Lithia Motors Inc., now the largest seller of new vehicles in the U.S., appears to have eliminated around 1,000 unspecified positions this year.
The move comes amid lower gross profits on new and used vehicles and as the auto retailer's same-store new and used vehicle sales slipped in the first quarter compared to a year earlier.
Lithia COO Chris Holzshu, on the company's first-quarter earnings call last week, said the group has been focused on "right-sizing" in certain pockets that had increased its selling, general and administrative expenses "in a declining [gross profit per unit] environment and sales environment that we had to adapt to.
"Since we last spoke coming off of Q4's call, we've eliminated about 1,000 positions in the field and have right-sized a lot of pay plans, kind of getting folks ready for this new environment that helps us leverage the gross and the net. And so, [in] March actually, we saw a lot of that come through the bottom line and we're anticipating additional strength coming into Q2."