• AutoNation Inc. (Fort Lauderdale, FL) reported $902.60 million in Customer Care (parts and service) revenue for the third quarter of 2019 — an increase of 4.5% compared to a year ago. Customer Care gross profit rose 4.7% to $409 million. Same-store customer care gross profit increased 6%, with customer-pay gross profit up 10% and warranty gross profit up 6% year-over-year. AutoNation, the largest U.S. automotive retailer, operated over 325 locations coast-to-coast as of Sept. 30, 2019.
• Third-quarter 2019 service and parts revenue from the Penske Automotive Group’s retail automotive dealerships increased 3.8% to $543.50 million, with an increase of 4.1% domestically and 3.0% internationally. Same-store service and parts revenue rose 4.3%, with warranty up 2.6% and customer-pay up 4.7%. Gross profit from service and parts increased 2.7% to $321.70 million, with same-store service and parts gross profit up 3.0%. Bloomfield Hills, MI-based Penske is the second-largest automotive retailer headquartered in the United States, operating 333 franchises, of which 149 were located in the United States and 184 were located overseas, as of Sept. 30, 2019.
• For the third quarter of 2019, Group 1 Automotive’s parts and service revenue increased 8.2% to $383.50 million, with U.S. revenue up 8.8% (up 9.6% on a same-store basis). Same-store customer-pay revenue rose 11.1%, while collision revenue increased 8.3%, wholesale parts revenue grew 6.6% and warranty revenue rose 10.6%. Parts and service gross profit increased 8.7% to $208.20 million, with U.S. gross profit up 10.1% (up 9.9% on a same-store basis). Worldwide, Houston-based Group 1 owned and operated 238 franchises at 183 dealership locations — along with 49 collision centers — as of Sept. 30, 2019. In the United States, the company owned 151 franchises at 117 dealerships, as well as 30 collision centers.
• Sonic Automotive’s third-quarter 2019 Fixed Operations (parts, service and collision repair) revenue increased 2.6% to $352.05 million, with same-store Fixed Operations revenue up 5.1%. Fixed Operations gross profit increased 1.3% to $168.94 million. On a same-store basis, gross profit rose 5.3%, with customer-pay up 8.9%, warranty up 6.8% and wholesale parts up 1.9%. As of Sept. 30, 2019, Charlotte-based Sonic operated 91 franchised dealerships, consisting of 103 new vehicle franchises representing 23 different brands of cars and light trucks — as well as 15 collision repair centers — across 13 states.
• Lithia Motors’ total service, body and parts revenue rose 9.4% to $340.50 million in the third quarter of 2019. Same-store revenue increased 9.5%, with customer-pay up 9.1%, parts wholesale and body shop up 8.0%, and warranty up 11.1%. Service, body and parts gross profit rose 11.0% to $171.50 million, with same-store gross profit up 11.1%. Medford, OR-based Lithia operated 184 locations representing 30 brands across 19 states as of Sept. 30, 2019.
• The Asbury Automotive Group (Duluth, GA) reported $227.60 million in parts and service revenue for the third quarter of 2019 — an increase of 10.4%, with same-store parts and service revenue up 8.3%. Parts and service gross profit rose 9.0% to $141.50 million. On a same-store basis, gross profit increased 6.8%, with customer-pay up 6.6%, wholesale parts up 5.5% and warranty up 13.1%. As of Sept. 30, 2019, Asbury owned and operated 107 new vehicle franchises (88 dealership locations) and 25 collision centers in 18 metropolitan markets across 10 states.