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To that end, Krebs pointed out that at the dealership group’s BMW and Honda $180.2 million in revenue, which was also
affordability is starting to be concerning dealerships. more than triple its revenue in the year-ago
even to luxury vehicle shoppers, according quarter.
to recent survey data from the company. Its same store, new-vehicle revenue in the
quarter grew 1.6 percent, driven by higher “I’m most proud of the topline revenue
And certainly, if value in general is that average selling prices, but gross profits growth experienced in our EchoPark stores
important, it raises an interesting choice. dropped 6.3 percent because of lower as we continue to open new stores, and our
margins. ramp up period is shortening and volumes
“To Charlie’s point, if you’ve got $20,000 are building at a more rapid rate,” Sonic
to spend and you can buy a new compact The EchoPark stores were “profitable president Scott Smith said during the call.
car or you can buy a 3-year-old compact as a group” in June, Sonic executive vice
sport utility, hmm, what are you going to president of operations, Jeff Dyke, said Sonic isn’t the only public dealer group
choose?” Krebs said. during the company’s second quarter with some used-car momentum.
earnings call on July 27. EchoPark’s seven
The recent quarterly results from public stores made more than $1 million in June In 34 of the past 36 quarters, same-store
dealership groups “reinforces that notion,” and were tracking to exceed that amount in used-car unit sales for the seven public
Krebs said, as they have shown “very heavy July. dealership groups (which includes CarMax)
reliance on the used-car market for a lot of have climbed, former Cox Automotive chief
their growth.” The company expects its EchoPark economist and current Auto Remarketing
operations to generate about $15 million in contributor Tom Webb said via Twitter on
String of used-car gains continues profits next year. Wednesday, citing company earnings.
for public
At Sonic Automotive, for instance, its EchoPark’s retail sales of 7,459 units in (That said, used-vehicle retail gross margins
EchoPark standalone used-car stores were the quarter were more than triple its unit for those groups were down again, Webb
a bright spot in the second quarter amid sales in the second quarter of 2017, the wrote).
disappointing new-vehicle margin erosion company said. EchoPark stores generated Continued on page 12
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