CARY, N.C. -

Same-store used-vehicle sales for the six publicly traded dealer groups fell a combined 11.2% year-over-year in the first half of 2020, Cox Automotive data shows, but there is still a silver lining to take away from that metric.

Pre-owned operations for the public retailers are faring better than their new-car sales, and their decline in used-car sales is less steep than the overall’s market, according to a Data Point report from Cox released last week.

More specifically, the aforementioned 11.2% drop in same-store used sales for the publics compares to a 21.8% slide in their same-store new-vehicle sales.

Meanwhile, there was a 17% decline in used sales for the overall market, Cox Automotive said.

“The shift in vehicle demand, away from new and toward used, is clearly reflected in the 1H financial reporting of the largest players in the auto industry: franchised dealer groups …  Looking at the 1H performances of these publicly traded dealer groups, the trend in our industry is crystal clear: Sales are down, but the used market is performing better than new,” the company said.

And some groups are leaning into their used-car operations.

At Sonic Automotive, one of the six publicly traded groups, its franchised dealerships had same-store retail used-vehicle sales of 49,871 units in the first half, a decline of 5.2%.

However, first-half same-store used sales for its EchoPark Automotive pre-owned stores climbed 4.8% in the first half, reaching 24,783 units sold.

 “EchoPark has continued to see a v-shaped recovery in sales volume and improved profitability, surpassing our original pre-pandemic forecasts for the month of June. For the second quarter, EchoPark segment income increased 52%, demonstrating the leverage and profit potential of this model,” Sonic and EchoPark president Jeff Dyke said in an earnings release.

“Based on the significant success of EchoPark, we are accelerating EchoPark’s expansion. We expect EchoPark to sell over half a million vehicles annually by 2025, through a 140-point nationwide distribution network and expanded e-commerce capabilities, generating incremental revenue in excess of $10 billion annually.”

Meanwhile, AutoNation said in its quarterly earnings release it would be adding at least 20 stores in the next three years to its AutoNation USA standalone used-car program.

And last week, the retailer appointed a president for AutoNation USA, moving current Western Region president Steve Kwak to that position.

“We see an opportunity to take a larger share of the used vehicle market and benefit from the increased interest in vehicle ownership by our customers. AutoNation's strong brand, first-class digital capabilities, and One Price pricing strategy, combined with lower acquisition cost and stable used vehicle retail pricing make AutoNation USA stores an attractive opportunity,” AutoNation chairman and chief executive officer Mike Jackson said in a news release.

AutoNation retailed 114,935 used vehicles on a same-store basis in the first half, down from 120,698 a year ago.

Same-store used sales actually increased slightly for Lithia Motors, which moved 81,094 pre-owned units for a 0.2% gain, according to company earnings.

Back in July, Lithia said it generated around a 23% year-over-year spike in same-store used-vehicle unit sales during June, which was a record month in pre-owned for the retailer.

Cox Automotive analysts added in their report: “In total, the large dealer groups are selling more used units, which follows general industry guidelines for dealer operations. How much they can skew to used-vehicle sales is contingent on used-vehicle supply and pricing.”