Asbury's used-car sales climb nearly 11%

DULUTH, Ga. - 

Many of the metrics around Asbury Automotive Group's used-car operations have shown some growth, both in the third quarter and through nine months of the year, according to the retailer's quarterly earnings report released Tuesday.  

Asbury increased its used-car retail sales by nearly 11 percent in the third quarter, retailing 20,824 pre-owned units.

That’s up from 18,777 in Q3 of 2017 and pushes the year-to-date figure to 63,079 used-car retail sales, up from 59,107 through Q3 of 2017.

Asbury’s used-to-new sales ratio for the quarter was 75 percent, up from 74.6 percent a year ago.  Year-to-date, it’s at 81.4 percent, compared to 80.1 percent through three quarters of 2017.

The dealer group pulled in $497.5 million in total used-car revenue for the third quarter, a 9-percent hike. That includes $448.7 million in retail used-car revenue (up 12 percent) and $48.8 million in wholesale used-car revenue (down 12 percent).

For the year, Asbury has generated a shade under $1.5 billion in total used revenue, up 7 percent from the year-ago period. That includes $1.36 billion on the retail side (up 9 percent) and $143.6 million on the wholesale side (down 5 percent).

Total used-car gross profits of $32.8 million were up 14 percent year-over-year in Q3; through nine months, they’re up 5 percent at $100.4 million.

Average gross profit per used vehicle in Q3 was $1,570, up from $1,539 a year ago. Used retail gross margins of 7.3 percent were up from 7.2 percent in Q3 of 2017.

Through nine months of the year, average gross profit per used vehicle is at $1,562, down from $1,597 a year ago.

Used retail gross margins have declined from 7.6 percent to 7.3 percent.