Lithia Motors
Lithia Motors is a retailer of new and used vehicles and related services. The company offers over 50 brands of vehicles at nearly 500 stores globally across the US, Canada, and UK. The company has expanded largely through the acquisition of dealerships in smaller regional markets but now seeks to grow in any part of the US and we expect more deals over time in the US and, at times, abroad. Annual revenue in 2024 was $36.2 billion and we see over $50 billion possible in a few years. The US was 78% of 2024 revenue and the UK second at 19%, due to the 2024 Pendragon acquisition. In 2024, new vehicle sales were about 49% of total revenue. Lithia was founded in 1946, went public in 1996, and is the largest US auto dealer. It is based in Medford, Oregon.www.lithia.com
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Search complete. 46 mentions across 21 episodes found for "Lithia Motors".
Oct 29, 2026
Ian PlummerGUEST
And they, in parallel to that, realized that they would gain, in terms of reassurance in the minds of the consumer, if they not only did things like the Korean playbook of the past by doing long warranties, which they have done, but also had lots of local retailer partners that the consumer in Leeds where we are right now recognized.
Ian PlummerGUEST
It might be the Lookers or the Listers or the Lithia site.
Ian PlummerGUEST
Three Ls in that little trio, but they know that Lookers or that Lithia site.
Ian PlummerGUEST
They've seen it there before.
Ian PlummerGUEST
It had that brand and that one.
Kyle MountsierHOST
Two little letters, AI.
Kyle MountsierHOST
Lithia Motors says that AI is boosting service pre-sales at its UK stores by never forgetting to offer the add-ons Busy Human Skip.
Kyle MountsierHOST
For six to nine months, Lithia's UK dealerships have used Pinewood.ai DMS.
Kyle MountsierHOST
whose AI agent books service appointments and consistently pitches extras like wiper blades and fluid changes.
Kyle MountsierHOST
CEO Brian DeBurr said, we're getting around 10 to 11% additional pre-sales on every single AI interaction.
Kyle MountsierHOST
If I had to guess before the AI went in, I bet we had close to zero.
Kyle MountsierHOST
Wow.
Kyle MountsierHOST
Lithia plans to finish rolling out Pinewood across all stores by 2028, but wants to bring the AI piece to the U.S. sooner.
Tommy McCulloughGUEST
And franchise laws have made it that the only way to buy a new car is through the dealership model.
Tommy McCulloughGUEST
And we have mega groups at this point, like AutoNation, Group One, Lithia, that aren't really the best.
Tommy McCulloughGUEST
So when 25% of the dealership groups are owned by these big dealership groups that are burning and churning through people and don't have much standards, it ends up creating this domino effect, this waterfall effect of just bad experience.
Tommy McCulloughGUEST
And it is more profitable because there isn't competition and there's nobody really to hold them accountable.
Kellen WalkerHOST
Is this a sign of where retail ownership is headed, or does it change anything for the other big groups that are still publicly traded? Larry, what are your thoughts?
Larry VellequettePANELIST
I don't know if this is going to be repeated, uh, at Sonic and Lithia, at AutoNation, et cetera.
Larry VellequettePANELIST
It is a, a great thing for Penske.
Larry VellequettePANELIST
There's one reason, and that is that Roger Penske is 89 years old.
Curtis HutchinsonHOST
Kazoo calls for tougher legislation as six in 10 dealers believe clocking has increased.
Curtis HutchinsonHOST
Then after the break, we have the latest financials from Lithia UK and Virtu Motors with profits up for both groups.
Curtis HutchinsonHOST
And we'll finish with news of Motorpoint closing its Ipswich used car supermarket after just three and a half years of trading.
Stephen WhittonSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
You're listening to the Motor Trade Radio podcast, powered by Kazoo.
15 MINS LATER
Philip NothardHOST
So as Curtis said at the start, there's a couple of financial updates.
Philip NothardHOST
So we're heading over to Autosunday and the release there that Tristan jumps on these very early, don't you, Curtis, in terms of these financial announcements.
Philip NothardHOST
And this is the Lithia.
Philip NothardHOST
UK results reveal significant profit hikes in the Lithia, which owns the Stratstorm brand, the Evans Horshaw and the Jardine Group.
James BaggottHOST
Very, very kind of you.
James BaggottHOST
Uh, l- let me first talk about Lithia.
James BaggottHOST
So Lithia UK have, um, announced profits that have trebled to 60 million.
James BaggottHOST
Pre-tax profits trebled to 60 million, which is incredible.
James BaggottHOST
Up 176% in 2025.
James BaggottHOST
Uh, turnover had slipped ever so slightly by 2% to 5.3 billion.
James BaggottHOST
Lithia owns Stratstone and Jardine Motors in the UK, so nice to see them making that work.
James BaggottHOST
Um, an incredible rise, incredible rise for that business.
John McElroyHOST
Carvana believes it can reach that goal with the help of its captive finance arm, which handles 85% of the company's sales, much more than its rivals.
John McElroyHOST
CarMax, for example, has 45% of sales handled by its finance company, and Lithia Motors handled about 20%.
John McElroyHOST
A big reason for the difference is because Carvana designed its financing to be easy to use and provide quick approvals.
John McElroyHOST
If the company hits its target, it would easily make it the largest dealer group in the US.
John McElroyHOST
Carvana believes it can reach that goal with the help of its captive finance arm, which handles 85% of the company's sales, much more than its rivals.
John McElroyHOST
CarMax, for example, has 45% of sales handled by its finance company, and Lithia Motors handled about 20%.
John McElroyHOST
A big reason for the difference is because Carvana designed its financing to be easy to use and provide quick approvals.
John McElroyHOST
If the company hits its target, it would easily make it the largest dealer group in the US.
Emily MillironHOST
Why does this matter? Well, Penske Automotive Group is just one of six publicly traded auto retail groups, so one fewer public name means fewer ways for investors to own dealerships directly.
Emily MillironHOST
Dealers like AutoNation, Lithia, Group 1, Asbury, and Sonic are now the remaining public comps.
John CotéHOST
And Penske Corp. and Japan's Mitsui already own about 73% of Penske Automotive Group, so this is basically the insiders buying everyone else out.
Emily MillironHOST
Right.
John CotéHOST
I'm gonna go through that list that you gave earlier.
Emily MillironHOST
Yep.
John CotéHOST
The shares of AutoNation up 4 1/2% today, Lithia Motors up 7, Group 1 up 5, Asbury up 6, and Sonic up 7 1/2%.
John CotéHOST
So-
David SpisakHOST
... and was going through some, some updates in the market, and this is fascinating.
David SpisakHOST
I looked at Lithia, Sonic, AutoNation, Penske, Asbury.
David SpisakHOST
Every one of them, their a- their new car day supply is between 51 and 54.
David SpisakHOST
51 and 54.
Brian KramerGUEST
Everybody wants to, "Well, just get them in here, we'll figure it out," right? And roll the dice.
Brian KramerGUEST
And that's not the way it works anymore, and that's not who they're up against.
Brian KramerGUEST
And you've got these really smart companies, not just Carvana, right? The Lithias, the AutoNations, the Sonics, the Echo Parks.
Brian KramerGUEST
And then you've also got the Give Me The Wins and all these other huge aggregators.
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