Editor's note: An earlier version of this story misstated Penske's total vehicles sold in the quarter. Total sales were 108,277 units.
Penske Automotive Group Inc. reported second-quarter net income rose 29 percent driven largely by a high volume of vehicle sales and a solid performance in all business segments.
The nation’s second-largest dealership group said today it posted net income of $95.7 million during the quarter, vs. $73.9 million during the same quarter last year. Revenue increased 12 percent to $4.90 billion during the quarter.
Penske Automotive said it was helped by stronger performance in all areas of the business: new vehicles, used vehicles, parts and service and finance and insurance.
“We just completed the best quarter and six-month period in the history of our company,” said Chairman Roger Penske in a media statement. “The performance of our business continues to demonstrate the flexibility and resiliency of the company’s brand mix and business model.”
Second-quarter operating income rose 17 percent to $159.1 million.
The U.S. comprised 62 percent of Penske’s revenue, its business in the U.K. made up 34 percent and “other” operations contributed 4 percent.
Penske Automotive’s retail sales volume rose to a total of 108,277 units sold, up from 100,765 as the company retailed 58,758 new vehicles and 49,519 used vehicles.
But on a same-store basis, gross margins per vehicle on both new and used declined slightly. Gross profit per new vehicle sold dropped to $2,992 from $3,125 and used fell to $1,780 from $1,978.
On a same-store basis, retail revenue increased 6 percent to $4.5 billion. Penske’s retail sales on new units rose to 58,191 from 55,063 units. For the quarter, U.S. industry light sales increased 3.3 percent.
Penske ranks No. 2 on the Automotive News list of the top 150 dealership groups in the United States, with retail sales of 216,462 new vehicles in 2014.
