No dealership group has been more active in acquiring new locations than Group 1.

So far in 2024, the Houston-based company has added nine new dealerships in the U.S., with acquisitions in Maryland, California and South Carolina that added an expected $1 billion in annual revenues. And it has exploded in the U.K., doubling its presence there with the addition of 58 stores expected to add $2.9 billion annually.

Not surprisingly, then, Group 1 reported record revenues of $5.2 billion and a record gross profit of $852.7 million in its third quarter 2024 financial results, not to mention record unit sales for both new (53,775, up 18.6% year-over-year) and used (55,907, up 10.1%) vehicles.

That’s good news, but even better is that used sales on a same-store basis rose 3.3% from Q2, while average sales price in the same period was up $159 to $29,624.

“We are pleased with our ability to increase volume and hold pricing,” senior vice president and chief financial officer Daniel McHenry said this week during the company’s Q3 earnings call. “We believe this is a testament to our process, discipline and use of technology with pricing used vehicles.”

Group 1’s used cars held their profit far better than new cars in Q3. While new-vehicle gross per vehicle retailed plummeted 20.5% from Q3 2023 and 19.5% on a same-store basis, the used PVR was down just 1.7% overall to $1,574 and 5.3% same-store to $1,530.

One very profitable area of Group 1 is its vehicle service operation, which generated a record $367 million in gross profit in Q3, up 17% YOY and was up 5% to $319 million on a same-store basis.

McHenry said same-store revenues rose 5% for customer pay work rose and 19.6% for warranty work revenues, which, he said, “demonstrate our ability to add aftersales capacity on the same-store basis.”

“We continue to view aftersales as a way to differentiate Group 1,” president and CEO Daryl Kenningham said. “We believe it is the most underinvested area of our business, and for a number of reasons we believe there is tremendous opportunity for growth well into the future. And we are putting even more focus into this.”

That focus includes a significant investment in technicians.

“Our overall same store non-technician U.S. headcount has declined 10% from 2019,” McHenry said. “However, our technician headcount is up 20% over the same period. … We have added 8% additional technicians this year alone.”

Still, Kenningham said Group 1’s main focus remain squarely on growth, in the form of acquiring new locations. And while the company this year’s purchase of Inchcape Retail is likely the last big transaction for in the U.K. for the foreseeable future, there are still some “chunky” deals to be made in the U.S.

“We continue to grow revenues through acquisitions,” he said. “We think there can be chunky deals in the U.S. still, especially in certain markets that aren’t as built out as other markets — including some we’re already in.

“So, we don’t think we have to grow any more in the U.K. to be competitive and get scale, but we think there’s plenty of opportunities here in the U.S. for some larger deals.”