Automotive News - April 24, 2023 - S3

New No. 1 on revamped list
T
he apex of Automotive News' list
of top used-vehicle retailers
looks markedly different this year.
There's a new No. 1 - Lithia
Motors Inc. And the list's longtime
leader CarMax Inc. has departed, as
have online used-vehicle retailers
Carvana Co., Vroom Inc. and Shift
Technologies Inc. We haven't forgotten
those used-vehicle giants - they will be
part of a new list of large used-only
retailers to be published May 15.
The change was spurred in part by
CarMax's sale in late 2021 of its last
franchised dealership. CarMax's
portfolio of franchised stores is why it
was originally included on the list of top
dealership groups ranked by usedvehicle
sales. Online upstarts Carvana,
Vroom and Shift were added to the list as
their growth presented increasing
competition for franchised dealers.
With the change, the six publicly
owned dealership groups now dominate
the top of the newest list.
Lithia, which also just surpassed
AutoNation Inc. to lead Automotive
News' latest ranking of the top 150
Largest gainers
Among the dealership groups on the list,
31 rose by 10 or more spots. Del
Grande Dealer Group of San Jose, Calif.,
climbed the most, rising 27 spots to No.
59. Others making the biggest leaps up
the list include Open Road Auto Group,
of Bridgewater, N.J., rising 25 spots to
No. 49, and Keating Auto Group, of Victoria, Texas, rising 24 spots
to No. 25. Here are the 10 groups that made the biggest gains:
DEALERSHIP GROUP
1 Del Grande Dealer Group
2 Open Road Auto Group
3 Keating Auto Group
4 Cavender Auto Family
5 Ed Morse Automotive Group
6 Shottenkirk Automotive Group
6 Bob Johnson Auto Group
6 Wallace Automotive Group
9 Phil Long Dealerships
9 Brandon Steven Motors
Source: Automotive News Research & Data Center
2022
RANK
59
49
25
38
48
19
68
76
63
73
2021
RANK CHANGE
86
74
49
61
68
38
87
95
79
89
27
25
24
23
20
19
19
19
16
16
dealership groups in the U.S. by newvehicle
sales, is followed by AutoNation,
Penske Automotive Group Inc., Group 1
Automotive Inc., Sonic Automotive Inc.
and Asbury Automotive Group Inc.
Rounding out the remainder of the top
10 are Hendrick Automotive Group,
Morgan Auto Group, Ken Garff
Automotive Group and Napleton
Automotive Group.
Here are other insights into this year's list
of the top 100 dealership groups based in
the U.S. and ranked by the number of used
vehicles they retailed in 2022.
Biggest declines
Three groups on the list fell by five or
more spots, led by Chapman
Automotive Group, of Tempe, Ariz.,
which dropped 18 spots to No. 36.
The next biggest declines came from
Island Auto Group, of Staten Island,
N.Y., which fell 16 spots to No. 66,
and Balise Motor Sales Co., of West Springfield, Mass.,
which fell five spots to No. 69. Here are the nine groups
that tumbled in rank:
DEALERSHIP GROUP
2022
RANK
2021
RANK CHANGE
1 Chapman Automotive Group 36 18
2 Island Auto Group
3 Balise Motor Sales Co.
4 Priority Auto Group
4 Earnhardt Auto Centers
4 Herb Chambers Cos.
4 Victory Automotive Group
66 50
69 64
75 72
74 71
34 31
30 27
8 Bommarito Automotive Group 77 76
8 Bergstrom Automotive
55 54
Source: Automotive News Research & Data Center
Newcomers to the list
8 dealership groups are new to this year's top 100 used list. Three
- McGovern, Envision and Young - are new to both this used
ranking and the recently published list of the top 150 dealership
groups based in the U.S. and ranked by 2022 new-vehicle sales. The
other five groups - Bomnin, Empire, Gilchrist, Bob Loquercio and Murgado
- had appeared in earlier top 150 lists but had never made the used ranking.
-18
-16
-5
-3
-3
-3
-3
-1
-1
Used-to-new ratio champs
Franchised dealers have long aimed
to sell at least one used vehicle for
every new vehicle sold, making a 1:1
ratio of used sales versus new the
industry gold standard. There was no
shortage of franchised retailers
accomplishing that target in 2022
with 53 companies on the top 100
list achieving a 1:1 ratio or better.
Dealers have seen that ratio improve
the last few years as the pandemic
and a limited supply of microchips resulted in new-vehicle
shortages - constraining new-vehicle sales and putting more
pressure on retailers to improve their used-vehicle sales. In
2022, the average dealership group on the list sold 1.09 used
vehicles for every new vehicle sold. That was down from 1.52
for 2021, but the ratio for the list that year was skewed sharply
higher by used-vehicle giants CarMax, Carvana, Vroom and Shift
Technologies, which aren't on the 2022 list.
DEALERSHIP GROUP
1 Garber Management
Group
2 Cooper Auto Group
3 Russ Darrow Group
4 Kunes Auto Group
5 Shottenkirk
Automotive Group
6 Performance
Automotive Network
7 Sonic Automotive* 101,168 172,619 1.71
8 Rohrman Automotive
Group
13,938 22,381 1.61
9 Ron Marhofer Auto
Family
10 Blaise Alexander
Family Dealerships
*Publicly held
Source: Automotive News Research & Data Center
5,342
8,342 1.56
7,941 11,739 1.48
18,908 33,987 1.80
NEW RETAIL
UNITS SOLD
IN 2022
USED RETAIL
UNITS SOLD
IN 2022
USEDTO-NEW
RATIO
12,052
33,805 2.80
6,458 14,852 2.30
5,673 11,139 1.96
9,233 17,875 1.94
14,429 26,107 1.81
2022 RANK DEALERSHIP GROUP
54
79
90
94
TOTAL USED
RETAIL UNITS
McGovern Automotive Group
Envision Motors
Bomnin Automotive Group
Empire Automotive Group
14,357
10,429
8,620
8,332
2022 RANK DEALERSHIP GROUP
95
97
98
99
TOTAL USED
RETAIL UNITS
Young Automotive Group
Gilchrist Automotive
Bob Loquercio Auto Group
Murgado Automotive Group
Source: Automotive News Research & Data Center
8,191
8,020
7,995
7,989
Automotive News - April 24, 2023

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