CARY, N.C. -

Used-car operations continue to be a strong suit for the publicly traded dealer groups, including some who plan to add to thriving standalone pre-owned store programs. In this story, we recap the highlights from what the public retailers said of their used-car activities in the first quarter. 

At Sonic Automotive, its EchoPark Automotive standalone pre-owned stores posted record revenues of $507.1 million in the first quarter, which beat year-ago figures by 52.9%.

EchoPark also had its strongest ever quarter for retail sales, moving 19,670 units for a 40.6% year-over-year gain.

“We believe EchoPark’s swift growth demonstrates the long-term value proposition of this unique, pre-owned vehicle shopping concept, as a growing number of guests visit us in-store and online at EchoPark.com for the exceptional pricing, diverse inventory selection and guest-centric buying experience we offer,” Sonic and EchoPark president Jeff Dyke said in a news release.

“At the same time, we continue to develop our digital retail and delivery model, enabling consumers to purchase their next vehicle in an efficient way best tailored to their needs,” Dyke said. “With recent store openings in Phoenix, Arizona and Birmingham, Alabama, in addition to opening our latest delivery center in Charleston, South Carolina just last week, we remain committed to reaching a 140-point nationwide distribution network by 2025, which we expect to retail over half a million pre-owned vehicles annually by that time.

“With our progress to date, we believe we are well on track to reach $14.0 billion in EchoPark revenues by 2025,” Dyke said.

At Penske Automotive Group, its 17 CarShop Used Vehicle SuperCenters throughout the U.S. and U.K. saw overall retail sales and revenue decline, but operations were robust in the U.S.

Specifically, CarShop had 11,395 retail sales overall, a 30.1% dip. Its revenue was $242.6 million, a 20.6% drop. However, this was mostly driven by CarShop retail sales in the U.K. falling 43% amid showrooms closing for the entire quarter for COVID-19 restrictions, Penske said.

CarShop retail sales in the U.S. actually climbed 25% in Q1.

Looking forward, Penske plans to add two CarShop locations this quarter and two more by the end of the year, with a goal of 40 stores by year-end 2023.

AutoNation, which currently has five standalone used-car stores, is also planning some pre-owned expansion, to say the least. The retailer wants to have more than 130 AutoNation USA locations open by the end of 2026.

That target store count would include the five existing AutoNation USA stores. The retailer plans to have five additional USA stores finished by late this year, then add 12 more in 2022.  And then the growth in AutoNation USA would really escalate.

As one analyst from the investment community calculated during AutoNation’s quarterly earnings call, reaching the 130-plus AutoNation store count by the end of 2026 would mean adding at least 27 locations a year between 2023 and 2026.

Next up, over at Group 1 Automotive, its U.S. dealerships retailed 30,431 used units during the first quarter, beating year-ago figures by 10%.

And at Asbury Automotive Group, used retail sales climbed 16%, as its dealers sold 23,519 pre-owned units for the quarter.

Lithia Motors & Driveway sold 59,027 used retail units during the first quarter, a 38.5% increase.

AutoNation, overall, moved 71,780 used retail units for a 27.8% gain.