Michael Manley said AutoNation decided to “realign, reposition and reduce” its used-car inventory in the first quarter of 2022. That appeared to be a wise move as the year went on, said Manley, who is AutoNation’s CEO.

“It did, however, set us up for a tough comp per unit volume in Q1,” Manley said during AutoNation’s first quarter 2023 earnings call on April 20.

Manley said during the call that the company will “remain nimble” in its approach to used vehicles.

“And expansion of our AutoNation USA footprint remains ...