AutoNation Inc.
(
AN
) announced a 12% rise in new vehicles sales to 20,534 units in
April 2012. The improvement in sales was attributable to higher
sales in all its segments compared to the comparable month of the
prior year.
Sales in the Domestic segment went up 9% to 6,306 units. The
segment comprises of retail automotive franchises that sell
vehicles manufactured by
Ford Motor Co.
(
F
),
General Motors Company
(
GM
) and Chrysler. During the month, the automotive retailer's sales
of Ford vehicles went up 4%.
Sales in the Import segment hiked 16% to 10,358 units. The
segment comprises of retail automotive franchises that sell
vehicles produced by
Toyota Motor Corp.
(
TM
),
Honda Motor Co.
(
HMC
) and
Nissan Motor Co.
(
NSANY
). The retailer's sales of Toyota-made vehicles escalated 29% in
the reported month.
Sales in the Premium Luxury segment swelled 10% to 3,870 units
during the month. The segment consists of retail automotive
franchises that sell vehicles manufactured by
Daimler AG's
(
DDAIF
) Mercedes Benz, BMW and Lexus.
The company's sales of Mercedes Benz vehicles rose 16% during the
month.
Light vehicle sales in the U.S depicted a sluggish growth of
2.3% to 1.18 million units from 1.16 million units in April last
year. Meanwhile, it went up 9.5% to seasonally adjusted annual rate
(SAAR) of 14.42 million units from 13.17 million units in the
year-ago month.
The sluggish growth was attributable to lower sales performance
of the two biggest players in the industry - General Motors and
Ford
,
and fewer selling days (due to more Sundays in the month compared
with April 2011). However, auto sales were favorably affected by
fuel-efficient lineups and pent-up demand.
Headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, AutoNation is the
largest automotive retailer in the U.S. The company owns and
operates 260 new vehicle franchises that sell 32 brands located in
the major metropolitan markets in 15 states. The company offers a
range of automotive products and services, including new vehicle,
used vehicles, vehicle maintenance and repair services, vehicle
parts, vehicle protection products and other aftermarket
products.
AutoNation posted its first-quarter 2012 profits of 56 cents per
share, up 22% from 46 cents in the year-ago quarter, surpassing the
Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3 cents per share.
Revenues in the quarter rose 10.4% to $3.7 billion from $3.3
billion in the same quarter last year. It was higher than the Zacks
Consensus Estimate of $3.6 billion. The higher revenues were
attributable to improvement in retail new vehicle sales.
The company's effort to expand its dealer network by investing
in existing stores and service centers will help it to outgrow
peers. With this, the company retains a Zacks #1 Rank, which
implies a short-term Strong Buy rating.
AUTONATION INC (AN): Free Stock Analysis Report
DAIMLER AG (DDAIF): Free Stock Analysis Report
FORD MOTOR CO (F): Free Stock Analysis Report
GENERAL MOTORS (GM): Free Stock Analysis Report
HONDA MOTOR (HMC): Free Stock Analysis Report
NISSAN ADR (NSANY): Free Stock Analysis Report
TOYOTA MOTOR CP (TM): Free Stock Analysis
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