnings.... Read More »

 

Group 1 posts 16% gain in Q2 net income with all segments rising

9:21 am U.S. ET | July 26, 2012
Higher vehicle volume and record finance-and-insurance income drove Group 1 Automotive to a 16 percent gain in second-quarter net income. The nation's fourth-largest dealership group today reported net income of $28.6 million, up from $24.7 million a year ago. Revenues jumped 29 percent to $1.9 billion, a record high for any quarter for the company.... Read More »