DULUTH, Ga. -

The pre-owned business at Asbury Automotive Group may be quite pivotal in helping another segment continue to make progress.

Asbury generated nearly $18 million in gross profits from reconditioning and preparation work during the second quarter, helping its parts and service business achieve a 4-percent year-over-year gain in both parts and service gross profits and gross margins.

And as an executive pointed out during Tuesday’s quarterly conference call, the retailer’s used-vehicle business continues to play a major role in shaping these gains.

This area of Asbury’s business was the topic of a financial analyst’s question Tuesday morning during the Q&A portion of the call. The analyst had asked Asbury management about the relationship between vehicles sales volume and reconditioning/preparation, and whether vehicle sales leveling off would ultimately affect parts and service gross margins.

In his response, Asbury executive vice president and chief operating officer Michael Kearney put a big emphasis on the used-car business and its role within parts and service.

“We continually look at doing more certified business in our dealerships, which would then be reflected in higher internal work as we spend more money on the car,” he said.

And with growth in the 121 Program — Asbury’s used retail program that aims for a one-to-one used-to-new sales ratio — parts and service will likely see a lift, too, Kearney stressed.

“As we continue to reach to the 100-percent level (of that program), we will continue to grow that internal parts and service business, as we just get more and more cars available,” he continued. “I think near-term, we’ll continue to see strong growth in that arena as long as we continue to push our used-car program.”

The used-vehicle retail operation, itself, was quite strong for Asbury during the period. It moved 14,897 used units for a 6-percent hike over the year-ago period.

In the first half of the year, Asbury retailed 30,121 used vehicles, up from 27,357 used retail sales in the first six months of 2011.

Asbury’s first-half gains on the used retail side were ahead of what was observed in the national used-car market by Manheim chief economist Tom Webb, who cited a 4-percent increase for total used sales across the country for the first half of 2012.

“Total used vehicle retail sales in June declined 2.5 percent from their year-ago level, per CNW (Research),” he said. “Sales for the first half of the year still showed a healthy 4.1 percent gain.

“The comparison against a year ago was distorted by last year’s production disruption that left dealers short of new vehicle inventory and pushed substitute used vehicle sales higher,” he added “The total new-to-used sales ratio was a high 4.3-to-1 in June of last year, and a more normal 3.4-to-1 this year.”