PART I

 

Item 1.   Business

 

We are a diversified international transportation services company that operates automotive and commercial truck dealerships principally in the United States, Canada and Western Europe, and distributes commercial vehicles, diesel engines, gas engines, power systems and related parts and services principally in Australia and New Zealand. We employ nearly 27,000 people worldwide.

 

In 2018, our business generated $22.8 billion in total revenue, which is comprised of approximately $20.8 billion from retail automotive dealerships, $1.4 billion from retail commercial truck dealerships and $0.6 billion from commercial vehicle distribution and other operations. We generated $3.4 billion in gross profit, which is comprised of $3.1 billion from retail automotive dealerships, $211.5 million from retail commercial truck dealerships and $144.8 million from commercial vehicle distribution and other operations.

 

Retail Automotive Dealership. We believe we are the second largest automotive retailer headquartered in the U.S. as measured by the $20.8 billion in total retail automotive dealership revenue we generated in 2018. As of December 31, 2018, we operated 345 retail automotive franchises, of which 154 franchises are located in the U.S. and 191 franchises are located outside of the U.S. The franchises outside the U.S. are located primarily in the U.K. In 2018, we retailed and wholesaled more than 644,000 vehicles. We are diversified geographically, with 55% of our total retail automotive dealership revenues in 2018 generated in the U.S. and Puerto Rico and 45% generated outside the U.S. We offer over 40 vehicle brands, with 70% of our retail automotive dealership revenue in 2018 generated from premium brands, such as Audi, BMW, Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche. Each of our dealerships offers a wide selection of new and used vehicles for sale. In addition to selling new and used vehicles, we generate higher-margin revenue at each of our dealerships through maintenance and repair services and the sale and placement of third-party finance and insurance products, third-party extended service and maintenance contracts, and replacement and aftermarket automotive products. We operate our franchised dealerships under franchise agreements with a number of automotive manufacturers and distributors that are subject to certain rights and restrictions typical of the industry.

 

We also operate fourteen stand-alone used vehicle supercenters in the U.S. and the U.K. which retail and wholesale previously owned vehicles under a one price, “no-haggle” methodology. We acquired CarSense in the U.S. and CarShop in the U.K. in the first quarter of 2017 and acquired The Car People in the U.K. in January 2018. Our CarSense operations in the U.S. consist of five locations operating in the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania market areas, including southern New Jersey. Our CarShop operations in the U.K. consist of five retail locations and a vehicle preparation center operating principally throughout Southern England. The Car People operations in the U.K. consist of four retail locations operating across Northern England, which complement CarShop’s Southern England locations. CarShop and The Car People currently operate as one reportable segment (“Stand-Alone Used International”) and we anticipate that both will begin to operate under the CarShop name in 2019.

During the year ended December 31, 2018, we acquired six retail automotive franchises, were awarded three retail automotive franchises, and disposed of seven retail automotive franchises. Of the retail automotive franchises acquired, four are located in Italy and represent the Mercedes-Benz and smart brands, and two are located in Texas and represent the Lexus brand. Of the franchises disposed of, five represented franchises in the U.S., and two represented franchises in the U.K.

 

Retail automotive dealerships represented 91.5% of our total revenues and 89.6% of our total gross profit in 2018.  

 

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We believe our diversified retail automotive income streams help to mitigate the historical cyclicality found in some elements of the automotive sector. Revenues from higher margin service and parts sales include warranty work, customer paid work, collision repair services, and wholesale parts sales. Service and parts sales are typically less cyclical than retail vehicle sales and generate the largest part of our retail automotive gross profit. The following graphics show the percentage of our total retail automotive dealership revenues by product area and their respective contribution to our retail automotive gross profit:

 

 

Retail Commercial Truck Dealership. We operate a heavy and medium duty truck dealership group known as Premier Truck Group (“PTG”) with locations in Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Georgia, and Canada. As of December 31, 2018, PTG operated twenty locations, offering primarily Freightliner and Western Star branded trucks. One of these locations was acquired in April 2018 in Canada. PTG also offers a full range of used trucks available for sale as well as service and parts departments, providing a full range of maintenance and repair services.

 

T his business represented 6.0% of our total revenues and 6.2% of our total gross profit in 2018.  

 

Our retail commercial truck business also benefits from diversified income streams similar to those of the retail automotive sector. The following graphics show the percentage of our total retail commercial truck dealership revenues by product area and their respective contribution to our retail commercial truck gross profit:

 

We believe our diversified retail automotive income streams help to mitigate the historical cyclicality found in some elements of the automotive sector. Revenues from higher margin service and parts sales include warranty work, customer paid work, collision repair services, and wholesale parts sales. Service and parts sales are typically less cyclical than retail vehicle sales and generate the largest part of our retail automotive gross profit. The following graphics show the percentage of our total retail automotive dealership revenues by product area and their respective contribution to our retail automotive gross profit:
Revenue Mix	Gross Profit Mix

 

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Commercial Vehicle Distribution.  We are the exclusive importer and distributor of Western Star heavy duty trucks (a Daimler brand), MAN heavy and medium duty trucks and buses (a VW Group brand), and Dennis Eagle refuse collection vehicles, together with associated parts, across Australia, New Zealand and portions of the Pacific. This business, known as Penske Commercial Vehicles Australia (“PCV Australia”), distributes commercial vehicles and parts to a network of more than 70 dealership locations, including nine company-owned retail commercial vehicle dealerships.

 

We are also a leading distributor of diesel and gas engines and power systems, principally representing MTU, Detroit Diesel, Allison Transmission, MTU Onsite Energy, and Rolls Royce Power Systems. This business, known as Penske Power Systems (“PPS”), offers products across the on- and off-highway markets, construction, mining, marine, and defense, in Australia, New Zealand and portions of the Pacific and supports full parts and aftersales service through a network of branches, field locations and dealers across the region. The on-highway portion of this business complements our PCV Australia distribution business, including integrated operations at retail locations selling PCV brands.

 

These businesses represented 2.5% of our total revenues and 4.2% of our total gross profit in 2018.

 

Penske Truck Leasing.  We hold a 28.9% ownership interest in Penske Truck Leasing Co., L.P. (“PTL”), a leading provider of transportation and supply chain services. PTL is capable of meeting customers’ needs across the supply chain with a broad product offering that includes full-service truck leasing, truck rental and contract maintenance, along with logistic services such as dedicated contract carriage, distribution center management, transportation management, lead logistics provider services and dry van truckload carrier services. On September 7, 2017, we acquired an additional 5.5% ownership interest in PTL. Prior to this acquisition, we held a 23.4% ownership interest in PTL. PTL is currently owned 41.1% by Penske Corporation, 28.9% by us, and 30.0% by Mitsui & Co., Ltd. (“Mitsui”). We account for our investment in PTL under the equity method, and we therefore record our share of PTL’s earnings on our statements of income under the caption “Equity in earnings of affiliates,” which also includes the results of our other equity method investments. We recorded $129.5 million in equity earnings from this investment in 2018.

 

2018 & 2019 Key Developments

 

Retail Automotive Franchised Dealership Acquisitions and Dispositions. In 2018,  we acquired or were granted open points (new franchises awarded from the automotive manufacturer) representing nine   automotive franchises, which represented approximately $750.0 million in annualized revenue. Of the six retail automotive franchises acquired, four are located in Italy and represent the Mercedes-Benz and smart brands, and two are located in Texas and represent the Lexus brand. In 2018, we disposed of seven retail automotive franchises, which represented approximately $420.0 million in annualized revenue. Of the seven franchises disposed of, five represented franchises in the U.S. and two represented franchises in the U.K.  In 2018, we acquired an additional 11.4% interest in the Jacobs Group, one of our German automotive dealership joint ventures, and now own  a 79.4% interest in the Jacobs Group.

 

Acquisition of The Car People.   In January 2018, we acquired The Car People, a stand-alone specialty retailer of used vehicles in the U.K. representing four locations across Northern England. During 2018, The Car People retailed over 24,000 vehicles and represented approximately $375.1 million in revenue. The Car People operations across Northern England complement our CarShop stand-alone used vehicle dealerships in Southern England.

 

Stockholder Dividends and Stock Repurchases. We increased our quarterly stock dividend each quarter in 2018. Our latest declared dividend is $0.38 per share payable March 1, 2019, which represents a dividend yield of 3.2% using our January 31, 2019 closing stock price. We repurchased 1,587,494 shares of our common stock in 2018 for $68.9 million, which, together with quarterly dividends, represents a return to stockholders of approximately $190.1 million. In February 2019, our Board of Directors increased the authority delegated to management to repurchase our outstanding securities from $136.9 million to $200.0 million.

 

Company and Dealership Awards. Twenty-four of our dealerships in the U.S. were named by Automotive News as among the 100 “Best Dealerships to Work For” in 2018. We believe these awards reflect our ongoing commitment to our valuable dealership employees, which enhances customer satisfaction and may result in improved sales over time. Additionally, in January 2019, we were named one of the “World’s Most Admired Companies” by Fortune Magazine.

 

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Outlook

 

Retail Automotive Dealership. In 2018, U.S. light vehicle sales increased 0.6%, as compared to last year, to 17.3 million units, with passenger car sales declining 12.5%, while sales of trucks, crossovers and sport utility vehicles increased 7.7%. We believe the sales of trucks, crossovers and sport utility vehicles will continue to outperform passenger car sales, largely due to consumer preference and OEM product offerings. We believe the U.S. market for new light vehicle sales remains strong, but has plateaued and may be impacted in future periods by several different factors including, but not limited to, consumer confidence, the level of unemployment, the level of OEM incentives, increasing lease returns, interest rates, strong credit availability, the age of vehicles on the road, vehicle innovation, tariffs, and tax reform, although actual sales may differ materially. We also expect to see strength across the used vehicle market as the number of lease returns is expected to remain strong, providing customers with an ample supply of affordable late model, low mileage vehicles.

 

In 2018,   U.K. new vehicle registrations declined 6.8%, as compared to last year, to 2.4 million registrations. We believe the year over year decline is largely due to a temporary shortage of product availability from new fuel economy testing and emissions standards applicable to new vehicles sold in Europe beginning September 2018, partially offset by a pull forward of demand prior to the effective date of the new testing procedures, coupled with changing consumer preferences from diesel fueled vehicles of which registrations declined 29.6% during 2018. The new fuel economy testing and Co2 emissions legislation, known as “Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Testing Procedure” (WLTP), requires more extensive vehicle testing and has impacted the availability of vehicles for sale for certain manufacturers. Premium/luxury unit sales, which account for approximately 86% of our U.K. new unit sales, continue to outperform the overall market, declining 6.1% in 2018, as compared to a 6.8% decline for the overall market. U.K. sales are also being negatively affected by the uncertainty of residual values and potentially higher taxes on diesel powered vehicles, as the U.K. and Western European countries consider the ramifications of diesel engines on the environment while also providing government incentives on certain electric vehicles. Sales of diesel powered vehicles experienced a 29.6% decline, while non-diesel vehicles experienced a 9.7% increase in sales during the year ended December 31, 2018. The March 2019 planned exit from the European Union (“Brexit”) is also causing and may continue to cause economic and political uncertainty, impacting the economic environment, which may lead to further declines in new vehicle registrations in future periods. Since no country has previously left the European Union, the outcome of any future negotiations between the U.K. and the European Union is uncertain and may affect the timing, terms of trade, and the level of new vehicle registrations in those markets.

 

Retail Commercial Truck Dealership. In 2018, North American sales of Class 5-8 heavy and medium duty trucks, the principal vehicles for our PTG business, were 577,523 units, an increase of 15.5% from 2017. The Class 5-7 medium duty truck market increased 6.0% to 262,806 units from 247,902 units in 2017. The largest North American market, Class 8 heavy duty trucks, increased 24.9% to 314,717 units from 251,951 units in 2017.  Generally strong economic conditions, improved freight metrics, and increased utilization are expected to continue to positively impact the truck market in 2019, and we expect stronger Class 8 retail unit sales in North America in 2019.

 

Commercial Vehicle Distribution. Our PCV Australia distribution business and the on-highway portion of our PPS business each operate principally in the Australian and New Zealand heavy and medium duty truck markets. In 2018,  the Australian heavy duty truck market reported sales of 14,344 units, representing an increase of 19.5% from 2017. The New Zealand market reported sales of 3,479 units in 2018, representing an increase of 5.6% from 2017. The brands we represent in Australia hold a 6.5% market share in the Australian heavy duty truck market, and a 3.9% market share in New Zealand. The Australian heavy duty commercial vehicle market has recently been experiencing increased industry sales largely due to improvements in overall market conditions. We expect continued new order growth and engine repowers from the on- and off-highway engine distribution business.

 

Penske Truck Leasing.   We expect PTL to benefit from continued strong demand for its full-service truck leasing, truck rental and contract maintenance, and logistics services resulting from continued positive economic conditions in the United States and customers’ desire to increase efficiency and lower costs by outsourcing non-core responsibilities such as fleet ownership. As a global logistics services provider, we also expect PTL to experience increased demand for its logistics supply chain solutions based primarily on optimizing the use of drivers, trucks, warehouses, and other services within the supply chain. As a result of recent improvements in the truck market, we have seen freight growth

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and improved conditions within PTL’s commercial truck rental business, an increase in the utilization rate of its fleet, and stabilization of used truck prices. We anticipate continued freight growth, but at slower rates, in 2019.

 

As discussed in “Item 1A. Risk Factors,” there are a number of factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations. For a detailed discussion of our financial and operating results, see “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”

 

Long-Term Business Strategy

 

Our long-term business strategy focuses on several key areas in an effort to foster long-term relationships with our customers and our associates. The key areas of our long-term strategy are:

 

 

Attract, Develop, and Empower Associates to Grow our Business

 

We view our local managers and associates as one of our most important assets. We operate in a decentralized manner that fosters an entrepreneurial spirit where each dealership or business unit has independent operational and financial management responsible for day-to-day operations. We believe experienced local managers are better qualified to make day-to-day decisions concerning the successful operation of a business unit and can be more responsive to our customers’ needs. We seek local management that not only has relevant industry experience, but is also familiar with the local market. We also have regional management that oversees operations and supports the local unit operationally and administratively. We invest for future growth and offer outstanding brands and facilities which we believe attract outstanding talent. We believe attracting the best talent and allowing our associates to make business decisions at the local level helps to foster long-term growth through increased repeat and referral business.

 

Diversification

 

Our business benefits from our diversified revenue and gross profit mix, including the multiple revenue and gross profit streams in our traditional vehicle and commercial truck dealerships (new vehicles, used vehicles, finance and insurance, and service and parts operations), our commercial vehicle distribution and power systems operations, and returns relating to our joint venture investments, which we believe helps to mitigate the cyclicality that has historically impacted some elements of the automotive sector. We are further diversified within our retail automotive operations due to revenues generated from franchised dealerships and stand-alone used vehicle dealerships, due to our brand mix where we represent more than 40 brands, and geographically where we operate across 19 states and internationally. One of the unique attributes of our operations versus our peers is our diversification outside the U.S., with operations across nine countries.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The following table shows our consolidated revenues by country, and by state in the U.S., as a percentage of our total revenue:

 

Country		% of Total 2018 Revenue
United States				56	%
United States Revenue by State
Arizona		6	%
Arkansas		2	%
California		10	%
Connecticut		3	%
Florida		2	%
Georgia		4	%
Indiana		1	%
Maryland		1	%
Minnesota		1	%
New Jersey		8	%
New York		1	%
Ohio		2	%
Oklahoma		1	%
Pennsylvania		1	%
Puerto Rico		1	%
Rhode Island		2	%
Tennessee		1	%
Texas		6	%
Virginia		2	%
Wisconsin		1	%
United Kingdom				35	%
Germany/Italy				6	%
Canada				1	%
Australia/New Zealand/Pacific				2	%

 

The U.K. is the   second largest automotive retail market in Western Europe as measured by new units sold. We generated 82% of our revenue in the U.K. through the sale and service of premium brands in 2018.   We believe we are among the largest Audi, Bentley, BMW, Ferrari, Jaguar, Land Rover, Maserati, Mercedes-Benz, MINI, and Porsche dealers in the U.K. based on new unit sales. Additionally, we operate a number of dealerships in Germany, Western Europe’s largest automotive retail market, including through joint ventures with experienced local partners, which sell and service Audi, Lexus, Porsche, Toyota, Volkswagen and other brands. We also operate BMW, MINI, Maserati, Porsche, Audi, Land Rover, Volvo, Mercedes-Benz, smart, and Lamborghini dealerships in Northern Italy, as well as BMW and MINI dealerships in Spain, through joint ventures with local partners. Our non-consolidated joint venture in Japan operates BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce, Ferrari, and ALPINA dealerships.

 

Diversification Through Stand-Alone Used Vehicle Dealerships.  Our acquisitions of CarSense in the U.S. and CarShop and The Car People in the U.K., each representing stand-alone used vehicle dealerships, complement and provide more diversification to our retail automotive operations and provide scalable opportunities across our market areas.

 

Diversification Through Retail Commercial Truck Dealership. Our PTG business provides more diversification to our overall business model and allows us to bring our automotive dealership expertise to the retail commercial truck market. Operations in Canada, in addition to our U.S. locations, further diversifies our revenue stream.

 

Diversification Through Penske Truck Leasing. We currently hold a 28.9% ownership interest in PTL, a leading provider of transportation and supply chain services, which further diversifies our total results of operations. We continue to expect to realize significant cash tax savings as a result of our investment in PTL in addition to the diversification offered by earnings from PTL.

 

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Offer Outstanding Brands in Premium Facilities and Superior Customer Service

 

We offer outstanding brands through premium facilities, in attractive geographic markets, and believe offering our customers a superior customer service experience will generate repeat and referral business and will help to foster a loyal and dedicated customer base. Customer satisfaction is measured at each of our franchised automotive dealerships on a monthly, quarterly, and/or yearly basis by the manufacturers we represent, and we compensate our employees, in part, based on their performance in such rankings.

 

We sell over 40 brands in our markets and our automotive dealership revenue mix consists of 70% related to premium brands, 22% related to volume non-U.S. brands, 2% related to brands of U.S. based manufacturers, and 6% related to our stand-alone used vehicle dealerships. We believe our largely premium and non-U.S. brand mix will continue to offer us the opportunity to generate same-store growth, including higher margin service and parts sales. The following chart reflects our percentage of total retail automotive dealership revenue by brand:

 

 

 

Where advantageous, we aggregate our automotive dealerships in a campus setting in order to build a destination location for our customers, which we believe helps to drive increased customer traffic to each of the brands at the location. This strategy also creates an opportunity to reduce personnel expenses, consolidate advertising and administrative expenses and leverage operating expenses over a larger base of dealerships.

 

Our PTG dealerships provide a similar suite of services as our automotive dealerships, and similar to our retail automotive business, our retail commercial truck business is committed to providing outstanding brands and superior customer service in premium facilities.  The necessity of repairing trucks for our customers is a key area of differentiation for our commercial truck dealerships, and we provide around-the-clock service in certain locations to get our customers’ commercial trucks back on the road so they can complete their routes.

 

 

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Expand Revenues at Existing Locations and Increase Higher-Margin Businesses

 

Increase Same-Store Sales.  We believe our emphasis on superior customer service and premium facilities will contribute to increases in same-store sales over time. We have added a significant number of incremental service bays in recent years in order to better accommodate our customers and further enhance our higher-margin service and parts revenues.

 

Grow Finance, Insurance, and Other Aftermarket Revenues.  Each sale of a vehicle provides us the opportunity to assist in arranging financing for the sale of a vehicle, to sell the customer an extended service contract or other insurance product, and to sell aftermarket products, such as security systems and protective coatings. Where possible, we attempt to vertically integrate with the captive finance companies of the manufacturers we represent and to supplement these offerings with preferred lenders as necessary. In order to improve our finance and insurance business, we focus on enhancing training programs and implementing process improvements which we believe will improve our overall revenues. We are in the process of installing docuPAD, an interactive tool designed to improve document processing and menu presentation of finance and insurance options. The rollout is scheduled to be completed at the end of 2019. We expect the new system to create a more consistent process for our dealerships, yield higher finance and insurance revenue, improve compliance and reduce the need for printed copies and paper storage.

 

Expand Service and Parts and Collision Repair Revenues.  Today’s vehicles are increasingly complex and require sophisticated equipment and specially trained technicians to perform certain services. Additionally, many manufacturers today are offering maintenance programs packaged with the vehicle sale. These programs require customers to have the service work performed at a factory-authorized dealership. Unlike independent service shops, our dealerships are authorized to perform this work under warranties provided by manufacturers. Additionally, we offer maintenance programs for sale through our dealerships. We believe that our brand mix and the complexity of today’s vehicles, combined with our investment in expanded service facilities, including the addition of a significant number of incremental service bays in recent years, and our focus on customer service, will contribute to increases in our service and parts revenue. We also operate 37   automotive collision repair centers and six commercial truck collision centers which are integrated with local dealership operations. We offer rapid repair services such as paint-less dent repair, headlight reconditioning, wheel repairs, tire sales, seat sales for our retail commercial truck operations, and windshield replacement at most of our facilities in order to offer our customers the convenience of one-stop shopping for all of their vehicle requirements.

 

Grow Through Strategic Acquisitions

 

We believe that attractive retail automotive acquisition opportunities exist for well-capitalized dealership groups with experience in identifying, acquiring and integrating dealerships. The fragmented automotive retail market provides us with significant growth opportunities in our markets. We generally seek to acquire dealerships with high-growth automotive brands in highly concentrated or growing demographic areas that will benefit from our management expertise, manufacturer relations and scale of operations, as well as smaller, single location dealerships that can be effectively integrated into our existing operations. Over time, we have also been awarded new franchises from various manufacturers. In 2018, we acquired or were granted open points representing nine franchises, which is expected to represent approximately $750.0   million in annualized revenue.

 

In 2017, we acquired CarSense in the U.S. and CarShop in the U.K., both businesses representing stand-alone used vehicle dealerships, which we believe complement our retail automotive dealership operations and provide scalable opportunities across our market areas. These businesses generated approximately $893.7 million in revenue in 2018. We believe there are attractive acquisition opportunities to grow these operations in both the U.S. and the U.K., and in January 2018, we acquired The Car People in the U.K., as discussed previously, which represented approximately $375.1 million in revenue.

 

We also believe there are attractive retail commercial truck acquisition opportunities. We see continued growth in the brands we represent at our existing retail commercial truck dealerships and believe there are opportunities for us to continue to make strategic acquisitions over time.

 

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Enhance Customer Satisfaction

 

We strive for superior customer satisfaction. By offering outstanding brands in premium facilities, “one-stop” shopping convenience in our aggregated facilities, and a well-trained and knowledgeable sales staff, we aim to forge lasting relationships with our customers, enhance our reputation in the community, and create the opportunity for significant repeat and referral business. We monitor customer satisfaction data to track the performance of operations, and incent our personnel to provide exceptional customer service, thereby driving increased customer loyalty and enhancing our reputation.  

 

Reputation management is an extremely important and powerful business tool. Our reputation management strategy, which includes encouraging, monitoring, and responding to customer reviews, is crucial for generating and maintaining trust and customer loyalty in a competitive market. We proactively monitor online reputation management sites, including Google and Yelp, among others, to enhance our online presence, build loyalty, assess customer comments, ensure we are offering a superior customer service experience, and ultimately drive sales and profitability. We encourage customer reviews and have automated tools in place that make it easy for customers to review our business. Analysis of online reviews provides us valuable operational insights that we leverage to foster customer loyalty, stay ahead of the competition, and drive new sales.

 

Leverage Scale and Implement “Best Practices”

 

We seek to build scale in many of the markets where we have operations. Our desire is to reduce or eliminate redundant administrative costs such as accounting, payroll, information technology systems and other general administrative costs. In addition, we seek to leverage our industry knowledge and experience to foster communication and cooperation between like brand dealerships throughout our organization. Corporate management and local management meet regularly to review operating performance, examine industry trends, and implement operating improvements. Key financial information is discussed and compared across all markets. This frequent interaction facilitates implementation of successful strategies throughout the organization.

 

Embrace Digital Sales and Marketing

 

With our consumers deeply immersed in the digital space, we continue to execute a comprehensive digital marketing strategy that encompasses all avenues of customer engagement including websites, social media, video, mobile, email marketing, advertising, search engine optimization, branding, and content. We strive to build and optimize our presence across all digital platforms to deliver a seamless, convenient and transparent experience for our customers on their terms.

 

Each of our dealerships uses a custom content management system to maintain its own website. All of our dealership websites have consistent functionality and responsive formats, except where otherwise required by original equipment manufacturers, which helps to minimize costs, attract customers and provide a consistent image across dealerships.  

 

To drive high quality traffic to our web properties, we primarily focus on search engine optimization and search engine marketing, and employ some third-party lead providers in key markets to augment our traffic. Most importantly, we have invested heavily in our own websites so we can retain traffic and deliver an engaging, dynamic user experience. As the majority of our web traffic is now coming from mobile devices, we operate with a “mobile first” mentality and ensure that the content we serve our customers is tailored to their preferred method of engagement and specific needs, where applicable.

 

We promote our U.S. and U.K. automotive retail new and pre-owned vehicle inventory online through PenskeCars.com, Sytner.co.uk, agnewcars.com, CarSense.com, CarShop.co.uk, and TheCarPeople.co.uk. The websites are designed to streamline the car-buying process and allow consumers to view and compare on average over 60,000 new, certified and pre-owned vehicles. These sites, together with our dealership websites, provide consumers a simple way to schedule service appointments online 24/7 and view extensive vehicle information, including photos, prices, promotions, videos, and third-party vehicle history reports for pre-owned vehicles. Additionally, customers may download the PenskeCars.com app to access vehicle inventory, locate or contact a dealership, explore payments, and get instant trade offers at their convenience.

 

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Social media is an essential component of our digital strategy and enables us to proactively communicate with our customers and receive input on our service, branding, and engagement. Our dealerships maintain social media pages, including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, among others, to attract new customers, build stronger relationships with current customers, and help grow the business. Using a social media mobile app, our dealerships can easily capture customer photos, send automated review invitations, record personalized videos for sales and service customers, and submit content for their social media sites. Social media one of the most powerful and cost-effective ways to engage with our customers, enhance brand visibility, and generate customer leads. By choosing a specific audience using a range of demographic tools, our dealerships are able to reach targeted potential customers effectively and efficiently. 

 

As part of our continued efforts to improve the online customer experience, we research consumer behavior and survey our customers to validate our approach and help guide our site design. Customers are interested in a transparent and quick process, and use the web as a way to save time and educate themselves about their potential purchase.

 

To further our digital strategy, and respond to changing consumer preferences, we created a digital retailing experience, called Preferred Purchase, for our U.S. dealerships that incorporates new online functionality to streamline the sales process in our traditional business model. Preferred Purchase allows customers to value trade-in vehicles, review pricing, leasing and financing options, manufacturer incentive programs, and pre-qualify for credit, all online without visiting the dealership. This functionality is integrated and automated on a single platform that resides on both our individual dealership sites as well as our corporate sites. Preferred Purchase promotes transparency, decreases customer transaction times and gives our customers the flexibility to choose the path or sales process most comfortable to them — whether that is in the dealership or from the comfort of their home. We continue to assess consumers’ purchasing habits, opinions, and preferences to ensure we are meeting consumer needs and making the right investments in new technology.

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 Retail Automotive Dealership Operations

 

Retail Automotive Franchises.  We routinely acquire and dispose of retail automotive franchises. Our financial statements include the results of operations of acquired dealerships from the date of acquisition. We expect to continue to pursue acquisitions and selected dispositions in the future. The following table exhibits our retail automotive franchises by location and manufacturer as of December 31, 2018:

 

Location		Franchises		Franchises		U.S.		Non-U.S.		Total
Arizona		26		BMW/MINI		22		44		66
Arkansas		10		Toyota/Lexus		24		—		24
California		29		Mercedes-Benz/Sprinter/smart		17		29		46
Connecticut		9		Audi/Volkswagen/Bentley		18		50		68
Florida		3		Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge/Fiat/Alfa Romeo		8		—		8
Georgia		4		Honda/Acura		21		—		21
Indiana		2		Ferrari/Maserati		4		12		16
Maryland		2		Porsche		8		11		19
Minnesota		2		Jaguar/Land Rover		14		20		34
New Jersey		27		Lamborghini		1		5		6
Ohio		7		Nissan/Infiniti		3		—		3
Puerto Rico		4		Cadillac/Chevrolet		4		—		4
Rhode Island		9		Others		10		20		30
Tennessee		1		Total		154		191		345
Texas		11
Virginia		6
Wisconsin		2
Total U.S.		154
U.K.		141
Germany		29
Italy		21
Total Non-U.S.		191
Total Worldwide		345

Retail Automotive Stand-Alone Used Vehicle Dealerships. The following table exhibits the stand-alone used vehicle dealerships we currently operate by geographic location:

 

Location		Number of Dealerships
U.S.
Pennsylvania		4
New Jersey		1
Total U.S.		5
U.K.
CarShop		5
The Car People		4
Total U.K.		9
Total		14

 

New Vehicle Retail Sales.  In 2018, we retailed 235,964   new vehicles which generated 46.4% of our retail automotive dealership revenue and 23.7% of our retail automotive dealership gross profit.   New vehicles are typically acquired by dealerships directly from the manufacturer. We strive to maintain outstanding relationships with the automotive manufacturers, based in part on our long-term presence in the retail automotive market, our commitment to providing premium facilities, our commitment to drive customer satisfaction, the reputation of our management team and the consistent sales volume at our dealerships. Our dealerships finance the purchase of most new vehicles from the manufacturers through floor plan financing provided primarily by various manufacturers’ captive finance companies.

 

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Used Vehicle Retail Sales.  In 2018,  we retailed 282,542 used vehicles, including 71,013 from our stand-alone used vehicle dealerships, which generated 34.8% of our retail automotive dealership revenue and 13.4% of our retail automotive dealership gross profit. We acquire used vehicles from various sources including auctions open only to authorized new vehicle dealers, public auctions, trade-ins from consumers in connection with their purchase of a new vehicle from us, and lease expirations or terminations. To improve customer confidence in our used vehicle inventory, we provide vehicle history reports for all used vehicles and virtually all of our franchised new vehicle dealerships participate in manufacturer certification processes for used vehicles. If certification is obtained, the used vehicle owner is typically provided benefits and warranties similar to those offered to new vehicle owners by the applicable manufacturer. Most of our dealerships have implemented software tools which assist in procuring and selling used vehicles. In the U.K., we offer used vehicles to wholesalers and other dealers via online auction.

 

We currently operate fourteen stand-alone used vehicle dealerships in the U.S. and U.K. While we operate these dealerships under separate names (CarSense, CarShop and The Car People), each of these dealerships are committed to offering high quality “like-new” used vehicles at “no-haggle” prices. We anticipate that both CarShop and The Car People will begin to operate under the CarShop name in 2019. These businesses typically sell low mileage, high quality vehicles in a friendly and transparent buying experience. We acquired these businesses in 2017 and 2018, but each has a long history of serving their local communities. We include the results of our stand-alone used vehicle dealerships within used vehicle retail sales. Our total revenue from stand-alone used vehicle dealerships in 2018 was $1.3 billion. In 2017, we acquired CarSense in the U.S. and CarShop in the U.K., both businesses representing stand-alone used vehicle dealerships, which we believe complement our retail automotive dealership operations and provide scalable opportunities across our market areas. These businesses generated approximately $893.7 million in revenue in 2018. We believe there are attractive acquisition opportunities to grow these operations in both the U.S. and the U.K., and in January 2018, we acquired The Car People in the U.K., as discussed previously, which represented approximately $375.1 million in revenue.

 

Vehicle Finance, Extended Service and Insurance Sales.  Finance, extended service and insurance sales represented 3.0% of our retail automotive dealership revenue and 20.6% of our retail automotive dealership gross profit in 2018. At our customers’ option, our dealerships can arrange third-party financing or leasing in connection with vehicle purchases. We typically receive a portion of the cost of the financing or leasing paid by the customer for each transaction as a fee. While these services are generally non-recourse to us, we are subject to chargebacks in certain circumstances, such as default under a financing arrangement or prepayment. These chargebacks vary by finance product, but typically are limited to the fee we receive.

 

We also offer our customers various vehicle warranty and extended protection products, including extended service contracts, maintenance programs, guaranteed auto protection (known as “GAP,” this protection covers the shortfall between a customer’s loan balance and insurance payoff in the event of a total loss), lease “wear and tear” insurance and theft protection products. The extended service contracts and other products that our dealerships currently offer to customers are underwritten by independent third parties, including the vehicle manufacturers’ captive finance companies. Similar to finance transactions, we are subject to chargebacks relating to fees earned in connection with the sale of certain extended protection products. We also offer for sale other aftermarket products, including security systems and protective coatings.

 

We offer finance and insurance products using a “menu” process, which is designed to ensure that we offer our customers a complete range of finance, insurance, protection, and other aftermarket products in a transparent manner. We are in the process of installing docuPAD, an interactive tool designed to improve document processing and menu presentation of finance and insurance options. The rollout is scheduled to be completed at the end of 2019. We expect the new system to create a more consistent process for our dealerships, yield higher finance and insurance revenue, improve compliance and reduce the need for printed copies and paper storage.

 

Service and Parts Sales.  Service and parts sales represented 10.3% of our retail automotive dealership revenue and 41.8% of our retail automotive dealership gross profit in 2018. We generate service and parts sales in connection with warranty work performed at each of our franchised dealerships and non-warranty work. We believe our service and parts revenues benefit from the increasingly complex technology used in vehicles that makes it difficult for independent repair facilities or vehicle owners to maintain and repair today’s automobiles.

 

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A goal of each of our dealerships is to make each vehicle purchaser a customer of our service and parts department. Our dealerships keep detailed records of our customers’ maintenance and service histories, and many dealerships send reminders to customers when vehicles are due for periodic maintenance or service. Many of our dealerships have extended evening and weekend service hours for the convenience of our customers. We also offer rapid repair services such as paint-less dent repair, headlight reconditioning, wheel repairs, tire sales and windshield replacement at most of our facilities in order to offer our customers the convenience of one-stop shopping for all of their automotive requirements. We also operate 37 automotive collision repair centers, each of which is operated as an integral part of our dealership operations.

 

Fleet and Wholesale Sales.  Fleet and wholesale sales represented 5.5% of our retail automotive dealership revenue and 0.5% of our retail automotive dealership gross profit in 2018. Fleet activities represent the sale of new units to customers that are deemed to not be retail customers such as cities, municipalities or rental car companies, and are generally sold at contracted amounts. Wholesale activities relate to the sale of used vehicles generally to other dealers and occur at auction. Vehicles sold through this channel generally include units acquired by trade-in that do not meet certain standards or aged units.

 

Retail Commercial Truck Dealership Operations

 

We operate a heavy and medium duty truck dealership group known as Premier Truck Group (“PTG”) with locations in Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Georgia, and Canada. As of December 31, 2018, PTG operated twenty locations, offering primarily Freightliner and Western Star branded trucks. One of these locations was acquired in April 2018 in Canada. PTG also offers a full range of used trucks available for sale as well as service and parts departments, providing a full range of maintenance and repair services. T his business generated $1,374.5  m illion of revenue and $211.5 million of gross profit in 2018.

 

PTG dealerships provide a similar suite of services as our automotive dealerships, offering new trucks and a large selection of used trucks for sale, a full range of parts, maintenance and repair services, and finance and insurance options for its customers by facilitating truck and trailer financing and leasing, extended maintenance plans, physical damage insurance, GAP insurance, roadside relief and other programs.

 

The necessity of repairing trucks for our customers is a key area of differentiation for our commercial truck dealerships, and we provide around-the-clock service in certain locations to get our customers’ commercial trucks back on the road so they can complete their routes. PTG also carries an extensive inventory of parts for the new and used trucks they sell and service, including Thomas Built Buses, and other makes of medium and heavy duty trucks. The service and parts business of our PTG commercial truck dealerships represents approximately 69% of our retail commercial truck dealership gross profit.

 

Similar to our retail automotive business, PTG is committed to providing outstanding brands and superior customer service in premium facilities. For example, our Dallas Freightliner location offers a state-of-the-art facility of climate controlled office space, service shops, customer amenities, parts inventory storage, and a parts showroom. This facility is equipped with 80 full-service truck bays with a full suite of on-hand parts inventory. Guests of Dallas Freightliner enjoy a television lounge with HDTV theater seating, a large comfortable customer lounge with lockers, laundry and shower facilities, on-site trailer parking, and free recreational vehicle electrical hook-up. 

 

Commercial Vehicle Distribution Operations

 

Penske Commercial Vehicles Australia. We are the exclusive importer and distributor of Western Star heavy duty trucks (a Daimler brand), MAN heavy and medium duty trucks and buses (a VW Group brand), and Dennis Eagle refuse collection vehicles, together with associated parts, across Australia, New Zealand and portions of the Pacific. This business, known as Penske Commercial Vehicles Australia (“PCV Australia”), distributes commercial vehicles and parts to a network of more than 70 dealership locations, including nine company-owned retail commercial vehicle dealerships.

 

Our local headquarters is located in Brisbane, Australia, which is the country’s third largest city. Our headquarters includes administrative facilities as well as a parts distribution center and a production center. We also have a parts distribution center in Auckland, New Zealand.

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Western Star trucks are manufactured by Daimler Trucks North America in Portland, Oregon. These technologically advanced, custom-built vehicles are ordered by customers to meet their particular needs for line haul, long distance road train, mining, logging and other heavy duty applications. We are also the exclusive importer of MAN trucks and buses. MAN Truck and Bus, a VW Group company, is a leading producer of medium and heavy duty trucks as well as city and coach buses. These cab-forward, fuel efficient vehicles are principally produced in several sites in Germany and are ordered by customers for line haul, local distribution, mining and other off-road applications. Dennis Eagle refuse collection vehicles are manufactured by Ros Roca in Warwick, England. Together these brands represented 6.5% of heavy duty truck units sold in Australia and 3.9% in New Zealand during 2018.

 

Our commercial vehicle distribution operations include seven company-owned retail commercial vehicle dealerships in Australia and two company-owned retail commercial vehicle dealerships in New Zealand. Our dealership in Brisbane, Australia is the largest retailer of Western Star Trucks in Australia by volume. We finance our purchases of these vehicles under floor plan agreements with a local Daimler affiliate and a local Volkswagen affiliate with terms similar to our other floor plan agreements.

 

Penske Power Systems.  We are also a leading distributor of diesel and gas engines and power systems, principally representing MTU, Detroit Diesel, Allison Transmission, MTU Onsite Energy, and Rolls Royce Power Systems. This business, known as Penske Power Systems (“PPS”), offers products across the on- and off-highway markets, construction, mining, marine, and defense, in Australia, New Zealand and portions of the Pacific and supports full parts and aftersales service through a network of branches, field locations and dealers across the region. The on-highway portion of this business complements our PCV Australia distribution business, including integrated operations at retail locations selling PCV brands.

 

Penske Power Systems’ principal headquarters is located at its Melbourne workshop/office facility. In addition to sales, distribution and full product repair capability, this facility includes the offices for national sales, engineering and marketing, a regional training facility, and a regional engineering center. In addition, PPS operates a corporate office based at its Sydney (Chipping Norton) branch which is dedicated to corporate activities,  distribution and product repair capability, and retail truck sales. PPS operates 14 branch facilities across Australia and in Auckland, New Zealand, and utilizes mobile remote field service units travelling directly to customer premises.

 

Penske  Power Systems’ 82 dealers are strategically located throughout Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific. Most of the dealers (68) represent the Detroit Diesel brand, with the majority aligned to Western Star and/or Freightliner truck manufacturers. The remaining dealers represent the MTU (1) and Allison Transmission (13) brands. The “off-highway” business of PPS principally includes the sale of power systems by PPS directly to customers in the commercial, defense and maritime sectors, and to several dealers.

 

These two businesses generated $558.5 million of revenue and $144.6 million of gross profit in 2018.

 

Penske Truck Leasing  

 

We currently hold a 28.9% ownership interest in PTL, a leading provider of transportation and supply chain services. PTL is capable of meeting customers’ needs across the supply chain with a broad product offering that includes full-service truck leasing, truck rental and contract maintenance, along with logistics services such as dedicated contract carriage, distribution center management, transportation management, lead logistics provider, and dry van truckload carrier services. PTL has a highly diversified customer base ranging from multi-national corporations across industries such as food and beverage, transportation, manufacturing, automotive, retail and healthcare, with whom they have long-term contracts to individual consumers who rent a single truck on a daily basis.

 

PTL operates one of the leading full-service truck leasing, truck rental and contract maintenance businesses in North America, and an international logistics business in North America, South America, Europe and Asia. PTL also operates its truck leasing and truck rental business in Australia through a joint venture with us.

 

Full-service truck leasing, truck rental and contract maintenance .   Full-service truck leasing, truck rental and contract maintenance of commercial trucks, tractors and trailers constitutes PTL’s largest business. PTL manages a fleet of

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approximately 299,000 trucks, tractors and trailers, consisting of approximately 207,700 vehicles owned by PTL and leased to customers under full-service lease or rental agreements and approximately 91,800 customer-owned and -operated vehicles for which they provided contract maintenance services. Terms under its full-service leases generally range from four to seven years for tractors and trucks and six to ten years for trailers. Its commercial and consumer rental fleet as of December 31, 2018 consisted of approximately 75,500 vehicles for use by its full-service truck leasing, small business and consumer customers for periods generally ranging from less than a day to 12 months. Most of its leased vehicles are configured according to customer specifications, including custom painting and lettering, while its rental trucks bear Penske branding.

 

Commercial customers often outsource to PTL to reduce the complexity and cost of vehicle ownership. Under a full-service lease, PTL provides and fully maintains the vehicle, which is generally specifically configured for the customer. The services provided under full-service lease and contract maintenance agreements generally include preventive maintenance, advanced diagnostics, emergency road service, fleet services, safety programs, and fuel services through its network of 725 company-operated facilities. In addition, PTL’s commercial rental operations offer short‑term availability of tractors, trucks and trailers, typically to accommodate seasonal, emergency and other temporary needs. This short-term availability of tractors, trucks and trailers typically accommodates seasonal, emergency and other temporary needs. A significant portion of these rentals are to existing full-service leasing and contract maintenance customers who are seeking flexibility in their fleet management. PTL’s commercial rental business generated 22% of its operating revenue for 2018 and its full-service lease and contract maintenance business generated 47% of its operating revenue in 2018.

 

For consumer customers, PTL provides short-term rental of light and medium duty vehicles on a one-way and local basis, typically to transport household goods. Customers typically include local small businesses and individuals seeking a do-it-yourself solution to their moving needs. PTL’s consumer fleet generally consists of late model vehicles ranging in size from small vans to 26-foot trucks, and its consumer rentals are conducted through approximately 1,890 independent rental agents and approximately 375 of its company-operated leasing and rental facilities. PTL’s consumer business generated 6% of its operating revenue for 2018.

 

Logistics . PTL’s logistics business offers an extensive variety of services, including dedicated contract carriage, distribution center management, transportation management, lead logistics provider and dry van truckload carrier services. PTL coordinates services for its customers across the supply chain, including: inbound material flow, handling and packaging, inventory management, distribution and technologies, and sourcing of third-party carriers. These services are available individually or on a combined basis and often involve its associates performing services at the customer’s location. By offering a scalable series of services to its customers, PTL can manage the customer’s entire supply chain or any stand-alone service. PTL also utilizes specialized software that enables real-time fleet visibility and provides reporting metrics, giving customers detailed information on fuel economy and other critical supply chain costs. PTL’s international logistics business has approximately 445 locations in North America, South America, Europe and Asia. PTL’s logistics business generated 25% of its operating revenue for 2018.

 

Industry Information

 

Retail Automotive Dealership.  Approximately 55% of our retail automotive dealership revenues are generated in the U.S., which in 2018 was the world’s second largest automotive retail market as measured by units sold. In 2018, sales of new cars and light trucks were approximately 17.3 million units, an  increase of 0.6% from 2017, and were generated at approximately 18,300 franchised new-car dealerships. According to the latest available data from the National Automobile Dealers Association, dealership revenue is derived as follows: 58% from new vehicle sales, 30% from used vehicle sales, and 12% from service and parts sales. Dealerships also offer a wide range of higher-margin products and services, including extended service contracts, financing arrangements and credit insurance. The National Automobile Dealers Association figures noted above include finance and insurance revenues within either new or used vehicle sales, as sales of these products are usually incremental to the sale of a vehicle.

 

In the U.S., the franchised automotive dealer industry is the largest retail business by revenue, with virtually all new cars and light trucks bought in the U.S. through franchised dealers in a market in excess of $1.0 trillion. Publicly held automotive retail groups account for less than 10% of total industry revenue. Although significant consolidation has already taken place, the industry remains highly fragmented, with more than 90% of the U.S. industry’s market share

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remaining in the hands of smaller regional and independent players. Our other markets are similarly fragmented. We believe that further consolidation in these markets is probable due to the significant capital requirements of maintaining manufacturer facility standards and the limited number of viable alternative exit strategies for dealership owners.

 

Our European markets consist of Germany, the U.K., Italy, and Spain, which represented the first, second, fourth, and fifth largest automotive retail markets, respectively, in Western Europe in 2018, and accounted for approximately 64% of the total vehicle sales in Western Europe. Unit sales of automobiles in Western Europe were approximately 14.2 million in 2018, a 0.8% decrease compared to 2017. In Germany, the U.K., Italy, and Spain, new car sales were approximately 3.4 million, 2.4 million, 1.9 million and 1.3 million units, respectively, in 2018.  

 

We also own a 49% interest in a Japanese joint venture. Unit sales in Japan were approximately 4.4 million in 2018, and remained relatively flat compared to 2017.

 

We also operate fourteen stand-alone used vehicle dealerships in the U.S. and the U.K. Used vehicle sales are even more fragmented than new vehicle sales and are generated by new car dealerships, used vehicle “superstores,” individual small lot sellers, as well as individual to individual sales. Used vehicle sales were approximately 40 million units in the U.S. and approximately 8 million units in the U.K. in 2018. 

 

Retail Commercial Truck Dealership. In 2018,  North America sales of Class 5-8 medium and heavy duty trucks, the principal vehicles for our PTG business, were approximately 577,523 units, an increase of 15.5% from 2017. The Class 5-7 medium duty truck market increased 6.0% to 262,806 units from 247,902 units in the same period in 2017. The largest market, Class 8 heavy duty trucks, increased 24.9% to approximately 314,717 units from approximately 251,951 units in 2017.  In this market, our principal brands, Freightliner and Western Star, represent approximately 37.5% of that market.

 

Commercial Vehicle Distribution. Our commercial vehicle distribution business operates principally in Australia and New Zealand. In 2018, heavy duty truck sales in Australia and New Zealand combined were 17,823 units, representing an increase of 16.5% from 2017. The brands we represent in Australia hold a 6.5% market share in the Australian heavy duty truck market, and a 3.9% market share in New Zealand.

 

Penske Truck Leasing .  PTL participates broadly in the global supply chain, estimated at $8.7 trillion annually, and particularly in the U.S. supply chain, estimated at $1.6 trillion annually. Only 11% of the total U.S. supply chain function is outsourced to third parties, such as PTL. We estimate, based on R. L. Polk registration data, that there are approximately 8.2 million commercial trucks operating in the United States, of which up to 3.9 million could be potential opportunities for PTL’s full-service leasing and contract maintenance offerings.

 

Dealership. Generally, new vehicle unit sales are cyclical and, historically, fluctuations have been influenced by factors such as manufacturer incentives, interest rates, fuel prices, unemployment, inflation, weather, the level of personal discretionary spending, credit availability, consumer confidence and other general economic factors. However, from a profitability perspective, automotive and truck retailers have historically been less vulnerable than manufacturers and parts suppliers to declines in new vehicle sales. We believe this is due to the retailers’ more flexible expense structure (a significant portion of the retail industry’s costs are variable) and their diversified revenue streams such as used vehicle sales and service and parts sales. In addition, manufacturers may offer various dealer incentives when sales are slow, which further increases the volatility in profitability for manufacturers and may help to decrease volatility for franchised automotive retailers.

 

Business Description

 

Information Technology and Customer Privacy

 

We consolidate financial, accounting and operational data received from our local operations through private data communications networks. Local operating data is gathered and processed through individual systems utilizing common centralized management systems predominately licensed from, and in many cases operated by, third parties. Our local systems follow our standardized accounting procedures and are compliant with any guidelines established by our vehicle manufacturers. Our database technology allows us to extract and aggregate data from the systems in a consistent format

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to generate consolidated financial and operational analysis. These systems also allow us to access detailed information for each individual location, as a group, or on a consolidated basis. Information we can access includes, among other things, inventory, cash, unit sales, the mix of new and used vehicle sales and sales of aftermarket products and services. Our ability to access this data allows us to continually analyze our local results of operations and financial position so as to identify areas for improvement.

 

We utilize common customer relationship management systems that assist us in identifying customer opportunities and responding to customer inquiries. We utilize compliance systems that assist us with our regulatory obligations and assist us in maintaining the privacy of the information we receive from customers that we collect, process, and retain in the normal course of our business. We have adopted rigorous customer information safeguard programs and “red flag” policies to assist us in maintaining customer privacy.

 

As part of our business model, we receive sensitive information regarding customers, associates and vendors, from various online and offline channels. Our internal and third-party systems are under a moderate level of risk from cyber criminals or other individuals with malicious intent to gain unauthorized access to our systems. Cyber-attacks continue to grow in number and sophistication thus presenting an ongoing threat to systems, whether internal or external, used to operate the business on a day to day basis. We perform periodic control testing and audits on our systems. Despite these measures, our facilities and systems, and those of our third-party service providers, could be vulnerable to security breaches, malicious software, or other events. Any security breach or event resulting in the unauthorized disclosure of confidential information, or degradation of services provided by critical business systems, whether by us directly or our third-party service providers, could adversely affect our business operations, sales, reputation with current and potential customers, associates or vendors, as well as other operational and financial impacts derived from investigations, litigation, imposition of penalties, or other means.

 

Marketing

 

Retail Automotive Dealership. Our marketing strategy focuses on our individual businesses to capitalize on local branding, as well as corporate programs and web presence, which allows us to leverage scale and our parent brand recognition. We align ourselves with the marketing implemented by our OEM partners for their respective brands and integrate those initiatives and resources across the brands we represent.

 

Our marketing strategy reflects a data-driven approach that combines key metrics and trends from industry and consumer studies, our customer relationship management systems, and performance data from our businesses. This approach emphasizes objectivity and transparency in our marketing efforts and allows us to measure and gauge our success.

 

Our dealerships have strong local brand and name recognition and are respected in their communities. As such, we focus our efforts on our individual businesses to capitalize on their strong local reputation. To supplement local marketing, we implement corporate initiatives that link our local businesses to leverage scale and our parent brand recognition.

 

We leverage scale by using consistent performance metrics across the group to identify best practices and opportunities to negotiate enterprise arrangements for key marketing partners. A single, unified, customer relationship management tool is used by our new vehicle dealerships in the U.S. to enhance and streamline customer communication, provide visibility into our sales pipeline, and measure return on investment across the organization.

 

To attract customers and enhance customer service, each of our dealerships maintains its own website platform. All dealership websites have consistent functionality and responsive formats, except where otherwise required by vehicle manufacturers, which helps to minimize costs and provides a consistent image across dealerships. In addition to the dealership websites, we advertise most of our U.S. and U.K. automotive retail new and pre-owned vehicle inventory online through PenskeCars.com and Sytner.co.uk, as discussed previously under “Embrace Digital Sales and Marketing” above.

 

Consistent with our data-driven approach, as consumer activity continues to move toward digital, our marketing strategy places a strong emphasis on all forms of digital marketing. We strive to build and optimize our online presence

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across multiple platforms in order to drive high quality traffic to our business and maintain consistent and professional messaging. By focusing on social media, video, mobile, email marketing, online advertising, search engine optimization, branding, and content, we proactively optimize all avenues of digital customer engagement.

 

We monitor customer satisfaction data to track the performance of operations, and incent our personnel to provide exceptional customer service, thereby driving increased customer loyalty. Social media is a highly-valued element of our marketing strategy that allows us to engage with customers, build dealership awareness and enhance repeat and referral business. Additionally, we leverage corporate social media efforts and partners to benefit our dealerships and create a strong sense of community. Online reputation management sites, such as Google and Yelp, are proactively monitored to ensure we are offering a superior customer experience.

 

Through our marketing strategy, we aim to forge lasting relationships with our customers, enhance our reputation, and create the opportunity for significant repeat and referral business.

 

Retail Commercial Truck Dealership and Commercial Vehicle Distribution. We market commercial trucks in the U.S., Canada and Western Europe, and commercial vehicles and other products in Australia and New Zealand principally through a network of dealership and service locations, supported by corporate level marketing efforts. Our digital marketing leverages manufacturer websites supplemented by brand specific websites to promote our brands. We also employ local sponsorships to generate brand awareness in our markets and market to customers at various trade shows and other industry events. While we rely on our dealerships and service locations to market to local customers, we typically assign a regional sales manager to oversee local dealer marketing efforts.

 

Agreements with Vehicle Manufacturers

 

We operate our franchised new vehicle dealerships under separate agreements with the manufacturers or distributors of each brand of vehicle sold at that dealership. These agreements are typical throughout the industry and may contain provisions and standards governing almost every aspect of the dealership, including ownership, management, personnel, training, maintenance of a minimum of working capital, net worth requirements, maintenance of minimum lines of credit, advertising and marketing activities, facilities, signs, products and services, maintenance of minimum amounts of insurance, achievement of minimum customer service standards and monthly financial reporting. In addition, the General Manager and/or the owner of a dealership typically cannot be changed without the manufacturer’s consent. In exchange for complying with these provisions and standards, we are granted the non-exclusive right to sell the manufacturer’s or distributor’s brand of vehicles and related parts and warranty services at our dealerships. The agreements also grant us a non-exclusive license to use each manufacturer’s trademarks, service marks and designs in connection with our sales and service of its brand at our dealership.

 

Some of our agreements, including those with BMW, Honda, Mercedes-Benz and Toyota, expire after a specified period of time, ranging from one to six years. Manufacturers have generally not terminated our franchise agreements, and our franchise agreements with fixed terms have typically been renewed without substantial cost. We currently expect the manufacturers to renew all of our franchise agreements as they expire. In addition, certain agreements with the manufacturers limit the total number of dealerships of that brand that we may own in a particular geographic area and, in some cases, limit the total number of their vehicles that we may sell as a percentage of a particular manufacturer’s overall sales. Manufacturers may also limit the ownership of stores in contiguous markets. We have reached certain geographical limitations with certain manufacturers in the U.S. and U.K. Where these limits are reached, we cannot acquire additional franchises of those brands in the relevant market unless we can negotiate modifications to the agreements. We may not be able to negotiate any such modifications.

 

Many of these agreements also grant the manufacturer or distributor a security interest in the vehicles and/or parts sold by them to the dealership, as well as other dealership assets, and permit them to terminate or not renew the agreement for a variety of causes, including failure to adequately operate the dealership, insolvency or bankruptcy, impairment of the dealer’s reputation or financial standing, changes in the dealership’s management, owners or location without consent, sales of the dealership’s assets without consent, failure to maintain adequate working capital or floor plan financing, changes in the dealership’s financial or other condition, failure to submit required information to them on a timely basis, failure to have any permit or license necessary to operate the dealership, and material breaches of other provisions of the agreement. In the U.S., these termination rights are subject to state franchise laws that limit a

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manufacturer’s right to terminate a franchise. In the U.K., we operate without such local franchise law protection (see “Regulation” below).

 

Our agreements with manufacturers or distributors usually give them the right, in some circumstances (including upon a merger, sale, or change of control of the Company, or in some cases a material change in our business or capital structure), to acquire the dealerships from us at fair market value. For example, our agreement with General Motors provides that, upon a proposed purchase of 20% or more of our voting stock by any new person or entity or another manufacturer (subject to certain exceptions), an extraordinary corporate transaction (such as a merger, reorganization or sale of a material amount of assets) or a change of control of our board of directors, General Motors has the right to acquire all assets, properties and business of any General Motors dealership owned by us for fair value. Some of our agreements with other major manufacturers, including Honda and Toyota, contain provisions similar to the General Motors provisions.

 

With respect to our commercial vehicle distribution operations in Australia and New Zealand, we are party to distributor agreements with each manufacturer of products we distribute pursuant to which we are the distributor of these products in those countries and nearby markets. The agreements govern all aspects of our distribution rights, including sales and service activities, service and warranty terms, use of intellectual property, promotion and advertising provisions, pricing and payment terms, and indemnification requirements. The agreement with Western Star expires in 2025, the agreement with MTU expires in 2024 and the agreement with Detroit Diesel expires in 2025. We also are party to shipping agreements with respect to importing those products. For each of our non-company owned dealers, we have signed a franchise agreement with terms that set forth the dealer’s obligations with respect to the sales and servicing of these vehicles.

 

Competition

 

Dealership.   We believe that the principal factors consumers consider when determining where to purchase a vehicle are the marketing campaigns conducted by manufacturers, the ability of dealerships to offer a wide selection of the most popular vehicles, the location of dealerships and the quality of the customer experience. Other factors include customer preference for particular brands of vehicles, pricing (including manufacturer rebates and other special offers) and warranties. We believe that our dealerships are competitive in all of these areas.

 

The automotive and truck retail industry is currently served by franchised dealerships, independent used vehicle dealerships and individual consumers who sell used vehicles in private transactions. For new vehicle sales, we compete primarily with other franchised dealers in each of our marketing areas, relying on our premium facilities, superior customer service, advertising and merchandising, management experience, sales expertise, reputation, and the location of our dealerships to attract and retain customers. Each of our markets may include a number of well-capitalized competitors, including in certain instances dealerships owned by manufacturers and national and regional retail chains. In our retail commercial truck dealership operations, we compete with other manufacturers and retailers of medium and heavy duty trucks such as Ford, International Kenworth, Mack, Peterbilt and Volvo. We also compete with dealers that sell the same brands of new vehicles that we sell and with dealers that sell other brands of new vehicles that we do not represent in a particular market. Our new vehicle dealership competitors have franchise agreements which give them access to new vehicles on the same terms as us. Automotive dealers also face competition in the sale of new vehicles from purchasing services and warehouse clubs. With respect to arranging financing for our customers’ vehicle purchases, we compete with a broad range of financial institutions such as banks and local credit unions.

 

For used vehicle sales, we compete in a highly fragmented market which sells approximately 40 million units in the U.S. and 8 million units in the U.K. annually through other franchised dealers, independent used vehicle dealers, automobile rental agencies, purchasing services, private parties, and used vehicle “superstores” for the procurement and resale of used vehicles. 

 

We compete with other franchised dealers to perform warranty repairs, and with other dealers, franchised and non-franchised service center chains, and independent garages for non-warranty repair and routine maintenance business. We compete with other dealers, franchised and independent aftermarket repair shops, and parts retailers in our parts operations. We believe that the principal factors consumers consider when determining where to purchase vehicle parts and service are price, the use of factory-approved replacement parts, facility location, the familiarity with a

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manufacturer’s brands and the quality of customer service. A number of regional or national chains offer selected parts and services at prices that may be lower than our prices.

 

We believe the majority of consumers are utilizing the Internet and other digital media in connection with the purchase of new and used vehicles. Accordingly, we face increased competition from online vehicle websites, including those developed by manufacturers and other dealership groups.

 

Commercial Vehicle Distribution. With respect to our commercial vehicle distribution operations in Australia and New Zealand, we compete with manufacturers, distributors, and retailers of other vehicles and products in our markets. The brands we represent in Australia hold a 6.5% market share in the Australian heavy duty truck market, and a 3.9% market share in New Zealand.

 

PTL.   As an alternative to using PTL’s full-service truck leasing or contract maintenance services, we believe that most potential customers perform some or all of these services themselves. They may also purchase similar or alternative services from other third-party vendors. Its full-service truck leasing operations compete with companies providing similar services on a national, regional and local level. Many regional and local competitors provide services on a national level through their participation in various cooperative programs. Competitive factors include price, maintenance, service and geographic coverage. PTL competes with finance lessors, truck and trailer manufacturers, and independent dealers, each of which provides full-service lease products, finance leases, extended warranty maintenance, rental, and other transportation services. Its contract maintenance offering competes primarily with truck and trailer manufacturers and independent dealers who provide maintenance services.

 

PTL’s commercial and consumer rental operations compete with several other nationwide vehicle rental systems, a large number of vehicle leasing and rental companies with multiple branches operating on a regional basis, and many similar companies operating primarily on a local basis. Because a significant portion of its rentals are used for moving and relocation, PTL competes with local and national moving and storage companies, as well as alternatives such as portable container-based transportation and storage. In its rental operations, it competes primarily on the basis of equipment availability, geographic location and customer service.

 

PTL’s logistics business competes with other dedicated logistics providers, transportation management businesses, freight brokers, warehouse providers and truckload carriers on a national, regional and local level, as well as with the internal supply chain functions of prospective customers who rely on their own resources for logistics management. Competitive factors include price, efficient logistical design offerings, equipment, maintenance, service, technology and geographic coverage, and driver and operations expertise. PTL seeks to combine its logistics services with its existing full-service truck leasing and truck rental business to create an integrated transportation solution for its customers.

 

Employees and Labor Relations

 

As of December 31, 2018, we employed nearly 27,000 people, approximately 748 of whom were covered by collective bargaining agreements with labor unions. We consider our relations with our employees to be satisfactory. Our policy is to motivate our key managers through, among other things, variable compensation programs tied principally to local profitability. Due to our reliance on vehicle manufacturers, we may be adversely affected by labor strikes or work stoppages at the manufacturers’ facilities.

 

Regulation

 

We operate in a highly regulated industry and a number of regulations affect the marketing, selling, financing, servicing, and distribution of vehicles. Under the laws of the jurisdictions in which we currently operate, we typically must obtain a license in order to establish, operate or relocate a dealership, or operate a repair facility. These laws also regulate our conduct of business, including our advertising, operating, financing, employment, distribution and sales practices. Other laws and regulations include franchise laws and regulations, environmental laws and regulations (see “Environmental Matters” below), laws and regulations applicable to new and used motor vehicle dealers, as well as customer and employee privacy, identity theft prevention, wage-hour, anti-discrimination and other employment practices laws. With respect to online sales, many laws and regulations applicable to our business were adopted prior to

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the introduction of the Internet, certain digital technologies, and e-commerce, generally. As a result, we are tasked with maintaining compliance in an uncertain regulatory environment.

 

Our financing activities with customers are subject to truth-in-lending, consumer leasing, equal credit opportunity and similar regulations, as well as motor vehicle finance laws, installment finance laws, insurance laws, usury laws and other installment sales laws. Some jurisdictions regulate finance fees that may be paid as a result of vehicle sales. In recent years, private plaintiffs, state attorneys general and federal agencies in the U.S. have increased their scrutiny of advertising, sales, and finance and insurance activities in the sale and leasing of motor vehicles.

 

In the U.S., we benefit from the protection of numerous state franchise laws that generally provide that a manufacturer or distributor may not terminate or refuse to renew a franchise agreement unless it has first provided the dealer with written notice setting forth good cause and stating the grounds for termination or non-renewal. Some state franchise laws allow dealers to file protests or petitions or to attempt to comply with the manufacturer’s criteria within the notice period to avoid the termination or non-renewal. Our international locations generally do not have these laws and, as a result, our international operations operate without these types of protections.

 

Environmental Matters

 

We are subject to a wide range of environmental laws and regulations, including those governing discharges into the air and water, the operation and removal of aboveground and underground storage tanks, the use, handling, storage and disposal of hazardous substances and other materials and the investigation and remediation of environmental contamination. Our business involves the generation, use, handling and contracting for recycling or disposal of hazardous or toxic substances or wastes, including environmentally sensitive materials such as motor oil, filters, transmission fluid, antifreeze, refrigerant, batteries, solvents, lubricants, tires, and fuel. We have incurred, and will continue to incur, capital and operating expenditures and other costs in complying with such laws and regulations.

 

Our operations involving the management of hazardous and other environmentally sensitive materials are subject to numerous requirements. Our business also involves the operation of storage tanks containing such materials. Storage tanks are subject to periodic testing, containment, upgrading and removal under applicable law. Furthermore, investigation or remediation may be necessary in the event of leaks or other discharges from current or former underground or aboveground storage tanks. In addition, water quality protection programs govern certain discharges from some of our operations. Similarly, certain air emissions from our operations, such as vehicle painting, may be subject to relevant laws. Various health and safety standards also apply to our operations.

 

We may have liability in connection with materials that are sent to third-party recycling, treatment, and/or disposal facilities under the U.S. Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act and comparable statutes. These statutes impose liability for investigation and remediation of contamination without regard to fault or the legality of the conduct that contributed to the contamination. Responsible parties under these statutes may include the owner or operator of the site where the contamination occurred and companies that disposed or arranged for the disposal of the hazardous substances released at these sites.

 

An expanding trend in environmental regulation is to place more restrictions and limitations on activities that may affect the environment. U.S. vehicle manufacturers are subject to federally mandated corporate average fuel economy standards, which are expected to increase substantially through 2025. Furthermore, in response to concerns that emissions of carbon dioxide and certain other gases, referred to as “greenhouse gases,” may be contributing to warming of the Earth’s atmosphere, climate change-related legislation and policy changes to restrict greenhouse gas emissions are being considered, or have been implemented, at state and federal levels. European regulation requires a 37.5% reduction in emissions carbon dioxide for cars by 2030. Furthermore, numerous states, including California, have adopted or are considering requiring the sale of specified numbers of zero-emission vehicles. Significant increases in fuel economy requirements or new federal and state restrictions on emissions of carbon dioxide on vehicles and automobile fuels in the U.S. could adversely affect prices of and demand for the vehicles that we sell, such as the reduced demand for diesel vehicles we have experienced in 2018 in the United Kingdom.

 

We have a proactive strategy related to environmental, health and safety compliance, which includes contracting with third parties to inspect our facilities periodically. We believe that we do not have any material environmental liabilities

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and that compliance with environmental laws and regulations will not, individually or in the aggregate, have a material effect on us. However, soil and groundwater contamination is known to exist at certain of our current or former properties. Further, environmental laws and regulations are complex and subject to change. In addition, in connection with our acquisitions, it is possible that we will assume or become subject to new or unforeseen environmental costs or liabilities, some of which may be material. Compliance with current, amended, new or more stringent laws or regulations, stricter interpretations of existing laws or the future discovery of environmental conditions could require additional expenditures by us, and such expenditures could be material.

 

Insurance

 

Our business is subject to substantial risk of loss due to significant concentrations of property value, including vehicles and parts at our locations. In addition, we are exposed to liabilities arising out of our operations such as employee claims, customer claims and claims for personal injury or property damage, and potential fines and penalties in connection with alleged violations of regulatory requirements. We attempt to manage such risks through loss control and risk transfer utilizing insurance programs which are subject to specified deductibles and significant retentions. Certain insurers have limited available property coverage in response to the natural catastrophes experienced in recent years. As a result, we are exposed to uninsured and underinsured losses that could have a material adverse effect on us. 

 

Available Information

 

For selected financial information concerning our various operating and geographic segments, see Note 18 to our consolidated financial statements included in Item 8 of this report. Our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act are available free of charge through our website, www.penskeautomotive.com, under the tab “Investor Relations” as soon as reasonably practicable after they are electronically filed with, or furnished to, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). The SEC maintains an Internet site that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information that issuers file with the SEC. The address of the SEC’s website is www.sec.gov. We also make available on our website copies of materials regarding our corporate governance policies and practices, including our Corporate Governance Guidelines; our Code of Business Ethics; and the charters relating to the committees of our Board of Directors. The content of any website referred to in this Form 10-K is not deemed incorporated by reference into this Form 10-K unless expressly noted. You may obtain a printed copy of any of the foregoing materials by sending a written request to: Investor Relations, Penske Automotive Group, Inc., 2555 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302 or by calling toll-free 866-715-5289. The information on or linked to our website is not part of this document. We plan to disclose changes to our Code of Business Ethics, or waivers, if any, for our executive officers or directors, on our website. We incorporated in the state of Delaware in 1990 and began dealership operations in October 1992.

 

Seasonality

 

Dealership. Our business is modestly seasonal overall. Our U.S. operations generally experience higher volumes of vehicle sales in the second and third quarters of each year due in part to consumer buying trends and the introduction of new vehicle models. Also, vehicle demand, and to a lesser extent demand for service and parts, is generally lower during the winter months than in other seasons, particularly in regions of the U.S. where dealerships may be subject to severe winters. Our U.K. operations generally experience higher volumes of vehicle sales in the first and third quarters of each year, due primarily to vehicle registration practices in the U.K.

 

Commercial Vehicle Distribution. Our commercial vehicle distribution business generally experiences higher sales volumes during the second quarter of the year, which is primarily attributable to commercial vehicle customers completing annual capital expenditures before their fiscal year-end, which is typically June 30 in Australia.

 

Item 1A.  Risk Factors  

 

Our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, prospects, and the prevailing market price and performance of our common stock may be affected by a number of factors, including the matters discussed below. Certain statements and information set forth herein, as well as other written or oral statements made from time to time by

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us or by our authorized officers on our behalf, constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Federal Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “goal,” “plan,” “seek,” “project,” “continue,” “will,” “would,” and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. We intend for our forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and we set forth this statement in order to comply with such safe harbor provisions. You should note that our forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K or when made and we undertake no duty or obligation to update or revise our forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

 

Although we believe that the expectations, plans, intentions, and projections reflected in our forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.

 

The risks, uncertainties, and other factors that our stockholders and prospective investors should consider include the following:

 

Macro-economic conditions . Our performance is impacted by general economic conditions overall, and in particular by economic conditions in the markets in which we operate. These economic conditions include: levels of new and used vehicle sales; availability of consumer credit; changes in consumer demand; consumer confidence levels; fuel prices; personal discretionary spending levels; interest rates; and unemployment rates. When the worldwide economy faltered and the worldwide automotive industry experienced significant operational and financial difficulties in 2008 and 2009, we were adversely affected, and we expect a similar relationship between general economic and industry conditions and our performance in the future. The intended departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union (“Brexit”) noted below has generated significant macroeconomic challenges for the global economy. We cannot predict the future effect of Brexit on macroeconomic conditions or the automotive industry in particular, although any sustained drop in vehicle sales would adversely affect our operating results.

 

Vehicle manufacturers exercise significant control over us. Each of our new vehicle dealerships and distributor operations operate under franchise and other agreements with automotive manufacturers, commercial vehicle manufacturers, or related distributors. These agreements govern almost every aspect of the operation of our dealerships, and give manufacturers the discretion to terminate or not renew our franchise agreements for a variety of reasons, including certain events outside our control such as accumulation of our stock by third parties. Without franchise or distributor agreements, we would be unable to sell or distribute new vehicles or perform manufacturer authorized warranty service. If a significant number of our franchise agreements are terminated or are not renewed, or, with respect to our distributor operations, a competing distributor were introduced, we would be materially affected.

 

Brand reputation. Our businesses, and our commercial vehicle operations in particular as those are more concentrated with a particular manufacturer, are impacted by consumer demand and brand preference, including consumers’ perception of the quality of those brands. A decline in the quality and brand reputation of the vehicles or other products we sell or distribute, as a result of events such as manufacturer recalls or legal proceedings, may adversely affect our business. If such events were to occur, the profitability of our business related to those manufacturers could be adversely affected. Beginning in 2015, Volkswagen AG received notice informing them that governmental agencies determined that certain Volkswagen and Audi diesel vehicles do not comply with applicable emissions regulations. There have been conflicting reports whether similar issues are present in other manufacturers’ vehicles. While the Volkswagen and Audi diesel vehicles at issue represent a small portion of our total vehicle sales, should such non-compliance by the automotive manufacturers prove widespread or be present in a substantial number of vehicles we sell, our business could be adversely affected.

 

Restructuring, bankruptcy or other adverse conditions affecting a significant automotive manufacturer or supplier. Our success depends on the overall success of the automotive industry generally, and in particular on the success of the brands of vehicles that each of our dealerships sell. In 2018, revenue generated at our Audi/Volkswagen/Porsche/Bentley, BMW/MINI, Toyota/Lexus, and Mercedes-Benz/Sprinter/smart dealerships represented 24%, 23%, 13%, and 9%, respectively, of our total automotive dealership revenues. Significant adverse

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weather related or other events that interrupt vehicle or parts supply to our dealerships, would likely have a significant and adverse impact on the industry as a whole, including us, particularly if the events impact any of the manufacturers whose franchises generate a significant percentage of our revenue. For example, the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in March 2011 resulted in reduced new vehicle production by Japanese automotive manufacturers in 2011 adversely affected our results. In addition, in 2017, hurricanes in Puerto Rico, Florida, Georgia, and Texas generated storm-related losses. Should these or similar events reoccur, we would expect similar adverse effects.

 

Manufacturer incentive programs. Vehicle manufacturers offer incentive programs intended to promote and support vehicle sales. These incentive programs include but are not limited to customer rebates, dealer incentives on new vehicles, manufacturer floor plan interest and advertising assistance, and warranties on new and used vehicles. A discontinuation of or change to the manufacturers’ incentive programs may adversely impact vehicle demand, the value of new and used vehicles, and may materially affect our results of operations.  

 

Our business is very competitive. We generally compete with: other franchised dealerships in our markets; used vehicle superstores, private market buyers and sellers of used vehicles; an increasing number of Internet-based vehicle sellers; national and local service and repair shops and parts retailers; with respect to commercial vehicles, distributors of similar products; and manufacturers in certain markets. Purchase decisions by consumers when shopping for a vehicle are extremely price sensitive. The level of competition in the market generally, coupled with increasing price transparency resulting from the use of the Internet by consumers, and pricing discounts to customers, can lead to lower selling prices and related profits. If there is a prolonged drop in retail prices, new vehicle sales are allowed to be made over the Internet without the involvement of franchised dealers, or if dealerships or other competitors are able to effectively use the Internet to sell outside of their markets, our business could be materially adversely affected.  

 

Evolving automotive and trucking industries. The automotive and trucking industries are predicted to experience rapid change. Shared vehicle services such as Uber and Lyft provide consumers with increased choice in their personal mobility options. The effect of these and similar mobility options on the retail automotive industry is uncertain, and may include lower levels of new vehicles sales, but with increasing miles driven, which could require additional demand for vehicle maintenance. In part due to regulatory requirements to limit vehicle emissions, many automotive manufacturers have announced plans to further electrify their vehicle offerings. We expect to continue to sell electric and hybrid gas/electric vehicles through our franchised dealerships, though if pure electric vehicles were widely accepted by customers, our service revenues may decline, as these vehicles may require less physical maintenance than gas and hybrid vehicles. In addition, technological advances are facilitating the development of driverless vehicles. The eventual timing of availability of driverless vehicles is uncertain due to regulatory requirements, additional technological requirements, and uncertain consumer acceptance of these vehicles. The effect of driverless vehicles on the automotive retail and trucking industries is uncertain and could include changes in the level of new and used vehicles sales, the price of new vehicles, and the role of franchised dealers, any of which could materially and adversely affect our business.

 

Property loss, business interruption or other liabilities. Our business is subject to substantial risk of loss due to: the significant concentration of property values, including vehicle and parts inventories, at our operating locations; claims by employees, customers and third parties for personal injury or property damage; and fines and penalties in connection with alleged violations of regulatory requirements. While we have insurance for many of these risks, we retain risk relating to certain of these perils and certain perils are not covered by our insurance. Certain insurers have limited available property coverage in response to the natural catastrophes experienced in recent years. If we experience significant losses that are not covered by our insurance, whether due to adverse weather conditions or otherwise, or we are required to retain a significant portion of a loss, it could have a significant and adverse effect on us.

 

Leverage.  Our significant debt and other commitments expose us to a number of risks, including:

 

Cash requirements for debt and lease obligations.   A significant portion of the cash flow we generate must be used to service the interest and principal payments relating to our various financial commitments, including $3.8 billion of floor plan notes payable, $2.2 billion of non-vehicle long-term debt and $5.4   billion of future lease commitments   (including extension periods that are reasonably assured of being exercised and assuming constant consumer price indices). A sustained or significant decrease in our operating cash flows could lead to an inability to meet our debt service or lease requirements or to a failure to meet specified financial and operating covenants included in certain of our agreements. If this were to occur, it may lead to a default under one or more of our

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commitments and potentially the acceleration of amounts due, which could have a significant and adverse effect on us .  

 

Availability. Because we finance the majority of our operating and strategic initiatives using a variety of commitments, including floor plan notes payable and revolving credit facilities, we are dependent on continued availability of these sources of funds. If these agreements are terminated or we are unable to access them because of a breach of financial or operating covenants or otherwise, we will likely be materially affected.

 

Interest rate variability. The interest rates we are charged on a substantial portion of our debt, including the floor plan notes payable we issue to purchase the majority of our inventory, are variable, increasing or decreasing based on changes in certain published interest rates. Increases to such interest rates has resulted and may continue to result in higher interest expense for us, which negatively affects our operating results. Because many of our customers finance their vehicle purchases, further increased interest rates may also decrease vehicle sales, which would negatively affect our operating results.  

 

Impairment of our goodwill or other indefinite-lived intangible assets has in the past had, and in the future could have, a material adverse impact on our earnings.  We evaluate goodwill and other indefinite-lived intangible assets for impairment annually and upon the occurrence of an indicator of impairment. Our process for impairment testing of these assets is described further under “Impairment Testing” in Part II, Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates. If we determine that the amount of our goodwill or other indefinite-lived intangible assets are impaired at any point in time, we would be required to reduce the value of these assets on our balance sheet, which would also result in a material non-cash impairment charge that could also have a material adverse effect on our results of operations for the period in which the impairment occurs.

 

Performance of sublessees. In connection with the sale, relocation and closure of certain of our franchises, we have entered into a number of third-party sublease agreements. The rent paid by our sub-tenants on such properties in 2018 totaled approximately $21.6 million. In the aggregate, we remain ultimately liable for approximately $233.7 million of such lease payments including payments relating to all available renewal periods. We rely on our sub-tenants to pay the rent and maintain the properties covered by these leases. In the event a subtenant does not perform under the terms of their lease with us, we could be required to fulfill such obligations, which could have a significant and adverse effect on us.  

 

Information technology. Our information systems are fully integrated into our operations and we rely on them to operate effectively, including with respect to: electronic communications and data transfer protocols with manufacturers and other vendors; customer relationship management; sales and service scheduling; data storage; and financial and operational reporting. The majority of our systems are licensed from third parties, the most significant of which are provided by a limited number of suppliers in the U.S., U.K. and Australia. The failure of our information systems to perform as designed, the failure to protect the integrity of these systems, or the interruption of these systems due to natural disasters, power loss, unexpected termination of our agreements, or other reasons, could significantly and adversely disrupt our business operations, impact sales and results of operations, expose us to customer or third-party claims, or result in adverse publicity.  

 

Cyber-security. As part of our business model, we receive sensitive information regarding customers, associates and vendors, from various online and offline channels. We collect, process, and retain this information in the normal course of our business. Our internal and third-party systems are under a moderate level of risk from cyber criminals or other individuals with malicious intent to gain unauthorized access to our systems. Cyber-attacks continue to grow in number and sophistication thus presenting an ongoing threat to systems, whether internal or external, used to operate the business on a day to day basis. Despite the security measures we have in place, our facilities and systems, and those of our third-party service providers, could be vulnerable to security breaches, malicious software, lost or misplaced data, programming errors, human errors, acts of vandalism, or other events. Any security breach or event resulting in the misappropriation, loss, or other unauthorized disclosure of confidential information, or degradation of services provided by critical business systems, whether by us directly or our third-party service providers, could adversely affect our business operations, sales, reputation with current and potential customers, associates or vendors, as well as other operational and financial impacts derived from investigations, litigation, imposition of penalties or other means.  

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The United Kingdom’s potential departure from the European Union could adversely affect us. The United Kingdom is currently scheduled to exit the European Union (“Brexit”) on March 29, 2019. The future terms of the United Kingdom’s relationship with the European Union remain uncertain. The effects of Brexit will depend on any agreements the United Kingdom makes to retain access to European Union markets either during a transitional period or more permanently. Brexit could adversely affect European and worldwide economic and market conditions and could contribute to instability in global financial and foreign exchange markets, including volatility in the value of the British Pound and the Euro. More specifically, it could lead to increased retail prices in the United Kingdom since the majority of vehicles sold in the U.K. are imported from other countries in Europe and may be subject to additional tax, breakdowns in the supply chain of automotive retailers and manufacturers which could delay delivery of vehicles or parts and other negative effects, which are difficult to predict.

 

As exchange rates fluctuate, our revenue and results of operations as reported in U.S. Dollars fluctuate. A weakening British Pound as compared to the U.S. Dollar negatively impacts our U.S. Dollar reported results of operations. Our U.K. business generated 35% of our total revenue for the year ended December 31, 2018. Any of these effects of Brexit, and others we cannot anticipate, could adversely affect our business, consolidated financial position, results of operations, and cash flows.

 

The success of our commercial vehicle distribution businesses are directly impacted by availability and demand for the vehicles and other products we distribute. We are the exclusive distributor of Western Star commercial trucks, MAN commercial trucks and buses, and Dennis Eagle refuse collection vehicles, together with associated parts, across Australia, New Zealand and portions of the Pacific. We are also the distributor of diesel and gas engines and power systems in these same markets. The profitability of these businesses depends upon the number of vehicles, engines, power systems and parts we distribute, which in turn is impacted by demand for these products. We believe demand is subject to general economic conditions, exchange rate fluctuations, regulatory changes, competitiveness of the products and other factors over which we have limited control. In the event sales of these products are less than we expect, our related results of operations and cash flows for this aspect of our business may be materially adversely affected. The products we distribute are principally manufactured at a limited number of locations. In the event of a supply disruption or if sufficient quantities of the vehicles, engines, power systems and parts are not made available to us, or if we accept these products and are unable to economically distribute them, our cash flows or results of operations may be materially adversely affected.

 

Australian economic conditions. Our commercial vehicle distribution operations in Australia and New Zealand may be impacted by local economic conditions and in particular, the price of commodities such as copper and iron ore which may impact the desire of our customers to operate their mining operations and replace their vehicle fleets. Adverse pricing concerns of those, and other commodities, may have a material adverse effect on our ability to distribute, and/or retail, commercial vehicles and other products profitably. These same conditions may also negatively impact the value of the Australian Dollar versus the U.S. Dollar, which negatively impacts our U.S. Dollar reported financial results and the pricing of products sold by Penske Commercial Vehicles, which are manufactured in the U.S., U.K., and Germany.

 

International and foreign currency risk. We have significant operations outside the U.S. that expose us to changes in foreign exchange rates and to the impact of economic and political conditions in the markets where we operate. As exchange rates fluctuate, our results of operations as reported in U.S. Dollars fluctuate. For example, if the U.S. Dollar were to continue to strengthen against the British Pound, our U.K. results of operations would translate into less U.S. Dollar reported results. Sustained levels or an increase in the value of the U.S. Dollar, particularly as compared to the British Pound, could result in a significant and adverse effect on our reported results.

 

Joint ventures.  We have significant investments in a variety of joint ventures, including retail automotive operations in Germany, Japan, Italy and Spain. We have a 28.9% interest in PTL. We expect to receive annual operating distributions from PTL and the other ventures, and in the case of PTL, realize significant cash tax savings. These benefits may not be realized if the joint ventures do not perform as expected, or if changes in tax, financial, or regulatory requirements negatively impact the results of the joint venture operations. Our ability to dispose of these investments may be limited. In addition, the relevant joint venture agreement and other contractual restrictions may limit our access to the cash flows of these joint ventures. For example, PTL’s principal debt agreements allow partner distributions only

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as long as PTL is not in default under that agreement and the amount PTL distributes does not exceed 50% of its consolidated net income.

 

Additional risks relating to PTL. PTL’s business has additional risks to those in the retail business.

 

Customers. PTL has a more concentrated customer base than we do and is subject to changes in the financial health of its customers, changes in their asset utilization rates and increased competition for those customers.

 

Workforce. PTL requires a significant number of qualified drivers and technicians which may be difficult to hire, and is subject to increased compliance costs or work stoppages relating to those employees, particularly in regards to changes in labor laws and time of work rules regarding those employees. PTL contributes to 19 U.S. multi-employer pension plans that provide defined benefits to approximately 3,600 associates covered by collective bargaining agreements. If they withdraw or are deemed to withdraw from participation in any of these plans, then applicable law could require them to make withdrawal liability payments to the plan. If any of those plans were deemed to be underfunded, PTL could be subject to additional assessments, which could be substantial.

 

Fleet risk. As one of the largest purchasers of commercial trucks in North America, PTL requires continued availability from truck manufacturers and suppliers of vehicles and parts for its fleet, which may be uncertain, in particular if a significant recall were to occur. In addition, because PTL sells a large number of trucks each year and is subject to residual risk for the vehicles it leases to customers, changes in values of used trucks affects PTL’s profitability.

 

Capital markets risk . PTL relies on banks and the capital markets to fund its operations and capital commitments. PTL had a significant amount of total indebtedness at December 31, 2018, which it uses in part to purchase its vehicle fleet, and therefore is subject to changes in, and continued access to, the capital markets.

 

Key personnel. We believe that our success depends to a significant extent upon the efforts and abilities of our senior management, and in particular upon Roger Penske who is our Chair and Chief Executive Officer. To the extent Mr. Penske, or other key personnel, were to depart from our Company unexpectedly, our business could be significantly disrupted.

 

Regulatory issues.  We are subject to a wide variety of regulatory activities, including:

 

Governmental regulations, claims and legal proceedings . Governmental regulations affect almost every aspect of our business, including the fair treatment of our employees, wage and hour issues, and our financing activities with customers. In California, judicial decisions call into question whether long-standing methods for compensating dealership employees comply with the local wage and hour rules. We could be susceptible to claims or related actions if we fail to operate our business in accordance with applicable laws or it is determined that long-standing compensation methods did not comply with local laws. Many laws and regulations applicable to our business were adopted prior to the introduction of online vehicle sales, the Internet, and certain digital technology, generally. As a result, we are tasked with maintaining compliance in an uncertain regulatory environment. Claims arising out of actual or alleged violations of law which may be asserted against us or any of our dealers by individuals, through class actions, or by governmental entities in civil or criminal investigations and proceedings, may expose us to substantial monetary damages which may adversely affect us.

 

European Union General Data Protection Regulation. We are subject to numerous laws and regulations in the U.S. and internationally designed to protect the information of clients, customers, employees, and other third parties that we collect and maintain, including the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (the “GDPR”). The GDPR, among other things, mandates new requirements regarding the handling of personal data of employees and customers, including its use, protection and the ability of persons whose data is stored to correct or delete such data about themselves. In addition, the state of California has proposed a similar law called the California Consumer Privacy Act which mandates similar requirements beginning in January 2020. If we fail to comply with these laws or regulations, we could be subject to significant litigation, monetary damages, regulatory enforcement actions or fines in one or more jurisdictions. For example, a failure to comply with the GDPR could result in fines up to the greater of €20 million or 4% of annual global revenues.

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Recalls. Legislative and regulatory bodies from time to time have considered laws or regulations that would prohibit companies from renting or selling any vehicle that is subject to a recall until the recall service is performed. Whether any such prohibition may be enacted, and its ultimate scope, cannot be determined at this time. If a law or regulation is enacted that prevents the sale of vehicles until recall service has been performed, we could be required to reserve a significant portion of our vehicles from being available for sale for even a minor recall unrelated to vehicle safety. In addition, various manufacturers have issued stop sale notices in relation to certain recalls that require that we retain vehicles until the recall can be performed, whether or not parts are then available. While servicing recall vehicles yields parts and service revenue to us, the inability to sell a significant portion of our vehicles could increase our costs and have an adverse effect on our results of operations if a large number of our vehicles are the subject of simultaneous recalls, or if needed replacement parts are not in adequate supply.

 

Vehicle requirements. Federal and state governments in our markets have increasingly placed restrictions and limitations on the vehicles sold in the market in an effort to combat perceived negative environmental effects. For example, in the U.S., automotive manufacturers are subject to federally mandated corporate average fuel economy standards which will increase substantially through 2025. Furthermore, numerous states and other jurisdictions, including California, have adopted or are considering regulations requiring the sale of specified numbers of zero-emission vehicles. Moreover, several countries, including the U.K. and Germany, have announced or are considering plans to ban or restrict the sale of diesel or combustible fuel vehicles. Significant increases in fuel economy requirements and new federal or state restrictions on emissions on vehicles and fuels could adversely affect prices of and demand for the new vehicles that we sell, which could materially adversely affect us.  

 

In September 2018, new fuel economy testing and Co2 emissions legislation known as “Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Testing Procedure” (WLTP) was implemented and required all vehicles sold in the United Kingdom (our second largest market) and Europe to comply with new fuel economy testing and Co2 emissions standards. Compliance with the new rules has proven to be challenging for certain manufacturers, resulting in a shortage of product availability. Should the brands we represent experience continued product unavailability, we may be significantly and adversely affected.

 

Tariff and trade risk.  Increased tariffs, import product restrictions, and foreign trade risks may impair our ability to sell foreign vehicles profitably. In May 2018, the Trump Administration threatened to add 25% tariffs on foreign vehicles or parts and instructed the U.S. Commerce Department to begin an inquiry to determine if the importation of foreign vehicles or parts adversely impacts U.S. national security. There is substantial uncertainty regarding whether additional tariffs will be imposed, as well as whether “foreign” vehicles include those made by non-U.S. based manufacturers in the U.S or parts made outside the U.S. but included in U.S. assembled vehicles, the retaliatory response of foreign governments, and many other factors. In November 2018, the United States, Mexico and Canada signed a replacement trade agreement for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), known as United States Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA). If approved by Congress, starting in January 1, 2020 or such later date as the agreement takes force, USMCA may allow tariff-free importing of automobiles among the countries only if (i) the vehicles have 75% of their components manufactured in the US, Mexico or Canada, (ii) workers with an hourly wage of at least $16, manufacture at least 30% of the vehicle, which graduates up to 40% of the vehicle in 2023, or in the case of trucks, 45% and (iii) 70% of the steel and aluminum used in the production of the vehicle is sourced within North America. Should tariffs increase, we expect the price of many new vehicles we sell to increase which may adversely affect our new vehicle sales and related finance and insurance sales.

 

Franchise laws in the U.S. In the U.S., state law generally provides protections to franchised vehicle dealers from discriminatory practices by manufacturers and from unreasonable termination or non-renewal of their franchise agreements. In many states, the laws require that new vehicle sales be conducted exclusively by automotive retailers (not manufacturers). If these franchise laws are repealed or amended, manufacturers may have greater flexibility to terminate or not renew our franchises. Franchised automotive dealers in the European Union operate without such protections.

 

Changes in law. New laws and regulations at the state and federal level may be enacted which could materially adversely impact our business. For example, in 2013, a ballot initiative in California titled the California Car Buyers Protection Act was proposed that would have eliminated our ability to be compensated for assisting in financing

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customer vehicle purchases, among other matters. If these initiatives or other adverse changes in law were to be enacted, it could have a significant and adverse effect on us.

 

Environmental regulations. We are subject to a wide range of environmental laws and regulations, including those governing: discharges into the air and water; the operation and removal of storage tanks; and the use, storage and disposal of hazardous substances. In the normal course of our operations we use, generate and dispose of materials covered by these laws and regulations. We face potentially significant costs relating to claims, penalties and remediation efforts in the event of non-compliance with existing and future laws and regulations.

 

Accounting rules and regulations. The Financial Accounting Standards Board is currently evaluating several significant changes to GAAP in the U.S., including new guidance recently issued for revenue recognition and lease accounting. Changes to U.S. GAAP could significantly affect our reported financial position, earnings and cash flows upon adoption and effectiveness.  For example, adoption of the new lease accounting standard will result in a significant increase in lease liabilities and right-of-use assets on our consolidated balance sheets. In addition, changes to lease accounting could affect PTL customers’ decisions to purchase or lease trucks, which could adversely affect their business if leasing becomes a less favorable option. See the disclosure provided under “Recent Accounting Pronouncements” in Part II, Item 8, Note 1 of the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements for additional detail on accounting standard updates expected to have an impact on us.  

 

Related parties. Our two largest stockholders, Penske Corporation and its affiliates (“Penske Corporation”) and Mitsui & Co., Ltd. and its affiliates (“Mitsui”), together beneficially own approximately 57% of our outstanding common stock. The presence of such significant stockholders results in several risks, including:  

 

Our principal stockholders have substantial influence. Penske Corporation and Mitsui have entered into a stockholders agreement pursuant to which they have agreed to vote together as to the election of our directors. As a result, Penske Corporation has the ability to control the composition of our Board of Directors, which may allow it to control our affairs and business. This concentration of ownership, coupled with certain provisions contained in our agreements with manufacturers, our certificate of incorporation, and our bylaws, could discourage, delay or prevent a change in control of us.

 

Some of our directors and officers may have conflicts of interest with respect to certain related party transactions and other business interests. Roger Penske, our Chair and Chief Executive Officer and a director, holds the same offices at Penske Corporation. Robert Kurnick, Jr., our President and a director, is also the Vice Chair and a director of Penske Corporation. Bud Denker, our Executive Vice President, Human Resources, is also the President of Penske Corporation. Each of these officers is paid much of their compensation by Penske Corporation. The compensation they receive from us is based on their efforts on our behalf, however, they are not required to spend any specific amount of time on our matters. One of our directors, Roger S. Penske, Jr., is the son of our Chair and also serves as a director of Penske Corporation. Masashi Yamanaka, one of our directors, is also an employee of Mitsui & Co. Roger Penske also serves as Chairman of Penske Truck Leasing, for which he is compensated by PTL.

 

Penske Corporation ownership levels. Certain of our agreements have clauses that are triggered in the event of a material change in the level of ownership of our common stock by Penske Corporation, such as our trademark agreement between us and Penske Corporation that governs our use of the “Penske” name which can be terminated 24 months after the date that Penske Corporation no longer owns at least 20% of our voting stock. We may not be able to renegotiate such agreements on terms that are acceptable to us, if at all, in the event of a significant change in Penske Corporation’s ownership.

 

We have a significant number of shares of common stock eligible for future sale.   Penske Corporation and Mitsui own approximately 57% of our common stock and each has two demand registration rights that could result in a substantial number of shares being introduced for sale in the market. We also have a significant amount of authorized but unissued shares. Penske Corporation has pledged all of its shares of our common stock as collateral to secure a loan facility. A default by Penske Corporation could result in the foreclosure on those shares by the lenders, after which the lenders could attempt to sell those shares on the open market or to a third party.” The introduction of any of these shares into the market could have a material adverse effect on our stock price.

 

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Item 1B.   Unresolved Staff Comments

 

Not applicable.

 

Item 2.   Properties

 

We lease or sublease substantially all of our dealership properties and other facilities. These leases are generally for a period of between 5 and 20 years, and are typically structured to include renewal options at our election. We lease office space in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, Leicester, England and Brisbane, Australia for our principal administrative headquarters and other corporate related activities. We believe that our facilities are sufficient for our needs and are in good repair.

 

Item 3.   Legal Proceedings

 

We are involved in litigation which may relate to claims brought by governmental authorities, customers, vendors, or employees, including class action claims and purported class action claims. We are not a party to any legal proceedings, including class action lawsuits, that individually or in the aggregate, are reasonably expected to have a material effect on us. However, the results of these matters cannot be predicted with certainty, and an unfavorable resolution of one or more of these matters could have a material adverse effect.

 

Item 4.   Mine Safety Disclosures

 

Not applicable.

 

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