EDMONTON -

AutoCanada made quite a rebound in the first quarter, posting its strongest-ever Q1 revenue, among other highlights — including a robust used-car performance.

Looking at consolidated results, AutoCanada retailed a combined 9,734 used vehicles in the first quarter, up 51.9% year-over-year.

Used-vehicle revenue climbed from $229.36 million a year ago to $364.07 million in Q1.

Used-vehicle gross profits came in at $24.18 million, up from $10.17 million in Q1 2020.

AutoCanada generated 6.6% gross profit margins on used cars in Q1, up from 4.4% a year ago.

In Canada specifically, the retailer lifted its used-to-new retail unit ratio to 1.29 in the first quarter, compared to 1.08 in Q1 2020.

The trailing 12-month measure of that ratio was 1.01, up from 0.81 a year ago.

AutoCanada also reached this milestone: hitting an average trailing 12-month used retail unit sales per dealership per month of 50 in Canada (excluding the recently purchased Haldimand Motors). That’s the first time this has happened since the retailer launched its Project 50 program and beats the year-ago average of 41.

Offering some overall commentary, AutoCanada executive chairman Paul Antony said in a news release: “We delivered another record-setting performance and a ninth consecutive quarter of market-outpacing growth, as the continued execution of our complete business model positions us to sustain top-tier operating performance and support our next leg of growth.

“The success of our recent financing and strength of our operating platform enables us to remain on offense and take advantage of acquisition opportunities while maintaining our strong balance sheet and financial flexibility. We continue to advance and actively assess strategic acquisition opportunities and have developed a robust pipeline with the goal of diversifying by geography and brands, in addition to expanding our network of used dealerships and collision centers,” he said.

“As we begin to gain perspective on the events over the past year and our response to the COVID-19 pandemic and related market impacts, it is increasingly clear that AutoCanada has emerged even stronger through our relentless focus on the fundamentals. As a company, we are exceptionally well-positioned to capitalize on this positive momentum and consolidate our outperformance in a way that carries us through 2021 and beyond,” Antony added.

“While we’re incredibly proud of the quarter, we continue to keep our heads down executing as we transition into the summer months, in particular given the breadth of opportunity before us. We also recognize the impact of COVID-19 remains fluid and continue to manage the business accordingly.”