Spurred by a stellar Labor Day weekend and strong marketing campaign, AutoNation reported its best September for sales of new vehicles since 2000.
The country’s largest dealership group announced a 21 percent jump in new-vehicle sales this September from a year ago to reach 29,046 new cars and light trucks sold. The sales spiked 18 percent in stores open at least one year.
AutoNation’s growth outpaced the 16 percent gains in retail new-vehicle sales for the industry nationwide in September, as calculated by researcher Autodata.
Sales jumped partly because of an accounting quirk. Labor Day was counted in August last year. Plus, September this year had one more selling day than last year, said the Fort Lauderdale-based chain.
By state, AutoNation’s new-vehicle sales rose a whopping 29 percent in Florida and 28 percent in California this September compared with last, according to Chief Executive Mike Jackson.
By segment, company sales of new vehicles in its domestic unit climbed 27 percent to 9,306; its import division 17 percent to 13,593; and its premium luxury division 20 percent to 6,147, AutoNation said.
The results follow a stellar Labor Day for auto sales nationwide, as a combination of a rising economy, deals on 2015 models, low interest rates and pent-up demand fueled sales, auto analysts have said.
AutoNation in September also began a $16 million advertising and marketing campaign that features a push to increase awareness about breast cancer. The company vows to donate at least $1 million of its own cash to breast cancer research as part of the campaign that wraps up Dec. 19 with the college football game, the AutoNation Cure Bowl.
For the third quarter, AutoNation said its retail sales of new vehicles rose 7 percent. Because Labor Day came late this year and counted as part of September, the company’s sales for August fell 5 percent. July sales had increased 9 percent, marking the company’s best July since 2006.
Nationwide, sales of new vehicles topped an annualized rate of 18 million units in September, the most since July 2005, Autodata research showed. U.S. manufacturers are seeing hefty sales gains, as consumers flock to trucks, thanks partly to lower gas prices.
dhemlock@sunsentinel.com, 305-810-5009, @dhemlock on Twitter
