Here's our annual ranking of the top retailers by used-vehicle sales

Used-auto retailers faced unprecedented events in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic unfolded, but some things remained constant.

For one, digital newcomers continued to gain ground in used-vehicle sales volume. And many lessons learned from past market downturns still applied amid the pandemic.

That was all reflected in Automotive News' annual ranking of the top 100 used-vehicle retailers for 2020.

There was some shuffling among the top five spots — CarMax maintained the No. 1 spot, but online upstart Carvana Co. climbed to No. 2 from No. 4 for 2019. Carvana, formed in 2012, first entered the list at No. 8 for 2018.

"Year after year we've shown that delivering exceptional customer experiences, giving car buyers a process that's easy, transparent and convenient, drives growth," Carvana CEO Ernie Garcia said in statement. "We're so proud of Team Carvana for reaching this milestone — accomplishing in just eight years what has historically taken decades."

Carvana retailed 244,111 used vehicles last year, still well behind CarMax's 832,640 but leaping past AutoNation Inc. and Penske Automotive Group Inc. AutoNation remained at No. 3 with retail sales of 241,182 used vehicles. Penske dropped from No. 2 to No. 4 with retail sales of 233,469 used vehicles.

The rest of the top 10 remained the same as in 2020 with Lithia Motors Inc., Sonic Automotive Inc., Group 1 Automotive Inc., Hendrick Automotive Group, Asbury Automotive Group and Larry H. Miller Dealerships rounding out the rest of the spots, in that order.

Among other digital upstarts, Vroom climbed two spots to No. 14, while Shift Technologies Inc. edged up four spots to No. 89.

The traditional dealership groups on the list boasted some big movers. Acquisitions helped some groups that made substantial climbs — but some also capitalized on opportunities presented in 2020's chaotic spring selling season.

Wisconsin-based Kunes Country Auto Group made the list's biggest leap, jumping 23 spots to No. 54.

COO Scott Kunes said past downturns such as the Great Recession helped inform decision-making last spring when used-vehicle sales and prices crashed as the pandemic emerged.

"We were able to kind of recognize that we were in a good position to purchase inventory," Kunes said.

That enabled the group to capitalize on the upturn in business that soon followed. Sales and prices began to climb steadily in May, and the used-vehicle market remained hot throughout the summer.

The Kunes group was in good shape in other ways. It underwent a restructuring in 2019 that better positioned existing stores, Scott Kunes said, and it also allowed the group to acquire and acclimate new dealerships quickly. Kunes added four stores last year.

Another big mover was Michigan-based Zeigler Auto Group, which climbed 10 spots to No. 32. Zeigler also grasped opportunity in a temporarily depressed market.

When the pandemic brought sales operations to a halt last spring, especially at its Michigan stores, group President Aaron Zeigler said the retailer essentially turned its otherwise idle salespeople into car buyers.

"We went out and bought every used car we could — literally thousands and thousands of used cars from all over the country," Zeigler said. "We bought from auctions; we bought from other dealers."

That paid off when sales picked back up and is still helping given the low new-vehicle inventory levels in the industry, he said.

Zeigler also bought three dealerships in early 2020 — Infiniti, Jaguar-Land Rover and Mercedes-Benz stores in Illinois. While those additions helped sales growth, "the main driver was our sales per store were up substantially," he said.

Restructuring its used-vehicle operations paid off for Ohio-based Ganley Auto Group, which climbed nine spots to No. 23.

Ganley added six stores in 2020, including large-volume Chevrolet and Kia dealerships. Most of the acquisitions happened in early 2020, thus contributing to the group's growth in sales.

Centralizing vehicle wholesaling was also key, CEO Ken Ganley said.

"We're trying to keep more and more of our vehicles in-house," Ganley said. "And that has also played a nice role in our growth where maybe certain vehicles one, two years ago we would have wholesaled. ... Now we're strategically moving them within the company and turning those into retail deals instead of wholesale."

The approach is paying off.

Said Ganley: "With used cars being so scarce right now, being able to keep everything possible is something we look to do every single day."