AutoNation Inc (AN) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the AutoNation Inc. Fourth Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. My name is Bruno, I'll be operating your call today. (Operator Instructions) I will now hand over to your host, Derek Fiebig, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

大家好，歡迎參加 AutoNation Inc. 2023 年第四季財報電話會議。我叫布魯諾，今天由我接聽您的電話。 （操作員指示）現在請主持人投資者關係副總裁德里克·菲比格 (Derek Fiebig) 發言。請繼續。

Thank you, Bruno, and good morning, everyone and welcome to AutoNation's Fourth Quarter 2023 Conference Call. Leading our call today will be Mike Manley, our Chief Executive Officer; and Tom Szlosek, our Chief Financial Officer. Following their remarks, we'll open up the call for questions.

謝謝 Bruno，大家早安，歡迎參加 AutoNation 2023 年第四季電話會議。今天的電話會議將由我們的執行長 Mike Manley 主持。以及我們的財務長 Tom Szlosek。在他們發表講話後，我們將開始提問。

Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that certain statements and information on this call, including any statements regarding our anticipated financial results and objectives, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Federal Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks that may cause our actual results or performance to differ materially from such forward-looking statements. Additional discussions of factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially are contained in our press release issued today and in our filings with the SEC.

在我們開始之前，我想提醒您，本次電話會議中的某些陳述和信息，包括有關我們預期財務業績和目標的任何陳述，均構成1995 年聯邦私人證券訴訟改革法案含義內的前瞻性陳述。此類前瞻性陳述涉及已知和未知的風險，可能導致我們的實際結果或業績與此類前瞻性陳述有重大差異。關於可能導致我們的實際結果出現重大差異的因素的更多討論包含在我們今天發布的新聞稿和我們向 SEC 提交的文件中。

Certain non-GAAP financial measures as defined under SEC rules will be discussed on this call. Reconciliations are provided in our materials and on our website at investors.autonation.com.

本次電話會議將討論根據 SEC 規則定義的某些非 GAAP 財務措施。我們的資料和我們的網站 Investors.autonation.com 上提供了對帳資訊。

With that, I'll turn the call over to Mike.

這樣，我會將電話轉給麥克。

Yes. Thanks, Derek, and good morning, everybody. Thank you for joining us today. I'm on Slide 3, and I'm going to provide some opening remarks before I hand over to Tom, who's going to take you through our fourth quarter results in greater detail.

是的。謝謝，德里克，大家早安。感謝您今天加入我們。我正在講第三張投影片，在交給湯姆之前，我將做一些開場白，湯姆將向您詳細介紹我們第四季的業績。

Now as we know, there continue to be mixed economic signals in the economy and concerns our affordability. But from our perspective, consumer demand for new vehicles remains robust. Now during the quarter, our total new vehicle revenue increased 7% and unit sales increased 8%, and this reflected strong Import growth as well as the seasonal uplift in Premium Luxury sales. New vehicle margins continue to decline, but the rate of moderation in the fourth quarter, which was approximately $120 per month was more modest than earlier quarters.

現在我們知道，經濟中仍然存在混合的經濟訊號，並令人擔憂我們的承受能力。但從我們的角度來看，消費者對新車的需求仍然強勁。在本季度，我們的新車總收入成長了 7%，銷量成長了 8%，這反映出強勁的進口成長以及高端豪華車銷量的季節性成長。新車利潤持續下降，但第四季的放緩幅度約為每月 120 美元，比前幾季要溫和。

Total new vehicle inventory levels of 36 days increased from 19 last year and 31 in the third quarter. We have 66 days of Domestic brands, 29 days of Luxury and 24 days of Import brands. Inventory levels are expected to continue to grow in 2024, and as such, we expect to see a continued moderation of new vehicle margin, which we anticipate will be roughly the same pace as we experienced in Q4.

新車總庫存水準為 36 天，較去年的 19 天和第三季的 31 天有所增加。我們有66天的國產品牌，29天的豪華品牌和24天的進口品牌。預計 2024 年庫存水準將繼續成長，因此，我們預計新車利潤率將持續放緩，預計與第四季的成長速度大致相同。

Turning to used vehicles. Same-store units decreased 8% a year ago, while total units were down 4%, which reflects the growth of AN USA stores in the year. The more recent sequential comparisons have been slightly better than the market. Now we're managing several critical variables in the used market at the moment. Firstly, we continue to see tight availability, and this has been with us throughout 2023, and will no doubt continue into 2024 and notwithstanding the inventory availability, we're seeing used vehicle depreciation, which is broadly back to normal and historical levels.

轉向二手車。同店單位較去年同期減少 8%，總單位減少 4%，反映了 AN USA 門市今年的成長。最近的連續比較略好於市場。現在我們正在管理二手市場的幾個關鍵變數。首先，我們繼續看到供應緊張，這種情況在 2023 年一直存在，毫無疑問將持續到 2024 年，儘管庫存充足，但我們看到二手車折舊，大致回到了正常和歷史水平。

Mix between price bands is also normalizing. And as a result, we've seen lower demand in higher-priced used vehicles, partly because of affordability and partly because new vehicles are becoming more available with lower net transaction price, which is often accompanied by subsidized lending rates, which makes new products more compelling for a number of our customers. Tom is going to give you some of the specifics on unit sales by pricing band.

價格區間的混合也在正常化。因此，我們看到對高價二手車的需求下降，部分原因是負擔能力，部分原因是新車變得越來越容易獲得，且淨交易價格較低，這通常伴隨著貸款利率補貼，這使得新產品成為可能。對我們的許多客戶來說更具吸引力。湯姆將向您提供一些按定價範圍劃分的單位銷售的具體資訊。

Our inventory turns on used vehicles declined modestly during the quarter. The mix change I just noted, combined with slower turns moderated our used PVR and we expect these market conditions to continue into 2024 and as a result, we expect our Q1 2024 used margins to be in the same range as our Q4 results.

本季我們的二手車庫存週轉率略有下降。我剛才提到的組合變化，再加上週轉速度放緩，我們的二手PVR 有所放緩，我們預計這些市場狀況將持續到2024 年，因此，我們預計2024 年第一季的二手利潤率將與第四季的業績保持在同一範圍內。

Now we maintained our industry-leading performance in customer financial services in the quarter. As the team continues to do an outstanding job to overcome a higher interest rate environment by maintaining solid growth in product sales per unit sold compared to a year ago. This performance, combined with a 2% increase in total retail units sold resulted in higher CFS gross profit.

現在，我們在本季度的客戶金融服務方面保持了行業領先的表現。由於團隊繼續出色地克服了利率上升的環境，保持了單位產品銷售額與一年前相比的穩健成長。這一業績，加上零售總銷售量成長 2%，導致 CFS 毛利更高。

After-Sales delivered a record fourth quarter for revenue and margin. Total store revenue was up 11% and our gross profit was up 13%. Growth came from all major categories. The greater complexity of vehicles is leading to higher values per repair order and this, coupled with increased numbers of repair orders from a year ago, resulted in what I think is an excellent performance.

售後第四季的營收和利潤創歷史新高。商店總收入成長了 11%，毛利增加了 13%。成長來自所有主要類別。車輛的複雜性越高，每個維修訂單的價值就越高，再加上一年前維修訂單數量的增加，導致了我認為非常出色的表現。

The strength of our balance sheet and cash generation, which Tom will discuss allowed us to deploy an additional $150 million towards share repurchases during the quarter, repurchasing more than 1.1 million shares.

湯姆將討論的資產負債表和現金產生能力的優勢使我們能夠在本季度額外部署 1.5 億美元用於股票回購，回購了超過 110 萬股股票。

Now aside from the solid quarter from a financial perspective, there are a few other highlights I'd like to touch on. We continue to focus on our customers and are working to garner a greater share of customers' wallets. As such, during the quarter, we continued integrating AutoNation Finance across our portfolio including the launch into nearly all of our franchise stores.

現在，除了財務角度的穩健季度外，我還想談談其他一些亮點。我們繼續關注客戶，並努力贏得客戶錢包的更大份額。因此，在本季度，我們繼續將 AutoNation Finance 整合到我們的產品組合中，包括在我們幾乎所有的特許經營店中推出。

We also continued with the rollout of our AN USA stores, opening locations in Plano, Texas and Fort Myers, Florida during the quarter. And we opened additional stores in Florida early this year with Wesley Chapel, Sanford and Jacksonville, adding to density in these markets. I think our business model is resilient, working well, and we continue to deliver strong financial performance.

我們也繼續推出 AN USA 商店，本季在德州普萊諾和佛羅裡達州邁爾斯堡開設了門市。今年年初，我們在佛羅裡達州韋斯利禮拜堂、桑福德和傑克遜維爾開設了更多商店，增加了這些市場的密度。我認為我們的業務模式具有彈性，運作良好，我們將繼續提供強勁的財務表現。

Now this performance is, of course, made possible by our 24,000-plus AutoNation associates who take care of our customers every day. And I think the team efforts continue to be recognized by outside parties because of this. And this year, AutoNation once again made Fortune's Most Admired list, jumping 4 spots to #3 in the Specialty Retailer section. Congratulations to everybody. Thank you for the things that you do for us.

現在，這種表現當然是由我們 24,000 多名 AutoNation 員工每天為我們的客戶提供服務而實現的。我認為團隊的努力因此繼續得到外部各方的認可。今年，AutoNation 再次躋身《財星》雜誌最受讚賞名單，躍升 4 位，在專業零售商部分排名第 3。恭喜大家。感謝您為我們所做的事情。

And with that, Tom, I'm going to hand over to you. Thank you.

湯姆，接下來我就把任務交給你了。謝謝。

Okay. Perfect. Thanks, Mike. I'm turning to Slide 4 to comment on our fourth quarter P&L. Total revenue increased slightly as growth in new vehicle and After-Sales revenue more than offset lower used vehicle revenue. As expected, gross profit was down 5% and margin was 18% for the quarter as strong growth in After-Sales partially offset declines for new and used Vehicles, which I'll address in a later slide.

好的。完美的。謝謝，麥克。我將轉向投影片 4 來評論我們第四季的損益。由於新車和售後收入的成長足以抵消二手車收入的下降，總收入略有成長。正如預期的那樣，本季毛利下降了 5%，利潤率為 18%，因為售後服務的強勁成長部分抵消了新車和二手車的下降，我將在後面的幻燈片中解決這個問題。

Adjusted SG&A increased 5% to $791 million with stable core spending and incremental costs related to our growth initiatives. This resulted in adjusted operating income of $368 million for the quarter, which decreased 22% from a year ago. Below the operating line, our fourth quarter results were impacted by higher interest expense for both floorplan and non-vehicle debt and benefited from lower income tax expense. The fourth quarter floorplan interest expense of $47 million was up from $20 million a year ago, a reflection of higher rates and inventory levels as expected. As a reminder, we reflect floorplan assistance received from OEMs in gross margin. And in the fourth quarter, the increased assistance helped to offset partially the increase in floorplan interest expense.

調整後的 SG&A 成長了 5%，達到 7.91 億美元，核心支出和與我們的成長計畫相關的增量成本保持穩定。這導致該季度調整後營業收入為 3.68 億美元，比去年同期下降 22%。在營業線以下，我們第四季的業績受到平面圖和非車輛債務利息費用增加的影響，並受益於所得稅費用的降低。第四季平面圖利息支出為 4,700 萬美元，高於一年前的 2,000 萬美元，反映了預期的較高利率和庫存水準。提醒一下，我們在毛利率中反映了原始設備製造商提供的佈局規劃援助。在第四季度，增加的援助有助於部分抵銷平面圖利息支出的增加。

Interest expense from non-vehicle debt was $46 million for the quarter, up from $38 million a year ago. The increase reflects increased borrowing and higher rates. Income tax expense for the quarter was $62 million compared to $91 million in 2022, reflecting lower taxable income and a modestly lower income tax rate. All in, this resulted in adjusted net income of $216 million compared to adjusted net income of $319 million a year ago.

本季非車輛債務利息支出為 4,600 萬美元，高於一年前的 3,800 萬美元。這一增長反映出借款增加和利率上升。本季的所得稅費用為 6,200 萬美元，而 2022 年為 9,100 萬美元，反映了應稅收入的減少和所得稅稅率的適度降低。總而言之，調整後淨利為 2.16 億美元，而一年前調整後淨利為 3.19 億美元。

The impact of our share repurchase activity partially offset the EPS effect of the lower net income. Total shares repurchased over the year decreased our average shares outstanding by 14% to 42.9 million shares in the fourth quarter. Our adjusted EPS was $5.02 for the quarter.

我們的股票回購活動的影響部分抵銷了淨利下降對每股盈餘的影響。全年回購的股份總數使我們第四季的平均流通股減少了 14% 至 4,290 萬股。本季調整後每股收益為 5.02 美元。

Starting with Slide 5, I'd like to build on the color Mike gave on the performance in our various revenue categories for the quarter. New vehicle volumes were up 8%, which includes increases of 16% on Imports, 3% on Premium Luxury and flat Domestic units. New vehicle gross profit PVRs continued to moderate. While selling prices were stable, vehicle costs were higher.

從投影片 5 開始，我想以 Mike 為我們本季各個收入類別的表現所給出的顏色為基礎。新車銷量成長 8%，其中進口車銷量成長 16%，豪華豪華車銷量成長 3%，國內銷量持平。新車毛利PVR持續放緩。雖然售價穩定，但車輛成本較高。

The rate of decline for the fourth quarter in gross profit PVRs was about $375 per unit, which slowed from the approximately $600 per unit sequential decline in recent quarters. This reflected the higher seasonal Premium Luxury mix and a more stable although still less an ideal environment for battery electric vehicles. New vehicle inventory levels, including vehicles in transit have increased from 18,100 units in 2022 to 35,300 units at the end of 2023.

第四季 PVR 毛利的下降幅度約為每台 375 美元，較最近幾季每台約 600 美元的連續下降幅度有所放緩。這反映了更高的季節性高端豪華組合和更穩定的電動車環境，但仍不太理想。新車庫存水位（包括在途車輛）已從 2022 年的 18,100 輛增加到 2023 年底的 35,300 輛。

I'm moving on to Slide 6. In used vehicles, we had a unit volume decline of 4% from a year ago, as Mike mentioned, on a total store basis and 8% on a same-store basis. There continues to be a shift to lower-priced used vehicles. Our same-store unit sales of used vehicles priced under $20,000 increased 7% while used vehicles over $40,000 increased 20% and used vehicles priced from $20,000 to $40,000 were down 11%. From a segment standpoint, used unit volume performance was strongest in our Import brands.

我轉向幻燈片 6。正如麥克提到的，在二手車方面，我們的單位銷量比一年前下降了 4%，按總店計算，按同店計算下降 8%。繼續轉向低價二手車。價格在 20,000 美元以下的二手車同店單位銷售額增長了 7%，而 40,000 美元以上的二手車增長了 20%，價格在 20,000 美元至 40,000 美元之間的二手車下降了 11%。從細分市場的角度來看，我們的進口品牌的二手單位銷售表現最為強勁。

Year-over-year unit sales and gross profit PVRs in used vehicles were adversely impacted by the pricing band mix I mentioned and reflect an overall softer used car pricing environment. Used vehicle inventory levels increased sequentially and year-over-year, reflecting our stepped-up buying activity in anticipation of the customary spike in first quarter used car volume. As Mike mentioned, we expect our first quarter PVRs to be at or slightly below fourth quarter levels, reflecting a conscious effort to align inventory levels and turn rate with the market.

二手車的年比單位銷售和毛利 PVR 受到我提到的定價範圍組合的不利影響，反映了二手車定價環境整體疲軟。二手車庫存水準環比和同比增長，反映出我們因預期第一季二手車數量將出現慣例性激增而加大了購買活動。正如麥克所提到的，我們預計第一季的 PVR 將達到或略低於第四季的水平，這反映出我們有意識地努力使庫存水準和周轉率與市場保持一致。

Used PVR improvement is expected late in the first quarter as the fourth quarter inventory is fully turned. Used Vehicle sales and profitability continue to be a big area of focus for us as we emphasize effective sourcing, pricing and speed while optimizing customer satisfaction.

隨著第四季庫存的完全週轉，二手 PVR 預計將在第一季末有所改善。二手車銷售和獲利能力仍然是我們關注的重點領域，因為我們強調有效的採購、定價和速度，同時優化客戶滿意度。

I'm now on Slide 7. In Customer Financial Services, our industry-leading performance continued. As you can see, gross profit PVRs for CFS remain strong and would have been even stronger absent the shifting of economics related to AutoNation Finance lending. The upfront we previously received from nonrecourse third-party lenders is now deferred over the life of the AutoNation Finance loans.

我現在正在看投影片 7。在客戶金融服務方面，我們持續保持業界領先的表現。正如您所看到的，CFS 的毛利 PVR 仍然強勁，如果沒有與 AutoNation Finance 貸款相關的經濟變化，毛利會更加強勁。我們先前從無追索權第三方貸方收到的預付款現在在 AutoNation Finance 貸款的有效期內延期。

New vehicle product attachment and finance penetration in CFS remained strong and increased from a year ago. We have seen an increase in leasing, which represents 23% of new sales in the fourth quarter compared to 13% last year. This is a minor headwind for CFS PVR as leased vehicles historically have a lower CFS attachment rate.

CFS的新車產品附著力和金融滲透率仍然強勁，並且比一年前有所增加。我們看到租賃業務有所成長，佔第四季新銷售額的 23%，而去年為 13%。這對 CFS PVR 來說是一個小阻力，因為租賃車輛歷來具有較低的 CFS 附著率。

On used vehicles, there were slight decreases from a year ago on both the finance and product side of CFS as higher interest rates consumes more of our customers' monthly payment capacity. As Mike mentioned, in addition to fully supporting all AN USA stores, we now have AutoNation Finance present in nearly all franchise stores. In the fourth quarter, we originated approximately $110 million in loans, up from $63 million in the third quarter. The AutoNation Finance business continues to improve in all dimensions, including penetration in our stores, profitability and delinquency rate.

在二手車方面，由於較高的利率消耗了客戶更多的每月支付能力，CFS的金融和產品方面均較去年同期略有下降。正如 Mike 所提到的，除了全力支持所有 AN USA 商店外，我們現在幾乎所有特許經營店都設有 AutoNation Finance。第四季度，我們發放了約 1.1 億美元的貸款，高於第三季的 6,300 萬美元。 AutoNation Finance 業務在各個方面都在持續改善，包括我們商店的滲透率、盈利能力和拖欠率。

Let's move to Slide 8. After-Sales represents about 44% of our gross -- our total gross profit for the quarter and continued to grow with total store revenue increasing 11% to $1.1 billion or 9% on a same-store basis. Customer pay, warranty and internal all experienced double-digit year-over-year growth. The value per order is improving and our total number of repair orders has also increased. Gross profit grew 13% year-over-year on a total-store basis and 12% on a same-store basis. Total gross profit was up double digits for customer pay, warranty and internal and our gross profit margins were up more than 70 basis points to 47%, reflecting higher repair orders -- higher-value repair orders and scale benefits from the increase in the number of repair orders.

讓我們轉到投影片 8。售後服務約占我們總毛利（本季總毛利）的 44%，並持續成長，商店總收入成長 11%，達到 11 億美元，同店營收成長 9%。客戶付費、保固和內部費用均實現了兩位數的同比增長。每份訂單的價值正在提高，我們的維修訂單總數也有所增加。總門市毛利年增 13%，同店毛利較去年同期成長 12%。客戶付費、保固和內部費用的總毛利增加了兩位數，我們的毛利率增加了70 個基點以上，達到47%，這反映出維修訂單的增加——更高價值的維修訂單以及數量增加帶來的規模效益的維修訂單。

For the full year, our After-Sales gross profit was more than $2.1 billion, which is up more than $500 million from 2019. This high-margin business is a key part of our continued engagement with our customers, and we're focused on capacity utilization, technician development to support the continued growth of the business. Importantly, our total technician workforce increased 6% from a year ago on a same-store basis and 11% in total.

全年，我們的售後毛利超過 21 億美元，比 2019 年增加超過 5 億美元。這項高利潤業務是我們與客戶持續合作的關鍵部分，我們專注於產能利用率、技術人員發展，以支持業務的持續成長。重要的是，我們的同店技術人員總數比一年前增加了 6%，總數增加了 11%。

Moving to Slide 9. Our adjusted operating income was 5.4% for the quarter, down from last year, but up more than 150 basis points from pre-pandemic levels. The decrease from 2022 mostly reflects the moderation in new vehicle unit profitability, which was expected and is consistent with the industry as well as higher SG&A. The growth in SG&A reflects investments for growth, increased advertising spend and inflation. Normalized SG&A as a percentage of gross profit is expected to remain lower than pre-pandemic levels. During the fourth quarter, we recognized about $7 million of severance expenses as we streamlined our regional field team and rationalized some support functions.

轉到投影片 9。本季調整後的營業收入為 5.4%，比去年有所下降，但比大流行前的水平增長了 150 個基點以上。與 2022 年相比的下降主要反映了新車單位盈利能力的放緩，這是預期的，並且與行業以及較高的 SG&A 一致。 SG&A 的成長反映了成長投資、廣告支出增加和通貨膨脹。正常化的銷售及管理費用佔毛利的百分比預計仍低於疫情前的水準。第四季度，由於我們精簡了區域現場團隊並合理化了一些支援職能，我們確認了約 700 萬美元的遣散費。

On Slide 10, you can see that our adjusted free cash flow for the year was $969 million compared to $1.5 billion a year ago. The change year-over-year is consistent with our change in EBITDA. A reconciliation for adjusted free cash flow is included in the appendix of this presentation. Year-over-year, our total inventory increased by approximately $1 billion, which was largely funded by higher traded floorplan financing and non-trade floorplan financing, which increased $424 million from a year ago. While we expect the continued normalization of new inventory levels, we are focused on the velocity with which we turn our overall vehicle inventory.

在幻燈片 10 上，您可以看到我們今年調整後的自由現金流為 9.69 億美元，而一年前為 15 億美元。同比變化與我們的 EBITDA 變化一致。調整後自由現金流的調節表包含在本簡報的附錄中。與去年同期相比，我們的總庫存增加了約 10 億美元，這主要是由交易性平面圖融資和非貿易平面圖融資的增加提供的，與去年同期相比增加了 4.24 億美元。雖然我們預計新庫存水準將繼續正常化，但我們關注的是整體車輛庫存的周轉速度。

Consistent with the expansion of AutoNation Finance, our net auto loans receivable increased by $230 million, and we expect continued growth in this portfolio. CapEx for the full year was $410 million compared to $329 million a year ago, reflecting primarily capacity growth at franchise stores, IT spending and facility electrification infrastructure. This resulted in an adjusted free cash flow of $969 million and a strong conversion of 94% of our adjusted net income.

隨著 AutoNation Finance 的擴張，我們的應收汽車貸款淨額增加了 2.3 億美元，我們預計投資組合將持續成長。全年資本支出為 4.1 億美元，而去年同期為 3.29 億美元，主要反映了特許經營店的產能成長、IT 支出和設施電氣化基礎設施。這導致調整後自由現金流達到 9.69 億美元，調整後淨收入的 94% 將強勁轉化。

Slide 11 shows our capital allocation for the years 2022 and 2023. In 2023, we had a balanced mix of reinvestments and return to shareholders. CapEx of $410 million was about $80 million higher than 2022, as I mentioned. M&A investments, which occurred earlier in the year totaled $271 million. With significant cash flow generation and a strong balance sheet, we returned $864 million to shareholders via share repurchases, reducing our shares outstanding by 13%. We have an additional $320 million remaining under our current Board authorization for share repurchases. At quarter end, our leverage was 2.19x EBITDA, the lower end of our 2x to 3x target, and we continue to maintain our investment-grade credit rating.

投影片 11 顯示了我們 2022 年和 2023 年的資本配置。2023 年，我們實現了再投資和股東回報的均衡組合。正如我所提到的，資本支出為 4.1 億美元，比 2022 年高出約 8,000 萬美元。今年稍早發生的併購投資總額為 2.71 億美元。憑藉大量的現金流產生和強勁的資產負債表，我們透過股票回購向股東返還了 8.64 億美元，使我們的流通股減少了 13%。根據董事會目前的授權，我們還剩餘 3.2 億美元用於股票回購。截至季末，我們的槓桿率為 2.19 倍 EBITDA，這是我們 2 倍至 3 倍目標的下限，我們持續維持投資等級信用評等。

Moving forward, we'll continue to allocate capital to maximize shareholder value, considering both near-term market conditions, the M&A landscape, particularly for core franchise operations and the longer-term direction of the industry. Now I'll turn the call back over to Mike to provide some commentary regarding 2024.

展望未來，我們將繼續分配資本，以實現股東價值最大化，同時考慮近期市場狀況、併購格局，特別是核心特許經營業務和產業的長期方向。現在我將把電話轉回給 Mike，以提供一些有關 2024 年的評論。

Yes. Thanks, Tom. Yes, we thought it would be helpful just to provide some thoughts regarding '24 and how we see things may be progressing. On the new side of the business, as we know vehicle supply is going to continue to return to pre-pandemic levels. And I think leasing and retail incentives are clearly going to pick up through the year. But I think we'll remain below pre-pandemic levels in total.

是的。謝謝，湯姆。是的，我們認為提供一些關於 '24 的想法以及我們如何看待事情可能會取得的進展將會有所幫助。在業務的新方面，據我們所知，汽車供應將繼續恢復到大流行前的水平。我認為租賃和零售激勵措施顯然會在今年有所加強。但我認為我們的整體水平仍將低於大流行前的水平。

So inventory levels will continue to increase over the course of '24, but we expect demand to be robust. Actually, electric vehicle product introduction and customer interest in these vehicles is clearly going to be a key dynamic this year. As widely reported, BEV PVRs consistently fell during 2023 and in most instances, are lower than similar combustion engine vehicles.

因此，24 年庫存水準將繼續增加，但我們預計需求將強勁。事實上，電動車產品的推出和客戶對這些汽車的興趣顯然將成為今年的關鍵動力。正如廣泛報導的那樣，純電動車 PVR 在 2023 年持續下降，並且在大多數情況下低於類似的內燃機汽車。

And as with all things, it's about balance and it does appear OEMs are adjusting their plans and actions to match demand more closely. And frankly, this will be well received. Hybrids are doing well in the marketplace, and we have good exposure to this portion of the market based upon our brand mix and we expect our new margins to continue to moderate over the course of '24, but at a somewhat slower pace than we experienced in '23.

與所有事情一樣，這關係到平衡，原始設備製造商似乎正在調整他們的計劃和行動，以更緊密地滿足需求。坦白說，這會受到好評。混合動力車在市場上表現良好，根據我們的品牌組合，我們在這部分市場上擁有良好的曝光度，我們預計我們的新利潤率將在24 年期間繼續放緩，但速度比我們經歷的要慢一些在'23。

Used vehicle market will likely remain constrained as late-model used vehicle availability remains limited and additional new vehicles are available. The key is going to be our effectiveness as always, in purchasing, pricing and turning our inventory and we're going to remain nimble in our approach to those things in the market as it develops.

由於新型二手車的供應仍然有限，並且有更多新車可供使用，二手車市場可能仍將受到限制。關鍵是我們在採購、定價和庫存週轉方面一如既往地保持高效，隨著市場的發展，我們將保持靈活的態度來對待這些事情。

I expect our CFS to continue to perform well even with pressures coming from overall monthly payment, vehicle mix and OEM actions to support unit sales. And as you've seen, it's a very consistent and clear strength of our organization.

我預計，即使面臨來自每月整體付款、車輛組合和 OEM 行動支援銷售的壓力，我們的 CFS 仍將繼續表現良好。正如您所看到的，這是我們組織非常一致和明顯的優勢。

After-Sales has been and will remain a significant area of focus for us, you saw the results in our Q4 outcome. And after strong growth in 2023, obviously, our year-over-year comps will moderate, but we expect this area of our business to continue to grow attractively and we will, as always, be focused on managing the controllable variables which includes cash flow and capital deployment.

售後一直並將繼續是我們關注的重要領域，您在我們第四季度的業績中看到了結果。在2023 年的強勁成長之後，顯然我們的同比比較將會放緩，但我們預計我們的這一業務領域將繼續有吸引力的成長，我們將一如既往地專注於管理包括現金流在內的可控變數和資本配置。

And with that, Tom, let's hand it over to Derek to get some questions.

湯姆，接下來，讓我們把它交給德瑞克來回答一些問題。

Bruno, if you could please remind the audience how to get in the queue for question and answer, please?

Bruno，請您提醒觀眾如何進入問答隊列，好嗎？

(Operator Instructions) Okay, we do have our first question registered. It comes from John Murphy from Bank of America.

（操作員說明）好的，我們已經登記了第一個問題。它來自美國銀行的約翰·墨菲。

Just wanted to ask the first question, Mike, on After-Sales. I mean it's obviously a bright spot. It seems like the efforts there to do -- hire techs is really paying off. You keep talking about share of wallet increasing. It seems like the area where share of wallet for the consumer is -- there's obviously the most opportunity other than getting to the second and third turn of the used vehicle. So as you think about this in '24, maybe even just beyond in sort of a strategic standpoint, what do you think you need to do to continue to drive that significantly higher? Is it just a function of hiring more techs? Is it an increase in connectivity? Is it getting involved in the second and third used vehicle turn? What's the key strategy there? And what are the opportunities to drive that faster or farther?

麥克，我只想問第一個問題，關於售後的問題。我的意思是這顯然是一個亮點。看起來，僱用技術人員所做的努力確實得到了回報。你一直在談論錢包份額的增加。這似乎是消費者錢包份額所在的領域——除了進入二手車的第二個和第三個轉彎之外，顯然還有最多的機會。因此，當你在 24 年思考這個問題時，甚至可能只是從某種策略角度來看，你認為你需要做什麼才能繼續大幅提高這個水平？這只是為了僱用更多技術人員嗎？是連通性增加了嗎？它是否參與了第二次和第三次二手車轉彎？其中的關鍵策略是什麼？有哪些機會可以讓車子開得更快或更遠？

So John, it's probably a combination of all of the above. If I think about our franchise business firstly, we have a penetration in the vehicle parks that we're responsible for. So that's our areas of operation that our franchises represent probably around 50% plus/minus. And what we know is that customers move on to other sources for that service when their vehicles get 7 years old or they're 25 miles beyond the radius. So there's a lot of opportunity within the territories that we have, and then we're providing channels and access to our customers who would have migrated to a different source for their servicing and repairs through things such as our mobile service, which, as you know, is a new addition to us.

所以約翰，這可能是以上所有因素的結合。如果我先考慮我們的特許經營業務，我們會滲透到我們負責的停車場。這就是我們的經營領域，我們的特許經營權可能佔 50% 左右的正負值。我們知道，當客戶的車輛使用了 7 年或超出半徑 25 英里時，他們就會轉向其他來源來獲得該服務。因此，在我們擁有的領域內有很多機會，然後我們為我們的客戶提供管道和訪問權限，這些客戶可能會透過我們的行動服務等方式遷移到不同的來源進行服務和維修，知道，是我們的新成員。

So I think partly -- in terms of our installed assets, we have sufficient bay capacity. We saw, from memory, I think it was a 5% or 6% increase in our technicians during the period. There is opportunity for us to continue to grow that, adding services onto it, and then we'll backfill with mobile services for those customers that don't, for whatever reason, have moved away from the franchise environment. So that's going to be a big focus for us this year. There's plenty of opportunity.

所以我認為，就我們的已安裝資產而言，我們有足夠的海灣容量。我們根據記憶看到，我認為在此期間我們的技術人員增加了 5% 或 6%。我們有機會繼續發展這項業務，為其添加服務，然後我們將為那些由於某種原因而沒有離開特許經營環境的客戶提供行動服務。因此，這將成為我們今年的重點。有很多機會。

It's not easy to unlock because once a customer is migrated, they obviously form a relationship, and that leads me to the last thing, and that is we have a fantastic brand. I think last time we checked our brand, which we do relatively regularly. It was the most known automotive brand in the United States. And I think we can do a better job of communicating all of the products and services to our customers to help them understand that we can increasingly look after a broader set of needs that they have, not just for themselves, but also in their family.

解鎖並不容易，因為一旦客戶遷移，他們顯然會形成一種關係，這讓我想到最後一件事，那就是我們擁有一個出色的品牌。我想上次我們檢查了我們的品牌，我們相對經常這樣做。它是美國最知名的汽車品牌。我認為我們可以更好地向客戶傳達所有產品和服務，幫助他們了解我們可以越來越多地滿足他們更廣泛的需求，不僅是為了他們自己，也是為了他們的家人。

Okay. That's helpful. And then just a second question on the used car business. Obviously, GPUs are down. It sounds like there's a little bit of mix going on, also sort of a little bit of inventory management. Is this the kind of thing that you think is really a function of the next couple of quarters and then you get back to normal GPUs? Or is there something happening here sort of cyclically or on a secular basis that will keep these numbers low?

好的。這很有幫助。然後是關於二手車業務的第二個問題。顯然，GPU 已關閉。聽起來好像正在進行一些混合，也有一些庫存管理。您是否認為這確實是未來幾季的功能，然後您將恢復正常的 GPU？或者這裡是否有某種週期性或長期發生的事情會使這些數字保持在較低水平？

No, absolutely. As Tom mentioned, I think one of the things that -- as we came into 2023, our inventory levels were very low, and we felt that we missed out on some of the marketplace. We put in place a number of initiatives middle of last year through the end of last year to enable us to source the vehicles that we need, and we did that very, very effectively.

不，絕對是。正如湯姆所提到的，我認為其中一件事是，當我們進入 2023 年時，我們的庫存水平非常低，我們覺得我們錯過了一些市場。從去年年中到去年年底，我們實施了一系列舉措，使我們能夠採購所需的車輛，而且我們做得非常非常有效。

At the same time, I think some of the market dynamics were changing. One of the things that had increased dramatically during the COVID period was the percentage mix of vehicles above say, $35,000 and Tom gave you the mix. And we're seeing those customers who maybe came into the high end of the used car market because they couldn't get new, now returning back to the new car market with lower transaction prices and more incentives from manufacturers.

同時，我認為一些市場動態正在改變。在新冠疫情期間急劇增加的事情之一是上述車輛的百分比組合，例如 35,000 美元，湯姆給了你組合。我們看到，那些可能因為無法購買新車而進入高端二手車市場的客戶，現在又以較低的交易價格和製造商的更多激勵措施回到了新車市場。

And what we need to be is very, very agile to make sure that as the market changes, and I think it will continue to change, that we are ahead of those mix changes. And we have some work to do. We did -- we started that work in -- before the end of last year, continued through January. I think that work will be largely completed by the end of Q1, very early Q2. So in my mind, it's transitory. The good news is that each one of those unit sales comes with phenomenal CFS performance and obviously is going straight into our After-Sales database for us to be able to look after them. So every customer comes now with -- from our perspective, with a great opportunity not just in the sale.

我們需要非常非常敏捷，以確保隨著市場的變化，而且我認為它將繼續變化，我們能夠領先於這些組合變化。我們還有一些工作要做。我們在去年底之前就開始了這項工作，一直持續到一月。我認為這項工作將在第一季末、第二季初完成。所以在我看來，這是暫時的。好消息是，每一件銷售的產品都具有驚人的 CFS 性能，顯然會直接進入我們的售後資料庫，以便我們可以照顧它們。因此，從我們的角度來看，每個客戶現在都擁有絕佳的機會，而不僅僅是銷售方面。

So Mike, when you get the turn and earn back being efficient, would it be fair to say that, that $1,800 range on PVR is something that we should think about sort of mid- to long term as we get through the course of this year and beyond?

所以麥克，當你輪到你並高效地賺錢時，可以公平地說，PVR 上 1,800 美元的範圍是我們在今年的過程中應該考慮的中長期問題超越？

Yes, I think that's a very -- I think that's an achievable number for sure, yes.

是的，我認為這是一個非常——我認為這肯定是一個可以實現的數字，是的。

Our next question comes from Daniel Imbro from Stephens Inc.

我們的下一個問題來自 Stephens Inc. 的 Daniel Imbro。

Mike, I wanted to start maybe on the new GPU side. Obviously, a little bit lighter moderation. Your commentary suggested that's going to continue in 2024. Curious if you [tell us a bit] just how the OEM conversations are going? Are you seeing any change in tone and especially at some of the brands where inventory maybe has built.

Mike，我可能想從新的 GPU 方面開始。顯然，稍微溫和一些。您的評論表明這種情況將在 2024 年繼續下去。您是否想[告訴我們一點] OEM 對話進展如何？您是否發現基調有任何變化，尤其是一些可能已經建立庫存的品牌。

And then I'm curious, given your experience on the OEM side, what levers do you think the OEMs pull? Do you see them cut MSRP? Kind of how do you think they navigate through some of the heavier inventory situations out there?

然後我很好奇，根據您在 OEM 方面的經驗，您認為 OEM 會使用哪些槓桿？你看到他們削減建議零售價了嗎？您認為他們如何應對一些庫存較重的情況？

Well, even though -- and I mentioned this in my opening commentary and so did Tom, we're seeing some increases in terms of retail incentive rates and leasing back up to 23%. We're still not at the levels that we have seen before. And I think as you -- as we begin to see inventory build, we will see continued action in that area from the OEMs. Leasing, in my view, by the end of this year, early next year, will be back to pre-pandemic levels. And I think we've seen much more subsidized finance with -- obviously, with the interest rates that we have. And that will continue as we get deep into '24.

好吧，儘管如此——我在開場評論中提到了這一點，湯姆也提到了這一點，但我們看到零售激勵率和租賃率有所上升，最高可達 23%。我們仍然沒有達到以前看到的水平。我認為，當我們開始看到庫存增加時，我們將看到原始設備製造商在該領域繼續採取行動。我認為，到今年年底明年初，租賃將恢復到疫情前的水準。我認為我們已經看到了更多的財政補貼——顯然，我們的利率。隨著我們進入 24 世紀，這種情況還會繼續。

When I think about overall days of supply, obviously, it's very different depending on the manufacturers and the brand partners that we have. But clearly still well below in many instances, the level we saw. And from my point of view, as the industry develops this year, I think we will truly see hopefully, how the manufacturers are thinking about the balance of their inventory and prevailing market conditions because we talked a lot about this when we were deep in the pandemic. I think this year, we're going to see how each OEM is going to address that, and some will be more disciplined, some will be less.

當我考慮總供應天數時，顯然，根據我們擁有的製造商和品牌合作夥伴的不同，情況有很大不同。但在許多情況下顯然仍遠低於我們所看到的水平。 And from my point of view, as the industry develops this year, I think we will truly see hopefully, how the manufacturers are thinking about the balance of their inventory and prevailing market conditions because we talked a lot about this when we were deep in the大流行.我認為今年，我們將看到每個 OEM 將如何解決這個問題，有些會更加嚴格，有些則更少。

Got it. That's helpful. And then maybe, Tom, on the finance side. I think, Mike and you both mentioned that you've rolled out AutoNation Finance into all the franchise stores. Curious if you could, maybe we missed it, provide some stats around the loan growth in the quarter, maybe the CECL reserves you're taking or provision for losses and then how those loans are performing as we think about the changing consumer credit back drop today?

知道了。這很有幫助。湯姆，也許在財務方面。我想，麥克和您都提到您已將 AutoNation Finance 推廣到所有特許經營店。好奇您是否可以（也許我們錯過了）提供一些有關本季度貸款增長的統計數據，也許您正在採取的CECL 準備金或損失撥備，以及當我們考慮不斷變化的消費者信貸背景時這些貸款的表現如何今天？

Thanks for the question, Daniel. As everybody knows, we bought AutoNation Finance in October 2022, we closed. It started out entirely as a third-party lender mostly to subprime. We've, over the course of the last year, completely converted that to now supporting AutoNation exclusively, both AN USA stores as well as the franchise stores, very little in terms of subprime.

謝謝你的提問，丹尼爾。眾所周知，我們在 2022 年 10 月收購了 AutoNation Finance，然後關閉了。它最初完全是一家第三方貸款機構，主要為次級貸款提供貸款。在去年的過程中，我們已經完全將其轉變為現在專門支援 AutoNation，包括美國商店和特許經營店，在次級抵押貸款方面很少。

So it's really gone through a nice transition. And we love the platform. We love the team. The trends are -- have been very, very strong. We've got, as I said, an improvement in the origin mix with all AutoNation customers, FICO scores have improved between 50 and 100 basis points in terms of what we're originating.

所以它確實經歷了一個很好的轉變。我們喜歡這個平台。我們熱愛這個團隊。這些趨勢非常非常強勁。正如我所說，我們與所有 AutoNation 客戶的原產地組合都得到了改善，FICO 分數就我們的原產地而言提高了 50 到 100 個基點。

On the credit quality trends, 30-day delinquencies has been really strong. I mean in the third quarter, we were probably 7.5% delinquent. That's improved by about 200 basis points through the end of January. So team is doing a nice job in what is not an easy environment for consumer credit. So we're happy with that. The penetration rates amongst our stores where we're present has been growing, has been very strong.

就信用品質趨勢而言，30 天拖欠率確實很高。我的意思是，在第三季度，我們的拖欠率可能為 7.5%。截至 1 月底，這一數字已改善約 200 個基點。因此，在消費信貸的環境並不輕鬆的情況下，團隊做得很好。所以我們對此感到滿意。我們所在商店的滲透率一直在成長，非常強勁。

So it's about a $450 million portfolio, and that is after a sale of chunk of the business in the third quarter, which was about $80 million. We're excited about 2024. We think the originations could double and we just couldn't be more pleased with how the business has developed over time.

因此，這大約是一個價值 4.5 億美元的投資組合，這是在第三季出售了大部分業務（價值約 8,000 萬美元）之後的結果。我們對 2024 年感到興奮。我們認為發起數量可能會增加一倍，而且我們對業務隨著時間的推移發展感到非常滿意。

Appreciate that. Just a quick accounting follow-up. Where do those CECL reserves, as the loan balance -- you said they're going to double the loan growth. I guess where does that flow through the income statement as we think about modeling out the growth in the finance business?

感謝。只是快速的會計跟進。這些CECL儲備金在哪裡，就像貸款餘額一樣——你說它們將使貸款成長翻倍。我想，當我們考慮對金融業務的成長進行建模時，這一點在損益表中流向何處？

It's all in that one line, other income and expense on the P&L. While growing, like I said, it's probably not material enough for us to break that out. I think at some point, we'll address that depending on how the growth is. But it's all basically collapsed in that one line.

這一切都在損益表上的這一行、其他收入和支出中。正如我所說，在成長過程中，它可能還不足以讓我們突破這一點。我認為在某個時候，我們會根據成長情況來解決這個問題。但這一切基本上都在那一行中崩潰了。

Our next question comes from Rajat Gupta from JPMorgan.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根大通的 Rajat Gupta。

Thanks for all the color on 2024 expectations around the new business, the used as well. But curious, is there a range you're targeting for SG&A to gross for the year in context of the steady new GPU declines, some of the pressures in the used business. How should we think about SG&A to gross for 2024? And I have a quick follow-up.

感謝大家對 2024 年新業務和二手業務的期望充滿期待。但令人好奇的是，在新 GPU 穩定下降以及二手業務面臨一些壓力的背景下，您今年的銷售及管理費用 (SG&A) 總收入目標是否在一個範圍內。我們應該如何考慮 2024 年的 SG&A 總額？我有一個快速的跟進。

Rajat, the way that we're thinking about this is obviously, in what I would call our core businesses. The things that we have put in place over the last few years continues to have, I think, clear benefits. Our SG&A also includes some of the investments that we have been making progressively in the last 2 years. So the percentage that we see doesn't represent the core businesses themselves. But I think the range that we sit in now is the range that we're going to continue to target going forward.

Rajat，我們思考這個問題的方式顯然是在我所說的我們的核心業務中。我認為，我們過去幾年採取的措施仍然具有明顯的好處。我們的銷售及管理費用也包括我們在過去兩年中逐步進行的一些投資。所以我們看到的百分比並不代表核心業務本身。但我認為我們現在所處的範圍是我們未來繼續瞄準的範圍。

And it will fluctuate, as I said, based upon the additional investments that we are making, for example, in mobile services, for example, in our parts commerce business as we grow those businesses. So that's kind of my view on SG&A at this time.

正如我所說，它會根據我們正在進行的額外投資而波動，例如，隨著我們發展這些業務，我們在行動服務、零件商務業務等方面進行的投資。這就是我目前對 SG&A 的看法。

The thing I would add to that, Rajat, as Mike mentioned, we do have some investments in AN USA. As those stores roll out, you don't get to a full run rate of profitability for about a year. So that can damper the SG&A rate and also the investments that Mike has mentioned, strategic investments.

我要補充的是，拉賈特，正如麥克提到的，我們確實在美國有一些投資。隨著這些商店的推出，您在大約一年的時間內無法完全實現盈利。因此，這可能會抑制銷售、一般費用率以及麥克提到的策略投資。

And also advertising is -- we've seen some inflation there. I would say we probably would be in longer-term basis, mid-60s kind of level relative to gross profit. But we are paying close attention. As we mentioned, we've done some -- we've taken some modest actions in the fourth quarter to address and take advantage of some delayering opportunities in the regions as well as economize some of those support functions. So it's a pretty important area for us and we continue to drive productivity where we can.

廣告也是——我們已經看到了一些通貨膨脹。我想說，從長期來看，相對於毛利，我們可能會處於 60 年代中期的水平。但我們正在密切關注。正如我們所提到的，我們已經做了一些——我們在第四季度採取了一些適度的行動，以解決和利用該地區的一些拖延機會，並節省一些支持職能。因此，這對我們來說是一個非常重要的領域，我們將繼續盡我們所能提高生產力。

Got it. Got it. That's helpful color. And just on capital allocation, obviously, we see -- it looks like very steady and like pretty elevated (inaudible) buybacks over the last few years. Curious like how that toggle between M&A and buyback looks today based on what you're seeing in the pipeline for deals and related multiples. I'm curious if we should expect any shift in strategy there, maybe more geared toward M&A versus historically buyback.

知道了。知道了。這是有用的顏色。顯然，就資本配置而言，我們看到——它看起來非常穩定，並且在過去幾年中回購率相當高（聽不清楚）。令人好奇的是，根據您在交易和相關倍數中看到的情況，如今併購和回購之間的切換看起來如何。我很好奇我們是否應該期待戰略上的任何轉變，也許更傾向於併購而不是歷史上的回購。

Yes, great question. Thank you. The great news, Rajat, is that we generate a lot of cash. So it gives us optionality. And you're probably very familiar with how we've allocated capital the last 2 or 3 years. I don't think there is a material change in how we're looking at it. It's -- the focus is on maximizing shareholder return.

是的，很好的問題。謝謝。拉賈特，好消息是我們產生了大量現金。所以它給了我們選擇權。您可能非常熟悉過去兩三年我們如何分配資本。我認為我們看待它的方式沒有重大變化。它的重點是最大化股東回報。

When we do see allocation opportunity for us internally to CapEx or to M&A opportunities, we think we're pretty disciplined in terms of our analytical evaluation and our incorporation of synergies and where the deals look like they could be accretive and meet our hurdle rates, and we'll go after them aggressively. But we also have had great success with share repurchases and feel that that's going to continue to be an important part of our capital allocation playbook.

當我們確實看到內部資本支出或併購機會的分配機會時，我們認為我們在分析評估和整合協同效應方面非常自律，並且交易看起來可能會增值並滿足我們的門檻率，我們將積極追擊他們。但我們在股票回購方面也取得了巨大成功，並認為這將繼續成為我們資本配置策略的重要組成部分。

Are you seeing any changes in like the multiples sort deals -- the last few months? Any change in general? Or any increasing propensity like for sellers to offload? Curious like if something in -- the market value, you've seen that shifted on the M&A side.

過去幾個月，您是否看到多重排序交易等方面發生任何變化？整體有什麼變化嗎？或者賣家是否有日益增加的卸貨傾向？好奇的是，如果市場價值中的某些東西，你已經看到了併購方面的變化。

Rajat, can you clarify? You were muffled a little bit in your question, I'm sorry.

拉賈，你能澄清一下嗎？你的問題有點含糊不清，抱歉。

I just wanted to ask, like, have you seen any changes in the multiples or the valuation of some of the assets that are out there in the market from an M&A perspective over the last few months?

我只是想問，在過去的幾個月裡，從併購的角度來看，您是否看到市場上一些資產的倍數或估值有任何變化？

Yes, you could -- yes. As you can imagine, sellers tend to have amnesia when it comes to where their prices used to be before all these run-ups in the last few years. But I don't think there's been any market change in valuations. Maybe here and there, but we're not seeing anybody walk away from last year's crisis per se or anything like that.

是的，你可以──是的。正如你可以想像的那樣，賣家往往會忘記過去幾年價格上漲之前的價格。但我認為估值沒有任何市場變化。也許到處都有，但我們沒有看到任何人擺脫去年的危機本身或類似的事情。

But it's also true to say that our conversations around the basis for people's valuations are heavily pointed at the last 12 months and trading conditions in our view moving forward. And as we move -- as we moved, frankly, throughout last year and as we move further into this year, obviously, the TTM is going to reflect the reality of the fact that there's a normalization in margins and ultimately, it will impact values, and that's something we're very much looking for and something that we're talking to people about. But as Tom said at this moment in time, obviously, people are holding on as much as they possibly can to '22.

但也可以說，我們圍繞人們估值基礎的討論主要針對過去 12 個月以及我們認為未來的交易狀況。坦白說，隨著我們去年的進展，以及隨著我們進一步進入今年，TTM 將反映出利潤率正常化的現實，並最終將影響價值，這是我們非常尋找的東西，也是我們正在與人們談論的東西。但正如湯姆此時所說，顯然，人們正在盡可能地堅持到「22」。

Our next question comes from Michael Ward from Freedom Capital.

我們的下一個問題來自自由資本的麥可沃德。

Mike, I think in your comments, you mentioned that on the parts and services side, complexity has led to higher content. Can you quantify either some of the content you're talking about or the retention rates you're getting on the parts and service side with the increased-complexity vehicles?

麥克，我認為您在評論中提到，在零件和服務方面，複雜性導致了更高的內容。您能否量化您正在談論的一些內容或透過複雜性增加的車輛在零件和服務方面獲得的保留率？

So the work that Christian has been doing with his team shows us that even though the frequency of service and repair in our -- so let me say, service, I'll come back to repair comment in a minute, drops, loyalty goes up fairly significantly and the time that the vehicle is in the shop goes up significantly. So as we were thinking about this transition to electrified vehicles, we were very concerned as many people were about drop off on the parts and services. There hasn't been what we've experienced so far for those 2 reasons.

因此，克里斯蒂安與他的團隊所做的工作向我們表明，即使我們的服務和維修頻率——所以讓我說，服務，我會在一分鐘內回來維修評論，下降，忠誠度上升相當顯著，車輛在店裡的時間也顯著增加。因此，當我們考慮向電動車過渡時，我們非常擔心，因為很多人都擔心零件和服務會減少。由於這兩個原因，到目前為止我們還沒有經歷過這樣的情況。

In terms of repair, obviously, the profile of that is changing. Some of the repairs now are done remotely. And we really, I think, are still looking at that and learning about that. But at this moment in time, if we look at the population of our customers and their vehicles, the combination of higher loyalties and longer time in shop is outweighing or has been better than our expectation, let me put it that way.

顯然，在修復方面，其概況正在改變。現在有些維修工作是遠端完成的。我認為，我們確實仍在研究並了解這一點。但此時此刻，如果我們看看我們的客戶群及其車輛，就會發現更高的忠誠度和更長的店內停留時間的結合超出了我們的預期，或者說已經好於我們的預期，讓我這樣說。

Along with that, could you give an update on RepairSmith and where that stands and what are your growth objectives with it as you go forward?

除此之外，您能否介紹一下 RepairSmith 的最新情況以及它的現狀以及您今後的發展目標是什麼？

Yes, absolutely. Well, we rebranded RepairSmith, which was not unexpected, and it's now AutoNation Mobile Services. It's integrated, it is progressively being integrated alongside AN USA because, as you know, many stand-alone used cars sites don't have an after sales provision. And in the same way as we aligned AutoNation Finance with AN USA, we were aligning RepairSmith to be the provider of refurbishment and service maintenance warranty needs for those customers. We've opened up now our relationships with multiple fleet customers across the country and introducing mobile services to those guys and expanding the products that the fleet offers.

是的，一點沒錯。嗯，我們重新命名了 RepairSmith，這並不令人意外，它現在更名為 AutoNation Mobile Services。它是集成的，它正在逐步與 AN USA 集成，因為如您所知，許多獨立的二手車網站沒有售後服務條款。正如我們將 AutoNation Finance 與 AN USA 結合一樣，我們也將 RepairSmith 定位為滿足這些客戶的翻新和服務維護保固需求的提供者。我們現在已經與全國各地的多位車隊客戶建立了關係，並向這些客戶推出行動服務，並擴展了車隊提供的產品。

I would say, at this moment in time, there's a lot of work for us to do. That integration work will probably continue through the balance of this year. We see a lot of growth, but we now need to drive up our returns.

我想說，此時此刻，我們還有很多工作要做。這項整合工作可能會持續到今年剩餘時間。我們看到了很大的成長，但我們現在需要提高回報。

And just last -- one last question on the M&A front. You took a look at Pendragon. Does that suggest that as you look out over the next couple of years, that expansion outside of the U.S. could be in the cards?

最後一個關於併購的最後一個問題。你看了一眼潘德拉貢。這是否表明，在您未來幾年的展望中，美國以外的擴張可能會發生？

I think it goes back to Tom's comments. I thought he summed it up really well. We are looking at opportunities that come across our desk in a very, very consistent way. We liked what we saw with Pendragon at the price that we had indicated in the marketplace. And at that point, we thought it was good, but clearly, that move was not for us. So I would tell you that we have an eye to a number of opportunities at this point in time.

我認為這可以追溯到湯姆的評論。我覺得他總結得很好。我們正在以非常非常一致的方式尋找擺在我們辦公桌上的機會。我們喜歡我們在市場上標明的 Pendragon 的價格。那時，我們認為這很好，但顯然，這一舉動不適合我們。所以我想告訴你，我們目前正在關注許多機會。

Our next question comes from Bret Jordan from Jefferies.

我們的下一個問題來自 Jefferies 的 Bret Jordan。

On the mobile services question, I guess, you're talking about expanding the products offered. Could you talk maybe a bit about the logistics of the mobile services. What can you do in that format? And I guess from a staffing standpoint, cold rainy days, probably not appealing to work outdoors. But what are you seeing as far as building out that model?

關於行動服務問題，我想，您正在談論擴展所提供的產品。能談談行動服務的物流嗎？在這種格式下你能做什麼？我想從人員配備的角度來看，寒冷的雨天可能不適合戶外工作。但就建立該模型而言，您有何看法？

Yes. Well, the good news is that if you think about our geographic footprint, we are largely -- the vast majority of our business falls in states where you can operate full 12 months without certainly (inaudible) now. But I take your point. So obviously, services, some maintenance and repair work is a given. We are in the process of expanding to tires. We're in the process of expanding to glass and as you know, we have a very good business in our collision centers, and that will include calibration.

是的。好吧，好消息是，如果你考慮我們的地理足跡，我們的業務很大程度上分佈在那些可以運作整整 12 個月的州，而無需現在（聽不清楚）。但我同意你的觀點。顯然，服務、一些維護和修理工作是必然的。我們正在擴展到輪胎領域。我們正在擴展到玻璃領域，如您所知，我們的碰撞中心業務非常好，其中包括校準。

So there are multiple things that these vans, so equipped, can do and that's effectively what we're doing. We have already done some pilot work on glass, which was successful in some of our Texas businesses. So that's going to be expanded throughout this year. Tires, there is a demand for tires which can easily be done from a properly equipped van. So there's quite an expansion in terms of products that you -- that we can offer.

因此，這些裝備如此齊全的貨車可以做很多事情，而這實際上就是我們正在做的事情。我們已經在玻璃方面進行了一些試點工作，這在我們德克薩斯州的一些業務中取得了成功。因此，今年將擴大這一範圍。輪胎，對輪胎的需求可以透過配備適當的貨車輕鬆完成。因此，我們可以提供的產品範圍相當廣泛。

And as you can imagine, as we grow, AutoNation USA, and they are as successful as they have been in terms of CFS, many of those CFS products are associated with extended warranties or maintenance contracts and we're now able to completely fulfill them ourselves rather than those customers may be migrating to a competitor to have that work done.

正如您可以想像的那樣，隨著我們的成長，AutoNation USA，他們在 CFS 方面取得了同樣的成功，其中許多 CFS 產品都與延長保固或維護合約相關，我們現在能夠完全履行它們我們自己而不是那些客戶可能會遷移到競爭對手來完成這項工作。

So I'm very excited about mobile services. It's a business that we are, as I said, are entering in those markets where we already have density in the customer base. It's now associated clearly with our brand, which I think does bring a degree of credibility, which is important when you think about a van turning up on someone's drive. And I think it will help us. So let's see how we develop it this year.

所以我對行動服務感到非常興奮。正如我所說，我們正在進入那些我們已經擁有密集客戶群的市場。它現在與我們的品牌有著明顯的聯繫，我認為這確實帶來了一定程度的可信度，當你想到一輛貨車出現在某人的車道上時，這一點很重要。我認為這對我們有幫助。那麼讓我們看看今年我們如何發展它。

Okay. And a quick question on Domestic DSI of 66 days. Can you talk about the sort of spread between the manufacturers and that inventory exposure? And obviously, there's been a lot of talk about Stellantis maybe increasing their promotional level or decreasing pricing. Are you seeing anything that's sort of changing as far as I guess, promotional cadence recently?

好的。還有一個關於 66 天國內 DSI 的快速問題。您能談談製造商之間的價差和庫存曝險嗎？顯然，有很多關於 Stellantis 可能會提高促銷水平或降低價格的討論。據我猜測，最近的促銷節奏有什麼變化嗎？

I'm not seeing any changes from my perspective. I think we're coming into traditional months where all of the domestics will focus heavily on their trucks. That's normal. That I think is something that will continue. There's -- the different seasons in the year, it's not going to change. I think that if you think about the percentage of sales by vehicle segment, it is natural that those OEMs who have a very high percentage of sales in trucks, whether it's light, medium or heavy are going to have a higher day supply purely because of the selection required. And even though Stellantis, the day supply has increased, it is significantly lower than it's been historically.

從我的角度來看，我沒有看到任何變化。我認為我們正進入傳統的幾個月，所有國內的人都將專注於他們的卡車。這很正常。我認為這種情況將會持續下去。一年中的不同季節，它不會改變。我認為，如果你考慮按車輛細分市場劃分的銷售百分比，很自然地，那些在卡車銷售中佔有很高比例的原始設備製造商（無論是輕型、中型還是重型）將擁有更高的日供應量，純粹是因為所需的選擇。儘管 Stellantis 的日供應量有所增加，但仍明顯低於歷史水準。

(Operator Instructions) Next question comes from Douglas Dutton from Evercore.

（操作員說明）下一個問題來自 Evercore 的 Douglas Dutton。

Congrats on the quarter. Two quick questions from me. Just first on the new vehicle PVR point and the normalization that we continue to see, is it fair to think that there may actually be a higher trough cycle over cycle maybe remaining at about a 20% to 30% premium over 2019 levels? I'm just curious if perhaps you are beginning to see some structural reasons that a decrease to pre-COVID levels may not be the reality, given the rate of change on profit per unit has begun to slow, like Tom mentioned, as the fourth quarter was actually the best sequential in 3 quarters.

恭喜本季。我問了兩個簡單的問題。首先，關於新車 PVR 點和我們繼續看到的正常化，是否可以公平地認為，實際上可能會出現一個比 2019 年水平高出 20% 至 30% 的高谷週期？我只是好奇你是否開始看到一些結構性原因，即考慮到每單位利潤的變化率已經開始放緩，就像湯姆提到的那樣，第四季度下降到新冠疫情前的水平可能不是現實。該季度實際上是三個季度中最好的連續季度。

A lot of moving pieces in that question, as you know. One of the things that I think we have to really watch closely this year is what's happening with battery electric vehicles and hybrids. And as you know, all of the OEMs at this moment in time are working towards a set of GHG targets which vary by state. And that may well change depending on what happens later this year and as we move forward. But there is and has been a significant impact on margin as battery electric vehicles have continued to grow in terms of the share that they represent. I mean the BEVs increased share, roughly double from the end of 2022 to 2023. And as a result of that, that's had an impact on the combustion -- on our total margins, obviously.

如您所知，這個問題中有很多令人感動的內容。我認為今年我們必須密切關注的事情之一是純電動車和混合動力汽車的發展。如您所知，目前所有原始設備製造商都在努力實現一系列因州而異的溫室氣體目標。隨著今年稍後發生的情況以及我們的前進，這種情況很可能會改變。但隨著電動車所佔份額的持續成長，利潤率已經受到了重大影響。我的意思是，純電動車的份額增加了，從 2022 年底到 2023 年大約增加了一倍。因此，這對燃燒產生了影響——顯然對我們的總利潤產生了影響。

So the answer to your question is, truthfully, I expect a return to very similar margins to 2019. And by the way, that would include the impact, in my view, of battery electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles. How that happens is very much going to depend on how the OEMs are thinking about the mix of their BEVs, their hybrids and their combustion engines through the balance of this year and how they're going to achieve their targets. It's a very -- it is not an easy question to answer. So that's my best effort.

因此，說實話，我預計你的問題的答案將恢復到與 2019 年非常相似的利潤率。順便說一句，在我看來，這將包括電池電動車和混合動力電動車的影響。這種情況如何發生在很大程度上取決於原始設備製造商如何在今年剩餘的時間內考慮其純電動車、混合動力車和內燃機的組合，以及他們將如何實現其目標。這是一個非常——這不是一個容易回答的問題。所以這是我最大的努力。

But I would say what we are doing in our business is to really focus on those areas where we have more control and more opportunity. And those areas are CFS, used, as we talked about, obviously, After-Sales and how we can provide more products and services to the customers that we have won over many, many years of being in the marketplace. And then to make sure that our new vehicles, we're not an outlier either with lower margins or poor market share that we obviously control our costs because, to a large extent, how the new vehicle market develops as you can completely understand even though we're a very large player in this industry, we're still a tiny player in terms of the total new vehicle market. So I think we have to be realistic about the things we can do.

但我想說的是，我們在業務中所做的事情是真正專注於那些我們擁有更多控制權和更多機會的領域。這些領域就是 CFS，正如我們所討論的，顯然是售後服務，以及我們如何為我們在市場上多年贏得的客戶提供更多的產品和服務。然後，為了確保我們的新車，我們不是利潤率較低或市場份額不佳的異常者，我們顯然控制了我們的成本，因為在很大程度上，新車市場的發展方式你可以完全理解，即使我們是這個行業的一個非常大的參與者，但就整個新車市場而言，我們仍然是一個很小的參與者。所以我認為我們必須對我們能做的事情保持現實。

Okay. That's helpful color. I appreciate you giving the detail there. Just to be crystal clear here, a slightly lower growth from EVs as a lot of us now expect for at least '24 through maybe '25, '26 would actually be a positive. That's the correct way to think about that?

好的。這是有用的顏色。我很感激你在那裡提供的細節。這裡需要澄清的是，電動車的成長略有下降，正如我們許多人現在預計至少在 24 年到 25 年、26 年實際上是積極的。這是正確的思考方式嗎？

Yes, based upon the margins we saw develop last year, that's exactly how I would think about it.

是的，根據我們去年看到的利潤成長，這正是我的想法。

Our next question comes from Colin Langan from Wells Fargo.

我們的下一個問題來自富國銀行的科林·蘭根。

I think you mentioned in your comments, CFS is supposed to be strong. I mean how should we be thinking about that, though? Because I mean, I think if there's more leasing, I think that puts a little bit of pressure on, there's possible normalization of vehicles, maybe to a mass market, we might put pressure on that. Is that still going to be up year-over-year? Or should we think of that just moderating a bit as we go into next year?

我想你在評論中提到，CFS 應該很強。我的意思是我們應該如何考慮這個問題？因為我的意思是，我認為如果有更多的租賃，我認為這會帶來一點壓力，車輛可能會正常化，也許對於大眾市場，我們可能會對此施加壓力。年比還會漲嗎？或者我們應該在進入明年時考慮稍微緩和一點？

Yes. Thanks for the question, Colin. Yes, in my commentary, I was referencing a little bit higher lease penetration in the CFS commentary. I think on balance, leases are accretive to what we're trying to accomplish, yes. I mean maybe you sell a little bit fewer products on a CFS perspective, but it's not massive. I mean, it is outweighed by the fact that we have a shot at getting the used car once it comes off lease. It also helps with vehicle affordability. We have typically third-party financiers taking a residual risk. So it's net-net a win-win for us on leasing. And I would think of it that way. We've been able to manage through with CFS over the years with higher leasing volume.

是的。謝謝你的提問，科林。是的，在我的評論中，我提到了 CFS 評論中較高的租賃滲透率。我認為總的來說，租賃可以增加我們想要實現的目標，是的。我的意思是，從 CFS 的角度來看，您銷售的產品可能會少一些，但數量並不多。我的意思是，一旦租期結束，我們就有機會獲得二手車，這一事實比這更重要。它還有助於提高車輛的可負擔性。我們通常會讓第三方金融家承擔剩餘風險。因此，這對我們來說在租賃方面是雙贏的。我會這樣想。多年來，我們一直能夠透過 CFS 進行管理，並實現更高的租賃量。

Got it. And then just going back to your comments to the last question on expecting profitability to sort of normalize to pre-COVID 2019 levels. Is that already pretty much there on the Domestic? If I look at the Q4 margin, the percent margin looks pretty similar to pre-COVID. So is that kind of driving some of those thoughts is that those companies that have already kind of restocked a lot of the inventory, you're already kind of back to normal levels?

知道了。然後回到您對最後一個問題的評論，即預期盈利能力將正常化到 2019 年新冠疫情之前的水平。國內已經有這樣的東西了嗎？如果我看一下第四季的利潤率，利潤率看起來與新冠疫情爆發前非常相似。那麼，推動這些想法的因素是否是那些已經補充了大量庫存的公司，你們已經恢復到正常水準了？

Yes, the answer to your question is it's pretty much there for some of our OEMs.

是的，您的問題的答案是我們的一些原始設備製造商幾乎已經有了它。

We currently have no further questions. So I'd like to hand the call back to the management team for closing remarks. Over to you.

目前我們沒有進一步的問題。因此，我想將電話轉交給管理團隊以供結束語。交給你了。

Firstly, thanks for your questions. I'm just going to touch on the margin question that I received earlier. One of the things that I think is relevant and important as you think about our performance going forward. AN USA, a valuable addition to our company, our organization, particularly where we have areas of significant density, their used vehicle margin does not perform in the same way for obvious reasons as our franchise businesses.

首先，感謝您的提問。我只想談談我之前收到的保證金問題。當你考慮我們未來的表現時，我認為這是相關且重要的事情之一。 AN USA，對我們公司、我們的組織來說是一個有價值的補充，特別是在我們擁有高密度區域的地方，他們的二手車利潤率由於明顯的原因與我們的特許經營業務表現不一樣。

So when you think about that $1,800 that we discussed, don't think about that in the context today in AN USA. The way that they source their vehicles is very different, the way that they can attach manufacturer and OEM programs is significantly different. So their whole business model, including the capital invested is very, very different. So as you think about my comments on $1,800 margin, make sure you factor in the impact of AN USA on our average margins going forward because they will not and have not been at that level and I don't anticipate that anytime going forward.

因此，當您考慮我們討論的 1,800 美元時，請不要在當今美國的背景下考慮它。他們採購車輛的方式非常不同，他們附加製造商和 OEM 程序的方式也顯著不同。所以他們的整個商業模式，包括投資的資本，是非常非常不同的。因此，當您考慮我對1,800 美元利潤率的評論時，請確保考慮到AN USA 對我們未來平均利潤率的影響，因為它們不會也不會達到這個水平，而且我預計未來任何時候都不會出現這種情況。

But with that said, when I think about '24, just that it's clearly going to have its normal mix of headwinds and tailwinds. But for me, after a very significant year in '23 of planned leadership transitions, I'm feeling positive about our development as we enter this year. We have Jeff Parent joined our group, as you know, as the Chief Operating Officer. Tom came in last year. CMO joined us, Rich Lennox, who joined earlier in 2023. So from my point of view, our leadership team, that year of transition, which was planned is now complete. And I think all of the members that we've added bring vast experience to AutoNation. And these guys along with their colleagues who sit on our executive leadership team, I'm certain they're going to help us build on our success and position our company well for the future.

但話雖如此，當我想到 24 年時，它顯然會遇到正常的逆風和順風。但對我來說，在經歷了 23 年計劃中的領導層換屆非常重要的一年之後，我對進入今年時我們的發展感到積極。如您所知，傑夫·帕倫特 (Jeff Parent) 加入了我們的團隊，擔任營運長。湯姆去年進來的。 CMO 加入了我們，Rich Lennox 於 2023 年初加入。因此，從我的角度來看，我們的領導團隊，計劃的那一年的過渡現在已經完成。我認為我們新增的所有成員都為 AutoNation 帶來了豐富的經驗。這些人以及我們執行領導團隊中的同事，我確信他們將幫助我們取得成功，並為我們公司的未來做好定位。

And really, that enables us, I think, to really look at how the investments that we've made in various parts of our businesses are performing and understand how we can get to a period of growth in some of those and in others how we can make sure that we're driving up our margins.

事實上，我認為，這使我們能夠真正了解我們在業務各個部分進行的投資的表現，並了解我們如何才能在其中一些領域實現增長期，以及如何在其他領域實現增長。可以確保我們提高利潤。

So with that, thank you for joining the call. We'll see how the year goes, and I look forward to talking to many of you between now and most of you at next quarter.

因此，感謝您加入此次通話。我們將看看這一年的進展如何，我期待著從現在到下個季度與你們中的許多人交談。

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's call. Thank you for joining. You may now disconnect your lines. Thank you.

女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的加入。現在您可以斷開線路。謝謝。