Lithia Motors Inc (LAD) 2024 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to the Lithia Motors fourth-quarter 2024 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions)

大家好，歡迎參加 Lithia Motors 2024 年第四季財報電話會議。（操作員指令）

As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Jardon Jaramillo, Senior Director, Investor Relations. Thank you, sir. You may begin.

提醒一下，本次會議正在錄音。現在我很高興介紹您的主持人、投資者關係高級總監 Jardon Jaramillo。謝謝您，先生。你可以開始了。

Good morning. Thank you for joining us for our fourth quarter earnings call. With me today are Bryan DeBoer, President and CEO; Adam Chamberlain, Chief Operating Officer; Tina Miller, Senior Vice President and CFO; and finally, Chuck Lietz, Senior Vice President of Driveway Finance.

早安.感謝您參加我們的第四季財報電話會議。今天與我在一起的有總裁兼執行長 Bryan DeBoer；張伯倫 (Adam Chamberlain)，營運長；蒂娜‧米勒 (Tina Miller)，資深副總裁兼財務長；最後是 Driveway Finance 資深副總裁 Chuck Lietz。

Today's discussion may include statements about future events, financial projections and expectations about the company's products, markets and growth. Such statements are forward-looking and subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to materially differ from the statements made.

今天的討論可能包括有關未來事件的陳述、財務預測以及對公司產品、市場和成長的期望。此類聲明具有前瞻性，且受風險和不確定性的影響，可能導致實際結果與所做出的聲明有重大差異。

We disclose those risks and uncertainties we deem to be material in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We urge you to carefully consider these disclosures and not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. We undertake no duty to update any forward-looking statements, which are made as of the date of this release.

我們在提交給美國證券交易委員會的文件中揭露了我們認為重大的風險和不確定性。我們敦促您仔細考慮這些揭露，不要過度依賴前瞻性陳述。我們不承擔更新本新聞稿發布之日所做出的任何前瞻性陳述的義務。

Our results discussed today include references to non-GAAP financial measures. Please refer to the text of today's press release for a reconciliation of comparable GAAP measures. We've also posted an updated investor presentation on our website, investors.lithiadriveway.com, highlighting our fourth quarter results.

我們今天討論的結果包括對非公認會計準則財務指標的引用。請參閱今天的新聞稿文本，以了解可比較 GAAP 指標的調整。我們也在我們的網站 investor.lithiadriveway.com 上發布了更新的投資者介紹，重點介紹了我們的第四季度業績。

With that, I would like to turn the call over to Bryan DeBoer, President and CEO.

接下來，我想將電話轉給總裁兼執行長 Bryan DeBoer。

Thank you, Jardon. Good morning, and welcome to our fourth-quarter earnings call. Our Lithia and Driveway teams continue to deliver strong results, demonstrating the power of our integrated and scalable mobility ecosystem and the strength of our talented people.

謝謝你，Jardon。早上好，歡迎參加我們的第四季財報電話會議。我們的 Lithia 和 Driveway 團隊繼續取得強勁業績，展示了我們整合且可擴展的行動生態系統的強大力量以及我們優秀人才的實力。

During the fourth quarter, we generated adjusted diluted earnings per share of $7.79. Though the earnings power of our ecosystem and design is just beginning to reveal its potential, these results underscore the effectiveness of our strategy to serve our customers seamlessly across digital and physical channels, leverage highly profitable adjacencies, while remaining grounded to our disciplined execution.

第四季度，我們的調整後每股攤薄收益為 7.79 美元。雖然我們的生態系統和設計的盈利能力才剛開始顯現其潛力，但這些結果強調了我們的策略的有效性，即透過數位和實體管道無縫地為我們的客戶提供服務，利用高利潤的相鄰性，同時仍然堅持我們嚴謹的執行。

Our ability to align our people, platform, and processes has enabled us to maintain momentum in unlocking our potential by increasing market share and driving differentiated operational efficiencies. Our focus on building customer loyalty through our diversified business model continues to drive profitability and strengthen our market position.

我們協調人員、平台和流程的能力使我們能夠透過增加市場份額和提高差異化營運效率來保持釋放潛力的勢頭。我們專注於透過多元化的商業模式建立客戶忠誠度，以繼續提高獲利能力並鞏固我們的市場地位。

Investments in our adjacencies are now contributing meaningfully to our earnings trajectory. Our omnichannel ecosystem has driven substantial improvements in customer engagement and unit sales further reinforcing LAD's effectiveness. Looking ahead, our focus remains on loyalty, potential and growth.

我們對鄰近產業的投資現在正在對我們的獲利軌跡做出有意義的貢獻。我們的全通路生態系統推動了客戶參與度和單位銷售額的大幅提升，進一步增強了 LAD 的有效性。展望未來，我們的重點仍放在忠誠度、潛力和成長上。

Through disciplined execution and strategic investments, we are confident in our unique ability to deliver sustainable performance, capture market share, and unlock the profitability of our ecosystem. With our foundational strengths firmly in place to continue our growth as the world's largest auto retailer in 2025 and beyond, we are well positioned to build our recent momentum and continue our path to achieving $2 of EPS per $1 billion in revenue.

透過嚴格的執行和策略投資，我們相信我們有能力提供可持續的業績，佔領市場份額，並釋放我們生態系統的獲利能力。憑藉我們牢固的基礎優勢，我們將繼續發展成為 2025 年及以後全球最大的汽車零售商，我們已準備好延續近期的發展勢頭，繼續實現每 10 億美元收入實現 2 美元每股收益的目標。

Now on to key results for the fourth quarter. Lithia and Driveway grew revenues, a record $9.2 billion, a 20% increase from Q4 of last year. We are pleased to see our first quarter year-over-year operating profit increase in nine quarters. This increase is a result of continued market share gains and our disciplined cost management efforts, which drove the full realization of our $200 million in annual cost savings targets.

現在來看看第四季的主要業績。Lithia 和 Driveway 的營收成長至創紀錄的 92 億美元，比去年第四季成長了 20%。我們很高興地看到我們第一季的營業利潤比去年同期成長了九個季度。這一增長得益於我們持續的市場份額增長和嚴格的成本管理努力，這推動了我們全面實現每年 2 億美元的成本節約目標。

Our teams have embedded consistent cost discipline into our daily operations, and we are seeing the benefits as we have now delivered two consecutive quarters of absolute sequential decreases in SG&A.

我們的團隊已將一致的成本紀律融入我們的日常運營中，我們看到了其好處，因為我們現在已經連續兩個季度實現了銷售、一般和行政費用的絕對連續下降。

As we begin 2025, we see even more opportunities for market conquest, adjacency profitability and productivity improvements as we realize the full potential of our unique ecosystem.

隨著我們進入 2025 年，隨著我們充分發揮獨特生態系統的潛力，我們將看到更多的市場征服、相鄰獲利能力和生產力提高的機會。

Our stores are well positioned to capitalize on a return to historical SAAR levels, and we saw significant growth in new unit sales in the fourth quarter. We are now seeing total vehicle GPU stabilize near our long-term expectations. We saw improvements in our used unit sales trends, which continue to be a key focus and our aftersales business delivered robust performance this quarter, which reflects the dedication of our team and our ownership and making decisions closest to our customer.

我們的商店已做好準備，可以利用 SAAR 回歸歷史水平的優勢，並且我們在第四季度看到新單位銷售額顯著增長。我們現在看到整車 GPU 穩定在我們的長期預期附近。我們看到二手車銷售趨勢有所改善，這仍然是我們關注的重點，我們的售後業務本季度表現強勁，這反映了我們團隊的奉獻精神和我們的主人翁精神以及做出最貼近客戶的決策。

Our investments in adjacencies are now integrated as a platform for sustainable and meaningful profitability. Financing operations delivered profitability for the full year demonstrating the strong earnings trajectory ahead. Additionally, we continue to refine our e-commerce strategies, bringing in new customers as part of our omnichannel strategy. This quarter also delivered strong returns on our Wheels investments, and we look forward to realizing the synergies presented by our partnerships.

我們對鄰近領域的投資現已整合為一個可持續且有意義的獲利平台。融資業務全年實現獲利，顯示出未來強勁的獲利軌跡。此外，我們繼續完善我們的電子商務策略，作為全通路策略的一部分吸引新客戶。本季我們的 Wheels 投資也獲得了強勁回報，我們期待實現合作夥伴關係帶來的協同效應。

In 2025, we continue to focus on unlocking the profitability of our ecosystem by decisively acting to create customer loyalty, achieve our potential and unlock the growth in our ecosystem by delivering on our core strength execution.

2025年，我們將繼續專注於釋放我們生態系統的獲利能力，採取果斷行動來建立客戶忠誠度，發揮我們的潛力，並透過發揮我們的核心優勢來釋放我們生態系統的成長。

The foundation of the LAD strategy lies in our vast physical network supported by the industry's most talented people, high demand inventory, and dense store footprint. We continue to expand this network, adding new locations, developing key adjacencies, and forming strategic partnerships all aimed at enhancing customer experiences and unlocking the potential of our platform.

LAD 策略的基礎在於我們龐大的實體網絡，由業內最優秀的人才、高需求庫存和密集的商店足跡提供支援。我們將繼續擴大這個網絡，增加新的地點，開發關鍵的鄰接關係，並建立策略合作夥伴關係，所有這些都是為了增強客戶體驗並釋放我們平台的潛力。

We operate as the largest retailer and one of the largest addressable retail markets globally, and our ability to grow profitability across every aspect of our business is now stronger than ever. We believe being the most competitive buyer in one of the largest and least consolidated retail market is a key strategic advantage.

我們是全球最大的零售商，也是最大的潛在零售市場之一，我們在業務各個方面提高盈利能力的能力現在比以往任何時候都更強。我們相信，在最大但整合程度最低的零售市場之一中成為最具競爭力的買家是一項關鍵的策略優勢。

Our steadfast strategy of delivering customer solutions that are simple, convenient and transparent enables us to capture a greater share of the customer's wallet and create durable customer loyalty throughout their ownership life cycle. These solutions are tightly integrated with our digital platforms, fostering a natural and lasting retention of our customers within our ecosystem, while brands like Driveway and GreenCars significantly extend our reach to 50 times more customers than our core physical businesses provide.

我們堅定不移的策略是為客戶提供簡單、方便和透明的解決方案，這使得我們能夠贏得客戶的更大份額，並在客戶的整個所有權生命週期中建立持久的客戶忠誠度。這些解決方案與我們的數位平台緊密結合，促進了我們生態系統中客戶的自然和持久保留，而 Driveway 和 GreenCars 等品牌則大大擴展了我們的覆蓋範圍，我們的客戶數量比我們的核心實體業務多 50 倍。

The LAD digital ecosystem continues to deliver positive momentum. We recently launched the MyDriveway portal, offering customers 250-plus functions to provide more visibility and control while shopping and servicing.

LAD 數位生態系統持續呈現正面動能。我們最近推出了 MyDriveway 門戶，為客戶提供 250 多種功能，以便在購物和服務時提供更多的可視性和控制力。

Our teams continue to deliver exceptional digital and physical customer experiences with a clear focus on extending our reach and expanding market share. The strength of our platforms, financial discipline, regenerative free cash flows and a culture that inspires growth powered by people, enables us to be agile in responding to customer needs and capitalizing on the tailwinds the industry carries into 2025.

我們的團隊將繼續提供卓越的數位和實體客戶體驗，明確致力於擴大我們的影響力並擴大市場份額。我們的平台實力、財務紀律、可再生自由現金流以及激發以人為本的成長的文化，使我們能夠靈活地響應客戶需求，並利用產業在 2025 年帶來的順風。

Our strategic positioning and the rollout of the myDriveway consumer portal allows us to increase touch points throughout the customer's life cycle across our adjacencies and equip our stores with the tools to improve market share, loyalty, growth, and ultimately profitability.

我們的策略定位和 myDriveway 消費者入口網站的推出使我們能夠在鄰近地區增加整個客戶生命週期內的接觸點，並為我們的商店提供提高市場份額、忠誠度、成長和最終盈利能力的工具。

Acquisitions remain a core competency, and we continue our disciplined approach to look for accretive opportunities that can improve our network, focusing on the United States. We target a minimum after-tax return of 15% and acquire for 15% to 30% of revenues or 3 to 6 times normalized EBITDA. Like to date, our acquisitions have yielded over a 95% success rate and an after-tax return of over 25%, demonstrating that LAD is not your typical high-risk roll-up strategy.

收購仍然是我們的核心競爭力，我們將繼續採取嚴謹的方式尋找能夠改善我們網路的增值機會，並專注於美國。我們的目標是最低稅後回報率為 15%，並獲得 15% 至 30% 的收入或 3 至 6 倍的標準化 EBITDA。到目前為止，我們的收購成功率超過 95%，稅後回報率超過 25%，這表明 LAD 不是典型的高風險整合策略。

In the near term, we are watching acquisition pricing and remaining disciplined as we look for strong opportunities while balancing this with the attractiveness of our own share buybacks. Our capital generation and improving earnings allows us the flexibility to do both and are reiterating our expectation that estimated future annual acquired revenues will be in the range of $2 billion to $4 billion per year.

短期內，我們將專注於收購定價並保持紀律，尋找強勁機會，同時平衡收購價格與我們自身股票回購的吸引力。我們的資本創造和收益提高使我們能夠靈活地同時完成兩項工作，並重申我們的預期，即未來預計每年獲得的收入將在 20 億至 40 億美元之間。

We remain focused on growth and view industry consolidation as a driver of continued strong long-term returns. With the capital engine we built, we were able to deploy our free cash flows to generate the highest returns remaining flexible to market conditions. We are maintaining our adjusted capital allocation to balance acquisitions and buybacks equally, especially given the attractive relative values of our own shares.

我們將持續專注於成長，並將產業整合視為持續強勁長期回報的驅動力。透過我們建構的資本引擎，我們能夠部署自由現金流來產生最高的回報，並且能夠靈活地適應市場狀況。我們將維持調整​​後的資本配置，以平衡收購和回購，尤其是考慮到我們自身股票的相對價值具有吸引力。

During the quarter, we repurchased $93 million or 0.9% of our outstanding shares. We continue to evaluate acquisitions and share repurchases and we'll focus on share buybacks in the near term given market pricing dynamics on acquisitions. These elements combined for a clear and compelling pathway to generating $2 of EPS for every $1 billion in revenue in a normalized environment as illustrated in slide 14 of our investor presentation.

本季度，我們回購了 9,300 萬美元，佔已發行股份的 0.9%。我們將繼續評估收購和股票回購，並考慮到收購的市場定價動態，我們將在短期內專注於股票回購。這些因素結合在一起，形成了一條清晰而令人信服的途徑，在正常化環境下每 10 億美元的收入就能產生 2 美元的每股收益，如我們的投資者演示文稿的第 14 頁所示。

The key factors underlying our future steady state are now totally within our control and include the following. First, continue to improve our operational performance by realizing the massive potential that we have built in our own existing stores. This includes increasing our share of wallet through greater customer life cycle interactions, sustained productivity gains, cost efficiencies, and growing each store's new, used, and aftersales market share. Through these levers in our business, we see a pathway to achieve SG&A as a percentage of gross profit in the mid-50% range.

影響我們未來穩定狀態的關鍵因素現在完全在我們的掌控之中，包括以下幾點。首先，透過發揮我們現有門市的巨大潛力，持續提高我們的營運績效。這包括透過加強客戶生命週期互動、持續提高生產力、提高成本效率以及擴大每家商店的新店、二手店和售後市場的份額來增加我們的市場份額。透過我們業務中的這些槓桿，我們看到了一條將銷售、一般及行政費用佔毛利潤的百分比提高到 50% 左右的途徑。

Second, optimizing our network by acquiring and driving high performance in larger automotive retail stores in the stronger profitability regions of the Southeast and South Central United States. This, alongside our digital channels, will bring US market share to 5%. Today, we have a combined new and used vehicle market share a little over 1%.

其次，透過收購美國東南部和中南部盈利能力較強的地區中規模較大的汽車零售店並提高其業績來優化我們的網絡。透過這一管道，加上我們的數位管道，美國的市場份額將達到 5%。如今，我們的新車和二手車市場總份額略高於 1%。

Third, financing of up to 20% of units with DFC and maturing beyond the headwinds associated with CECL reserves, as you can see in our results. Our financing operations achieved full-year profitability in 2024 and we expect meaningful profitability growth from here.

第三，使用 DFC 為高達 20% 的單位提供融資，並且到期日要超過 CECL 儲備相關的不利因素，正如您在我們的結果中所看到的那樣。我們的融資業務在 2024 年實現了全年盈利，我們預計從那時起盈利能力將實現有意義的成長。

Fourth, through scale, we are driving down our vendor pricing with solutions like Pinewood, leveraging corporate efficiencies, and lowering borrowing costs as we path towards an investment-grade credit rating. Fifth, maturing contributions from our horizontals, including fleet management, DMS software, charging infrastructure, and captive insurance. And finally, delivering ongoing return on capital to shareholders through increased share buybacks and dividends.

第四，透過規模化，我們利用 Pinewood 等解決方案降低供應商價格，提高企業效率，降低借貸成本，逐步實現投資等級信用評等。第五，我們橫向業務的貢獻日益成熟，包括車隊管理、DMS 軟體、充電基礎設施和自保保險。最後，透過增加股票回購和股利為股東提供持續的資本回報。

We are well positioned to grow our complete mobility ecosystem that leverages unique scale and capabilities to create more frequent, meaningful, and durable customer experiences throughout the ownership life cycle. With the foundational element of our strategy firmly in place, we are now fully focused on execution and our confidence in our ability to drive to new levels of performance and establish a new standard for the industry.

我們已做好準備，發展完整的行動生態系統，利用獨特的規模和能力，在整個所有權生命週期中創造更頻繁、更有意義、更持久的客戶體驗。隨著我們策略的基礎要素牢固確立，我們現在完全專注於執行，並對我們推動新績效水準和為產業樹立新標準的能力充滿信心。

Now I'd like to turn the call over to Adam for an overview on key operating performance and how we are igniting our store and department potentials.

現在，我想將電話轉給亞當，讓他概述關鍵營運績效以及我們如何激發商店和部門的潛力。

Thank you, Bryan. In quarter four, our team demonstrated our ability to deliver exceptional customer experiences, focus on cost discipline and importantly, grow market share. Our focused approach of having the right leaders and the right products resulted in clear sequential improvement in sales trends, and we are confident in our ability to strengthen our opportunity areas, particularly used vehicle sales.

謝謝你，布萊恩。在第四季度，我們的團隊展示了提供卓越客戶體驗、注重成本紀律以及重要的是擴大市場份額的能力。我們專注於擁有合適的領導者和合適的產品，從而導致銷售趨勢明顯改善，並且我們有信心加強我們的機會領域，特別是二手車銷售。

I proudly stand by our leaders as I set a new bar for the industry in the months ahead. I'd like to focus today on three opportunities to drive profitability. Revenue growth, inventory trends, and SG&A execution.

我很自豪地與我們的領導人站在一起，為未來幾個月的行業設定新的標準。今天我想重點討論提高獲利能力的三個機會。收入成長、庫存趨勢以及銷售、一般及行政費用執行。

As Bryan mentioned, we delivered our first year-over-year growth in operating profit in nine quarters with positive contributions from new vehicles, aftersales, and value autos, all supported by continued strength in SG&A execution. We are confident in our ability to continue delivering on our growth strategy in 2025.

正如布萊恩所提到的，我們實現了九個季度以來的首次營業利潤同比增長，這得益於新車、售後和價值汽車的積極貢獻，以及銷售、一般和行政管理費用持續強勁的執行。我們有信心在2025年繼續實現我們的成長策略。

Let's now turn to our same-store sales performance, where we saw strong performance in new vehicles and value orders.

現在讓我們來看看我們的同店銷售業績，我們看到新車和價值訂單表現強勁。

Total revenues increased by 3.1% and gross profits declined 3.7%, primarily due to the normalization of GPUs. Total unit sales increased 1.7% year over year, while total gross vehicle profit of [$4,535] was consistent with the prior sequential quarter and was down $444 compared to the same period last year.

總營收成長3.1%，毛利下降3.7%，主要由於GPU的正常化。總銷量年增 1.7%，汽車總毛利為 [4,535 美元]，與上一季持平，較去年同期下降 444 美元。

New vehicle units increased 7.4% year over year, with particular strength in import manufacturers. Our front-end GPUs remain resilient at $30.82, decreasing sequentially from $31.88. Used vehicle units were down 4.3% year over year. We saw strong performance in value orders, which were up 24.6% year over year, and we saw improvement in certified and core unit trends.

新車銷量較去年同期成長7.4%，進口汽車銷售表現尤為強勁。我們的前端 GPU 價格仍保持穩定，為 30.82 美元，較 31.88 美元較上季下降。二手車銷量較去年同期下降4.3%。我們看到價值訂單表現強勁，年增 24.6%，我們看到認證和核心單位趨勢有所改善。

Front-end GPUs for used vehicles are stable year over year at $19.59 and declined sequentially by $177. Used autos continue to be the focus of our operations. And whilst we're encouraged by our progress, we expect to see significant improvement in the quarters ahead.

二手車前端 GPU 價格年比穩定在 19.59 美元，季減 177 美元。二手車繼續成為我們經營的重點。雖然我們對所取得的進展感到鼓舞，但我們預計未來幾季還將顯著改善。

An opportunity also remains for aftersales performance, and this will be a key driver of growth in 2025. In the quarter, aftersales revenues were up 3.4%, compared to the prior year, delivering a 55.8% gross profit margin.

售後表現也仍有機會，這將成為 2025 年成長的主要動力。本季度，售後營收較上年同期成長 3.4%，毛利率為 55.8%。

Warranty work was core to this growth with a 19.9% increase in gross profit year over year. Our ability to manage technician head count and drive operational efficiencies has positioned us well to meet ongoing demand whilst also maintaining a strong focus on providing exceptional customer experiences in our aftersales departments.

保固工作是這一成長的核心，毛利年增 19.9%。我們管理技術人員數量和提高營運效率的能力使我們能夠很好地滿足持續的需求，同時也始終致力於在售後部門提供卓越的客戶體驗。

Now turning to inventory, where we saw an overall decrease of approximately $200 million on our inventory balances from quarter three. We continue to see opportunities to [increase] our inventory balances and are targeting 50 DSO for new and 40 DSO for used inventory balances in the second quarter as we look to achieve further flooring interest savings.

現在談到庫存，我們發現我們的庫存餘額與第三季相比總體減少了約 2 億美元。我們繼續看到增加庫存餘額的機會，並計劃在第二季度將新庫存餘額的 DSO 定為 50 DSO，將二手庫存餘額的 DSO 定為 40 DSO，以進一步節省底線利息。

The execution on our original cost saving plan of $200 million was fully realized in quarter four. Our adjusted SG&A as a percentage of gross profit was 66.3% during the quarter and 66.8% on a same-store basis despite the typically higher SG&A we experienced in quarter four due to seasonality.

我們原定的2億美元成本節約計畫已在第四季全面實現。儘管由於季節性原因，第四季度的銷售、一般及行政費用通常較高，但本季我們的調整後銷售、一般及行政費用佔毛利潤的百分比為 66.3%，同店百分比為 66.8%。

Whilst we are pleased with two consecutive quarters of strong SG&A performance, we remain dedicated to achieve continued cost savings and maintain a focus on disciplined cost management as we move through 2025.

雖然我們對連續兩季強勁的銷售、一般及行政開支表現感到滿意，但我們仍致力於在 2025 年持續節省成本，並保持對嚴格的成本管理的關注。

Opportunities to improve our cost structure remain with the potential to achieve SG&A of 65.5% to 67.5% on a same-store basis in 2025 through continued efforts in North America and our UK network where optimization remains.

我們仍有機會改善成本結構，透過持續努力在北美和英國進行優化，到 2025 年，我們有可能將同店銷售、一般及行政開支降低 65.5% 至 67.5%。

Our team's relentless focus on delivering exceptional customer experiences and achieving performance through people this quarter is impressive. I'm proud of the team's progress in 2024 and confident in our outlook for 2025 and look forward to inspiring customer loyalty, achieving the potential of our stores and igniting growth across our ecosystem.

本季度，我們的團隊堅持不懈地致力於提供卓越的客戶體驗並透過人員實現業績，這令人印象深刻。我為團隊在 2024 年的進步感到自豪，並對我們 2025 年的前景充滿信心，並期待激發客戶忠誠度、發揮我們門市的潛力並激發整個生態系統的成長。

I will now turn the call over to Tina to walk us through our key financial highlights.

現在我將把電話轉給蒂娜，讓她向我們介紹我們的主要財務亮點。

Thank you, Adam. The clear momentum Adam outlined in our operations has enabled us to accelerate our focus on creating value through our financing operations segment, efficient capital allocation, and disciplined balance sheet management.

謝謝你，亞當。亞當在我們的營運中概述的明確勢頭使我們能夠透過融資營運部門、高效的資本配置和嚴謹的資產負債表管理，加快專注於創造價值。

Starting with our financing operations segment, primarily driven by DFC, we continue to see solid progress with profitability of $9 million this quarter compared to a loss of $2 million in the same quarter last year. The benefits of our diversification strategy are apparent as our seasoned portfolio continues to grow, and our capital and securitization efficiency improves with the market building confidence in our operations.

從我們的融資業務部門開始，主要由 DFC 推動，我們繼續取得穩步進展，本季獲利 900 萬美元，而去年同期虧損 200 萬美元。隨著我們成熟的投資組合不斷成長，我們的多元化策略的好處顯而易見，而且隨著市場對我們營運的信心增強，我們的資本和證券化效率也得到提高。

2024 was the turning point with profitability of $15 million for the full year. We expect to continue to see this profitability trajectory in 2025 as we balance yields, growth, and risk with an emphasis on high-quality loans and disciplined underwriting.

2024年是轉捩點，全年獲利1500萬美元。我們預計，到 2025 年，我們將繼續保持這種獲利軌跡，因為我們將平衡收益、成長和風險，同時注重高品質貸款和嚴格的承保。

The financing operations portfolio balance is now over $3.9 billion with DFC originating $501 million in loans during the quarter. Our portfolio quality continues to be strong with new origination FICO scores expected to average 730 in 2025 and sustained improvements in net interest margin, which increased 135 basis points year over year and 55 basis points sequentially.

融資業務組合餘額目前已超過 39 億美元，其中 DFC 在本季發放了 5.01 億美元的貸款。我們的投資組合品質持續保持強勁，預計 2025 年新發起 FICO 評分平均將達到 730，淨息差持續改善，年成長 135 個基點，季增 55 個基點。

Overall, our financing operations continues to deliver on our financial milestones ahead of schedule. The adjacency is a key element of our $2 EPS for every $1 billion of revenue targets as each loan originated by DFC contributes up to $1,500 more profitability than traditional indirect lending. We remain confident in this segment's long-term earnings growth and expect increasing profitability with a fully seasoned portfolio.

總體而言，我們的融資業務繼續提前實現我們的財務里程碑。鄰接性是我們實現每 10 億美元收入 2 美元每股收益目標的關鍵要素，因為 DFC 發放的每筆貸款比傳統間接貸款最多可貢獻 1,500 美元的獲利能力。我們對該部門的長期獲利成長仍然充滿信心，並預計透過完善的投資組合將提高獲利能力。

Now moving on to our cash flow performance and balance sheet. We reported adjusted EBITDA of $419 million in the fourth quarter, driven by relatively flat net income as higher unit sales offset continued GPU normalization and higher floor plan interest expense year over year.

現在來看看我們的現金流量表現和資產負債表。我們公佈第四季度調整後的 EBITDA 為 4.19 億美元，主要由於淨收入相對持平，因為單位銷售額增加抵消了 GPU 持續正常化和同比增加的樓層平面圖利息支出。

During the quarter, we generated free cash flows of $180 million. Free cash flows were impacted by higher floor plan interest expense and an increase in capital expenditures compared to the prior year, mainly related to construction to meet manufacturer requirements at recently acquired locations.

本季度，我們產生了 1.8 億美元的自由現金流。自由現金流受到更高的平面圖利息支出和與前一年相比增加的資本支出的影響，這主要與在最近收購的地點滿足製造商要求的建設有關。

Our capital deployment strategy focuses on the efficient allocation of our business's regenerative cash flows, preserving the quality of our balance sheet while supporting our growth initiatives and allowing us to respond opportunistically to a complex environment.

我們的資本配置策略專注於有效分配業務的再生現金流，在支持我們的成長計畫的同時保持資產負債表的質量，並使我們能夠及時應對複雜的環境。

This quarter, we continued our focus on closely balancing acquisitions of shareholder return as we see elevated pricing on store acquisitions even as margins normalize compared to our shares current valuations. Prospectively, we look to allocate 30% to 40% of free cash flow to share repurchases. Our capital allocation strategy is guided by M&A transaction pricing. And as acquisition pricing normalizes, we will actively reassess.

本季度，我們繼續專注於密切平衡收購與股東回報，因為我們看到門市收購的價格上漲，儘管利潤率與我們股票當前估值相比已恢復正常。預計我們將把 30% 至 40% 的自由現金流分配給股票回購。我們的資本配置策略以併購交易定價為指引。隨著收購定價正常化，我們將積極重新評估。

Capital expenditures have trended down and are now primarily related to network optimization and OEM requirements. Under this rebalanced focus in the fourth quarter, we repurchased nearly 1% of our outstanding shares at a weighted average price of $377. $469 million remains available under our share repurchase authorization.

資本支出呈下降趨勢，現在主要與網路優化和 OEM 要求有關。在第四季重新平衡的重點下，我們以 377 美元的加權平均價格回購了近 1％的流通股。根據我們的股票回購授權，仍有 4.69 億美元可用。

We ended the quarter with net leverage of 2.5 times, in line with our long-term target of 3 times and well below our bank covenant requirements of 5.75 times. While we opportunistically allocated capital during Q4, we maintain our long-term focused financial discipline to support our planned growth and target leverage below 3 times. These metrics adjust for the impact of floor plan debt, which is unique to our industry and related to the financing of vehicle inventory. This financing is integral to our operations and collateralized by our inventory.

截至本季末，我們的淨槓桿率為 2.5 倍，符合我們 3 倍的長期目標，遠低於 5.75 倍的銀行契約要求。雖然我們在第四季度投機性地分配了資本，但我們仍保持長期專注的財務紀律，以支持我們的計劃增長和低於 3 倍的目標槓桿率。這些指標根據樓層平面圖債務的影響進行了調整，樓層平面圖債務是我們行業獨有的，與汽車庫存融資有關。這種融資對於我們的營運至關重要，並由我們的庫存作為抵押。

The industry treats the associated interest as an operating expense and EBITDA and excludes this debt from balance sheet leverage calculations. Similarly, we have ABS warehouse lines and issuances to capitalize DFC, which are also excluded from our leverage calculations.

產業將相關利息視為營業費用和 EBITDA，並將該債務排除在資產負債表槓桿計算之外。同樣，我們有 ABS 倉儲額度和發行來資本化 DFC，這些也被排除在我們的槓桿計算之外。

Our strategy is to achieve strong, consistent growth and best-in-class shareholder returns through our omnichannel platform. We have the right team, tools and financial foundation in place to drive scale and profitability in our core business and adjacencies. Our diverse and talented team is committed to delivering exceptional customer experiences to build loyalty and we have the foundation to ignite our potential as we grow in 2025 and beyond.

我們的策略是透過全通路平台實現強勁、持續的成長和一流的股東回報。我們擁有合適的團隊、工具和財務基礎，可以推動核心業務和鄰近業務的規模和獲利能力。我們多元化且才華橫溢的團隊致力於提供卓越的客戶體驗以建立忠誠度，並且我們擁有在 2025 年及以後的發展中激發潛力的基礎。

This concludes our prepared remarks. With that, I'll turn the call over to the operator for questions. Operator?

我們的準備好的演講到此結束。說完這些，我將把電話轉給接線生來回答問題。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) Ryan Sigdahl, Craig-Hallum.

（操作員指示）Ryan Sigdahl，Craig-Hallum。

I want to start with what you're seeing in the current environment. So clearly, sentiment has improved. SAARs improved, kind of towards the tail end of Q4, seems like trends have continued in January despite some weather and various impacts. But curious what you guys are seeing from a trend standpoint, kind of how you view the new administration tariffs, if there's any impact in noise kind of recently, but just kind of a current market update would be great?

我想從您在當前環境中看到的情況開始。顯然，情緒已經改善。在第四季末，SAAR 有所改善，儘管受到天氣和各種影響，但 1 月的趨勢似乎仍在延續。但我很好奇，從趨勢的角度來看，你們看到了什麼，你們如何看待新政府的關稅，最近噪音是否會對其產生影響，但只是當前的市場更新就好了？

Thanks, Ryan. This is Bryan. I think we're pretty excited entering the year because we're finally seeing the tailwinds of volume coming back, whether those are driven by economic change or political changes. We definitely see a pathway by year-end, exiting the year at 17 million SAAR. And more likely that we believe that there could even be an 18 million year in the future, knowing that there's about 11 million to 12 million units that have been suppressed or not sold over the last five years that things look pretty good.

謝謝，瑞安。這是布萊恩。我認為我們對進入新的一年感到非常興奮，因為我們終於看到了交易量的回風，無論這些是受經濟變化還是政治變化所推動的。我們肯定會在年底前看到一條路徑，到年底時 SAAR 將會達到 1700 萬。更有可能的是，我們相信未來幾年銷量甚至可能達到 1800 萬輛，因為我們知道過去五年中大約有 1100 萬到 1200 萬輛被抑製或未售出，情況看起來相當不錯。

Now if we're looking at other macro issues, I think tariffs is probably one of the larger things. And I'd probably never thought I'd be sitting here saying I'm glad I have an extra 20 days of inventory over most of the industry. But we are sitting in a nice position with inventory if tariffs do end up coming in.

現在，如果我們考慮其他宏觀問題，我認為關稅可能是較大的問題之一。我可能從來沒有想過我會坐在這裡說我很高興我比業內大多數人多擁有 20 天的庫存。但如果關稅最終實施，我們的庫存將處於有利地位。

The tariffs for us, we have about 36% to 38% of our vehicles we estimate that could be impacted by tariffs and being that we've got a 50-plus days' supply, we should be sitting quite nicely to be able to work through any negotiations that are happening between the two countries or three countries or four countries or whatever it ends up being at.

對我們來說，我們估計大約有 36% 到 38% 的車輛可能會受到關稅的影響，而且我們有 50 多天的供應量，我們應該能夠很好地處理兩國、三國、四國之間正在進行的任何談判，無論最終結果如何。

So all in all, the market is there, okay? And I think in terms of our performance this quarter, I don't believe that we captured all of our opportunity, okay? We did a solid job in the new cars, okay? But that gives indication that there was a market there that we did not capture on used cars, okay? I believe that it's highly likely that we could see double-digit same-store sales growth on used cars in the coming years, okay, as well as possibly on new cars. And that's a good sign for the industry as well.

總而言之，市場就在那裡，好嗎？我認為就本季的表現而言，我認為我們並沒有抓住所有的機會，好嗎？我們在新車方面做得很好，好嗎？但這顯示我們尚未佔領二手車市場，好嗎？我相信，未來幾年二手車同店銷售額很有可能實現兩位數成長，新車也有可能如此。這對該行業來說也是一個好兆頭。

When it comes to aftersales, again, I think our warranty business filled our shop set up 20%, and our customer pays were sacrificed because of it up only 2%, okay? We've got to be able to walk and chew gum in our service departments. At the same time, meaning that when warranty goes up, we're still servicing our customer pay work.

說到售後，我再說一次，認為我們的保固業務占我們店舖銷售額的 20%，而我們的客戶付費因此只增加了 2%，好嗎？我們必須能夠在我們的服務部門裡行走和嚼口香糖。同時，這意味著當保固期延長時，我們仍然會為客戶提供付費服務。

So all in all, lots of opportunity for us, knowing that our ecosystem is fully built and grounded, we're 100% focused on capturing that opportunity.

總而言之，我們面臨很多機會，我們知道我們的生態系統已經完全建立並紮根，我們會 100％ 專注於抓住這個機會。

That's great. My follow-up question, just looking at your 2025 new vehicle GPU outlook, it seems a little more pessimistic or maybe conservative, I guess, however you want to view that versus some of your peers that are seeing where closer to the bottom and new normal than we are kind of needing a lot more normalization to go.

那太棒了。我的後續問題是，僅從您對 2025 年新車 GPU 的展望來看，我猜它似乎有些悲觀或保守，但是您想如何看待它，而您的一些同行則認為我們更接近底部和新​​常態，而我們需要更多的正常化才能實現。

I guess the question is, what are you seeing in terms of, is it industry dynamics? Is it conservatism? And then kind of secondly to that, is the $2,500 to $2,700 of new vehicle GPU, is that the target new normal, which I think you've said in the past? Or is that the average that you expect for the year from a kind of guidance standpoint?

我想問題是，您看到的是產業動態嗎？這是保守主義嗎？其次，新車 GPU 的價格在 2,500 美元到 2,700 美元之間，這是目標新常態嗎？或者從某種指導角度來看，這是您預計今年的平均值嗎？

Ryan, I think when we think about GPUs that I think, this has been the theme probably for the last four or five years that we're a little bit more conservative on GPUs. We think if we don't do that, then people get out of control on their cost structure. So with our rightsizing plans and our 60-day plans in place, it's imperative that we match GPUs with our cost structure. So we probably are a little more conservative because of that reason.

瑞安，我認為當我們考慮 GPU 時，這可能是過去四、五年來的主題，我們對 GPU 的態度更加保守。我們認為，如果我們不這樣做，人們就會失去對成本結構的控制。因此，根據我們的合適規模計劃和 60 天計劃，必須將 GPU 與我們的成本結構相匹配。因此，我們可能由於這個原因而更加保守一些。

In terms of the $2,500 to $2,700, that is what we're looking at for the year. We believe that the normalized level is somewhere in the $2,300 to $2,500 level, okay, and add another $2,000 an F&I gets you to the $4,300 to $4,500, okay? So there is some that will come out.

就 2,500 美元到 2,700 美元而言，這就是我們今年所關注的。我們認為正常化程度在 2,300 美元到 2,500 美元之間，好的，再加上 2,000 美元的 F&I 就可以達到 4,300 美元到 4,500 美元，好嗎？因此會有一些結果出現。

But I really believe if demand is that where it's at today, and we're in the middle of winter, okay? I really believe that we've got a lot of upside when it comes to Q2, Q3 when seasonality for us really starts to take hold.

但我真的相信，如果需求就像今天一樣，而我們正處於冬季中期，好嗎？我真的相信，當第二季和第三季的季節性因素真正開始發揮作用時，我們會有很大的上升空間。

Nice job guys. Good luck.

幹得好，夥計們。祝你好運。

Bret Jordan, Jefferies.

布雷特·喬丹，傑富瑞。

I think you talked about significant improvement in used. And I guess sort of could you parse out what is volume versus GPU there, sort where you see us in the used profit cycle?

我認為您談到了使用方面的顯著改進。我想您能否分析那裡的銷售與 GPU 的關係，以及您在二手利潤週期中看到我們的位置？

Yeah. I think we're obviously pleased with our value orders, as I said in prepared remarks, with solid growth both through the quarter and on a full-year basis at double digit as well. But overall, we have to be disappointed with the decline in performance overall. And we've got a significant focus on driving used in 2025, especially when we can share we're up on new cars, 55% of our used cars are sourced through trading. So there's no logic trail to say why we should be different on used, if that makes sense.

是的。我認為，我們對我們的價值訂單感到非常滿意，正如我在準備好的發言中所說的那樣，本季度和全年都實現了兩位數的穩健增長。但總體而言，我們不得不對整體業績的下滑感到失望。到 2025 年，我們將重點放在二手車市場，尤其是當我們可以分享新車資訊時，我們 55% 的二手車都是透過交易獲得的。所以，如果說得通的話，沒有邏輯可以解釋為什麼我們在使用上應該有所不同。

In terms of GPUs on used cars, we saw a lot of volatility in pricing in 2024. If we look at historical norms, we think there may still be a slight upside on used cars, but that remains to be seen as we kind of try and drive volume back as well. Does that make sense?

就二手車的 GPU 而言，我們看到 2024 年的價格波動很大。如果我們回顧歷史標準，我們認為二手車可能仍有小幅上漲空間，但這還有待觀察，因為我們也在嘗試推動銷售回升。這樣有道理嗎？

It does. Thank you. And I guess, you also mentioned in the prepared remarks improving UK efficiency and SG&A. Could you just give us an update where you are winning there?

是的。謝謝。我想，您在準備好的評論中也提到了提高英國的效率和銷售、一般及行政費用 (SG&A)。您能否向我們更新您獲勝的情況？

Sure, Bret. This is Bryan again. We're actually quite pleased with what's occurring in the UK relative to market conditions, it's obviously a little softer market. You probably saw that from some of our peers as well. But we have improved our position when it comes to cost management.

當然，布雷特。我又是布萊恩。我們實際上對英國的市場狀況感到非常滿意，顯然英國的市場稍微疲軟一些。您可能也從我們的一些同行那裡看到了這一點。但在成本管理方面，我們已經取得了進展。

I think we were around just over 80% SG&A as a percentage of gross, which is still far from the 75% that we're targeting, okay? But going through the winter months and knowing those gloomy days over the United Kingdom are there, we're pretty positive on where we're at. We've rightsized that part of the organization. So you'll start to see that come into same-store sales this quarter, okay? So you'll get to see some of those improvements.

我認為銷售、一般及行政開支佔毛利的比例略高於 80%，但這仍遠低於我們設定的 75% 的目標，好嗎？但經歷了冬季的幾個月，並且知道英國的陰沉日子還在，我們對自己的處境非常樂觀。我們已經對該部分的組織規模進行了適當調整。所以您將會開始看到本季同店銷售額有所成長，好嗎？所以您將會看到其中的一些改進。

But all in all, we're really pleased with the investment. We are getting our feet on the ground a little bit when it comes to reporting and it comes to that idea of performance through people and managing people. But you know what, we've got great leadership over there with Neil and his teams, and we're excited with what the future holds.

但總的來說，我們對這項投資非常滿意。當談到報告以及透過人員和管理人員來提高績效時，我們正在腳踏實地地工作。但你知道嗎，我們擁有尼爾和他的團隊的出色領導，我們對未來的發展充滿期待。

Lastly, we also have cleaned up the entire mess that I would say that we bought. If you recall, there was those 30 to 50 businesses that were too small to operate. All of those have been shuttered now or they've been sold. We've monetized on all of them, but two, and the remaining two will get monetized by the end of March, okay? So we're pretty pleased with where we sit on that.

最後，我們也清理了我認為是我們造成的全部混亂。如果你還記得的話，當時有 30 到 50 家企業因為規模太小而無法運作。現在所有這些商店都已關閉或出售。我們已經將所有項目都實現了貨幣化，除了兩個，剩下的兩個將在 3 月底前實現貨幣化，好嗎？所以我們對我們的現狀非常滿意。

In terms of the associated real estate, our leaders in the UK did a nice job. We're almost 100% gone on selling all those properties in terms of the leased properties. We've got worked through almost 70% of the equivalent pounds that those costs. So we're real pleased where we sit on that as well.

在相關房地產方面，我們英國的領導階層做得很好。就租賃物業而言，我們幾乎 100% 出售了所有物業。我們已經解決了這些成本中近 70% 的等值英鎊問題。因此，我們對此也感到非常高興。

Rajat Gupta, JPMorgan.

摩根大通的拉賈特古普塔 (Rajat Gupta)。

Just the first one on the SG&A curve. I think, Adam, you cited like there's more opportunities here. Could you elaborate what areas that might be? Is it more in the UK versus the US? Just curious if you could dive a little bit deeper there? And I have a quick follow-up.

只是銷售、一般及行政開支曲線上的第一個。亞當，我認為你說這裡有更多機會。您能詳細說明一下這些可能是什麼領域嗎？英國的情況比美國更嚴重嗎？我只是好奇您是否可以更深入地探討一下？我還有一個快速的跟進。

Hey, Rajat. Thanks for the question. Yeah, I think if we look at -- if you remember, we had our [six balance] and I think we talked to you about it in the late summer last year. We kind of realized the measures identified in that and through the fourth quarter, we took out a further $200 million in inventory. So that was promising. I think we still believe there's another $50 million to $70 million in vehicle inventory to kind of clean up and manage through the quarter into quarter two.

嘿，拉賈特。謝謝你的提問。是的，我想如果我們看一下 - 如果你還記得的話，我們有[六平衡]並且我想我們去年夏末和你談過這件事。我們基本上實現了其中確定的措施，在第四季度，我們又清理了價值 2 億美元的庫存。這是很有希望的。我認為，我們仍然認為本季至第二季還有價值 5,000 萬至 7,000 萬美元的汽車庫存需要清理和管理。

And then I think we're in good shape. But of course, the underlying premises, we remain disciplined as we move forward through our store leaders or op leaders to make sure that we don't just jump back and add the cost in.

我認為我們的情況很好。但當然，基本的前提是，我們在透過商店領導或營運領導前進的過程中保持紀律，以確保我們不會直接跳回去增加成本。

So I think we talk about SG&A, discipline is a kind of everyday buzzword now. But to be specific to your question, the new car inventories should decline by another 50% to 70%. I think Bryan probably is best positioned to comment on UK, Rajat.

所以我認為我們談論銷售、一般和行政費用，紀律現在是一種日常流行語。但具體到你的問題，新車庫存應該還會下降50%到70%。拉賈特，我認為布萊恩 (Bryan) 可能是最適合對英國發表評論的人。

You bet, in fact, let me just recap a little bit on the entire organization. If you remember, we've we finished $200 million in cost reduction. There's another $50 million to $70 million in interest cost savings coming from inventory. We also found another almost $50 million in personnel costs at the support functions, okay, as well as tech costs. Those will be realized in the first half of 2025 for an aggregated total of almost $320 million.

是的，事實上，讓我稍微回顧一下整個組織。如果你還記得的話，我們已經完成了 2 億美元的成本削減。庫存還可帶來另外 5,000 萬至 7,000 萬美元的利息成本節省。我們還發現支援職能方面的人員成本以及技術成本另外接近 5,000 萬美元。這些目標將於 2025 年上半年實現，總額接近 3.2 億美元。

There's another $20 million to $30 million that's in the UK. But like I said, you'll see that in the same-store sales results this coming quarter. I think most importantly, when you think about driving down SG&A, we're talking about approximately 1.5% SG&A reductions over the coming five years, okay, to drop us into that mid-50% range, okay? That's going to come through growth of top line. So it's imperative that we're able to grow our same-store sales growth and then do it in a way that it's cost efficient.

另外還有 2000 萬到 3000 萬美元在英國。但就像我說的，您會在下一季的同店銷售業績中看到這一點。我認為最重要的是，當你考慮降低銷售、一般和行政費用時，我們談論的是未來五年內銷售、一般和行政費用減少約 1.5％，好的，將我們降至 50％ 中間範圍，好嗎？這將透過營業額的成長來實現。因此，我們必須提高同店銷售額，並以最具成本效益的方式實現這一目標。

We announced the release of the Driveway portal and those 250 functions that help our team members and associates do things easier and gain productivity. That's part of it, okay? If our customers can do their work and have transparent, simple, and empowered experiences within that portal, that released some of the pressure in the service departments and the sales department as well.

我們宣布發布 Driveway 入口網站及其 250 項功能，幫助我們的團隊成員和同事更輕鬆地完成工作並提高工作效率。這是其中的一部分，好嗎？如果我們的客戶能夠在該入口網站內開展工作並獲得透明、簡單且有力的體驗，那麼服務部門和銷售部門的一些壓力也會減輕。

So it's a combination of those two elements, top line growth and disciplined reductions that are coming from the uniqueness of our ecosystem that we're going to be able to get to that mid-50% SG&A cost.

因此，這是這兩個因素的結合，即營收成長和有紀律的削減，這些都源於我們生態系統的獨特性，使我們能夠將銷售、一般和行政管理成本降低到 50% 左右。

Thanks, Rajat.

謝謝，拉賈特。

Just one follow-up. Thanks for all the colors. On parts and services, you had pretty good warranty growth as you talked about. I was still a little surprised to see just 3.5%, like revenue growth, 4.5% gross profit growth. I'm curious how do you accelerate that to the mid-single-digit guidance for the full year, we also have some easy compares from the CDK in 2Q, 3Q.

僅一個後續行動。感謝所有的色彩。在零件和服務方面，正如您所說的，您的保固成長相當不錯。我仍然對收入僅增長 3.5%、毛利僅增長 4.5% 感到有些驚訝。我很好奇您如何將其加速到全年中等個位數的指導水平，我們也對第二季和第三季的 CDK 進行了一些簡單的比較。

I would imagine could it be higher than the mid-single digits. But -- any more color you could give there on the initiatives in that business where you are, technician, ads, et cetera, that can give us some comfort in the acceleration?

我可以想像它可能會高於中等個位數。但是—您能否就您所在產業的舉措提供更多細節，例如科技、廣告等，這些舉措可以讓我們對加速發展感到放心？

Sure, Rajat. This is Bryan. I think after seeing our peers, we're not happy with 3.5%, okay, that didn't meet market, okay, which is important. The exciting thing is, I think Adam and I can bolster here and say, that we've got the challenge out there for our aftersales leaders to be able to reach higher, okay? It won't turn in months, it will turn in a few quarters.

當然，拉賈特。這是布萊恩。我認為在看到我們的同行後，我們對 3.5% 並不滿意，好吧，這沒有滿足市場需求，好吧，這很重要。令人興奮的是，我想亞當和我可以在這裡支持我們，並說，我們面臨著挑戰​​，讓我們的售後領導者能夠達到更高的水平，好嗎？它不會在幾個月內發生變化，而是在幾個季度內發生變化。

But we've established multiple things of how we can actually grow warranty and grow CP. It's not a tech issue, okay? It's more of a mindset issue from the service advisers in the organization and management that they believe that there's only so many hours there and they can find the efficiency, okay?

但我們已經確定了多種如何實際增加保固和增加 CP 的方法。這不是一個技術問題，好嗎？這更多的是組織和管理中的服務顧問的思維定勢問題，他們認為只有這麼多時間，他們可以找到效率，好嗎？

We just announced the release of what we call our Lithia & Driveway Partners Group. That was at a store manager level only, okay? That's now getting rolled out to department level managers, and that's something that's going to grow the pride for performance within our stores. That -- and that should -- that's tied directly to departmental potential exercise, which is setting a higher bar that again is establishing that there's a market there, we need to capture it.

我們剛剛宣布成立所謂的「Lithia & Driveway 合作夥伴集團」。那隻是店經理級的，好嗎？現在，這項計劃已推廣至部門級經理，這將增強我們門市的績效自豪感。這 - 這應該 - 這直接與部門的潛在活動相關，這設定了一個更高的標準，再次證明了那裡有一個市場，我們需要佔領它。

So I really look at it. We could be high single digits, low double digits, again like we were pre-COVID within the coming, I would say, three to four quarters. The marketplace is there and the optionality that we're providing through the portal or through in-home service functions should be able to take market share and grow that business.

所以我很認真地看待它。我想說，在未來三到四個季度內，我們的成長率可能會達到高個位數，也可能達到低兩位數，就像新冠疫情之前的情況一樣。市場就在那裡，我們透過門戶網站或上門服務功能提供的可選性應該能夠佔領市場份額並發展業務。

We've outrun, I would say, the regional differences in population growth, okay? There isn't really big differences any longer. So there's not a good excuse for why we were at 3.4% and others, we're pushing high single digits.

我想說，我們已經超越了人口成長的地區差異，好嗎？實際上，不再存在太大的差異了。所以，沒有理由解釋為什麼我們的成長率為 3.4%，而其他國家的成長率都達到高個位數。

So we'll get there, Rajat. Thanks for pointing that out.

所以我們會到達那裡，拉賈特。感謝您的指出。

Chris Bottiglieri, BNP Paribas.

法國巴黎銀行的克里斯·波蒂格里耶 (Chris Bottiglieri)。

I wanted to follow up on the first one on the guidance for '25 on the gross margin rate for service. It looks like you've been doing really good, like 56% grosses looks like you have that dropping for some reason next year to 52%, 55%. Is that just mix with customer pay? Or is that anything you're doing with wheels for next year? Just trying to understand why (multiple speakers)

我想跟進第一個關於25年服務毛利率的指導。看起來你的表現非常好，例如 56% 的總收入看起來明年由於某種原因會下降到 52%、55%。這只是與客戶付款混合嗎？或者您明年計劃對輪子做這些事情嗎？只是想了解為什麼（多位發言者）

Yeah, it's more of a mix between the labor part of the aftersales and the inventory part. So service versus parts. We believe that as cars become more complex, and more rip and replace that there's a bigger parts content on cars than there is a labor content.

是的，它更多的是售後人工部分和庫存部分的混合。因此，服務與零件是相對的。我們相信，隨著汽車變得越來越複雜，越來越多的拆卸和更換，汽車上的零件含量將比勞動力含量更​​大。

So you're going to generally see us lean towards margin reductions because of the bigger parts mix, okay? It's not that we got smaller business. It's purely just the mix of those. And it may end up happening slower than what we expect, but we do hedge that on the more conservative side because of the parts mix.

因此，您通常會看到我們由於零件組合較大而傾向於降低利潤率，好嗎？這並不是說我們的業務變小了。這純粹只是這些的混合。而且最終可能比我們預期的要慢，但由於零件組合的原因，我們確實採取了更保守的措施。

Got you. Okay. And then two, I just wanted to kind of get a sense for the GPU guide. If you look at the GPU guide on the used side, you did like 1,800 to 2,300 same-store guide. A pretty wide range, but you have a UK slipping into the comp base. You're exiting at 1,700 in Q4, 1,800 in Q3.

明白了。好的。其次，我只是想對 GPU 指南有個大概的了解。如果你看一下二手 GPU 指南，你會發現同店指南價格在 1,800 到 2,300 之間。範圍相當廣泛，但英國已滑入同類企業之列。您在第四季的退出價格為 1,700，在第三季的退出價格為 1,800。

So a big -- at the midpoint, it's a pretty big snapback relative to '24. Just trying to get a sense, were there like underappreciated headwinds in '25 -- I mean, '24 are like inventory write-downs? Or anything that maybe you weren't calling out that kind of gives you visibility to the snapback in '25? Or in your view, what drives that recovery into used GPU? And then I guess similarly F&I seems to have a little bit a snapback in the '25 guide?

因此，從中點來看，相對於 24 年而言，這是一個相當大的反彈。只是想了解一下，'25 年是否存在被低估的逆風——我的意思是，'24 年是否像庫存減記一樣？或者任何你沒有提到的事情，都可能讓你看到 25 年的反彈？或者您認為，是什麼推動了二手 GPU 的復甦？然後我想同樣地，F&I 似乎在 '25 指南中出現了一些反彈？

Chris, this is Bryan again. I think when it comes to the GPUs, the major factor is the UK, okay, because obviously, they're considerably lower. The other thing is in the UK F&I is much lower as well. So that has implications on that. I do believe that there's opportunity to grow our F&I and obviously, I mean we're targeting that $2,000 number.

克里斯，我又是布萊恩。我認為，就 GPU 而言，主要因素是英國，好吧，因為顯然它們的比例要低得多。另一件事是英國的財務和投資回報率也低得多。所以這對此有影響。我確實相信有機會增加我們的財務和投資，顯然我們的目標是 2,000 美元。

But as ASPs get higher, the financing amounts get higher as well. And obviously, that drives F&I profitability. So I do believe that there's some nice upside that we could also realize. And again, we try to be realistic as we can with what we see in the current marketplace.

但隨著平均售價越來越高，融資額也越來越高。顯然，這會提高財務和投資的獲利能力。因此我確實相信我們也能實現一些好的優勢。我們再次嘗試根據當前市場的情況盡可能保持現實。

Jeff Lick, Stephens.

傑夫利克、史蒂芬斯。

First question, your store count went from 467 to 459. There really wasn't any press release as kind of highlighting that. I don't recall you're talking about it. Could you elaborate on what drove -- what were those stores and why move backwards in that regard? And then also on the aftersales guidance, I was just curious, the 52%, 55%, what are the puts and takes like what would cause you to be closer to 52% versus closer to 55%?

第一個問題，您的商店數量從 467 家增加到了 459 家。確實沒有任何新聞稿來強調這一點。我不記得你談論過它。您能否詳細說明一下是什麼原因導致了這些商店的倒退？然後關於售後指導，我很好奇，52%、55%，這些利弊是什麼，什麼會導致你們更接近 52% 而不是接近 55%？

Sure. So on store count, that is purely the divestiture and closures of stores in the UK that were disclosed a year ago, okay? So those got finalized, which is great to have that a lot cleaner. In terms of the 52% to 55%, the biggest variance is typically are what happens on recalls and how much of it's parts, okay.

當然。所以就門市數量而言，這純粹是一年前披露的英國門市的剝離和關閉，好嗎？所以這些都已經最終確定了，這很好，因為一切都變得更加清晰了。就 52% 到 55% 而言，最大的差異通常在於召回時發生的情況以及其零件的數量。

So as I -- like I just went through a few minutes ago, that parts mix is why we give that range. I do believe that a 54% to 55% is probably appropriate for the near term. So you shouldn't see much -- you shouldn't see -- I wouldn't even call it margin degradation, I'd call it mix change, okay? Because remember, on parts, our profitability level is about 30%. And on labor sales in the service department, they're 65%, okay? So big difference is that purely -- that can move things pretty quickly if you have an RO that happens to be 60% parts versus 60% labor.

所以正如我幾分鐘前剛剛說過的，零件組合就是我們給出這個範圍的原因。我確實認為，短期內 54% 到 55% 的比例可能是合適的。所以你不應該看到太多——你不應該看到——我甚至不會稱之為利潤率下降，我會稱之為組合變化，好嗎？因為請記住，就零件而言，我們的獲利水準約為 30%。而服務部門的勞務銷售佔比是 65%，好嗎？所以最大的區別在於純粹——如果你的 RO 恰好 60% 是零件，而 60% 是人工，那麼事情就可以進展得相當快。

And then just a couple of quick follow-up clarifications for Adam. One was, Adam, you mentioned 55% of new -- that statistic you were referring to each 55% of the new deals come with the trade because I don't think that was -- you weren't implying to 55% of your used to source?

然後我再向亞當做幾點簡短的後續澄清。一是，亞當，您提到了 55% 的新交易——您指的這個統計數據是指每 55% 的新交易都伴隨著交易而來，因為我不認為那是——您並不是在暗示您過去所用來源的 55%？

It's the source of -- yeah, it's a great question, Jeff. It's a -- it's the source of our used cars. So 55% are sourced from customer trade-ins. People have bought a new car trade and we try and sell.

這是根源——是的，這是一個很好的問題，傑夫。它是——它是我們的二手車的來源。因此，55% 來自於客戶以舊換新。人們買了一輛新車，我們盡力銷售。

Here's our breakdown 55% trade-in, 1% buying them off the service drive, 4% lease, 8% private party, and 2% through Driveway for a total of 70% that comes from the consumers, okay? The rest is service loaners, dealer -- from other dealers, wholesalers, rental companies, and auctions.

我們的細分如下：55% 以舊換新，1% 從服務車道購買，4% 租賃，8% 私人聚會，2% 透過 Driveway，總共 70% 來自消費者，好嗎？其餘的是服務借出者、經銷商——來自其他經銷商、批發商、租賃公司和拍賣。

And then one last quick one. When you mentioned, Adam, that the SG&A benefits were fully realized. You were referring to just this quarter. You still have a couple more quarters to go where you're going to be running 50-plus group?

最後再簡單說一下。亞當，您提到銷售、一般及行政開支的收益已完全實現。您指的只是本季。在接下來的幾個季度裡，您還將帶領 50 多人的團隊嗎？

Yeah. Great question. I think Bryan talked about that. For the quarter, the realized, we still see opportunity in inventory floor plan as I talked about $50 million, $70 million. And then as we grow top-line revenue and growth, we see an opportunity, as Bryan said, to decrease sequentially across the coming years.

是的。好問題。我認為布萊恩談論過這個。就本季而言，我們仍然看到庫存平面圖中的機會，正如我所說的，約為 5,000 萬美元、7,000 萬美元。然後，隨著我們的營業收入和成長率的成長，我們看到了未來幾年連續下降的機會，正如布萊恩所說的。

Awesome. Congrats on a great quarter and give my best to [Sim].

驚人的。恭喜你度過了一個美好的季度，並盡我所能[模擬]。

John Murphy, Bank of America.

美國銀行的約翰‧墨菲。

Without the exact data in front of me, but I think it's fair to make a statement that you guys have been one of the -- or the biggest acquirer in the last few years, in the market. And the statement that you're making now that multiples are a little bit on the high side currently and that your stock is a little bit more attractive is a pretty big statement for the entire market.

儘管我面前沒有確切的數據，但我認為可以公平地說，你們是過去幾年市場上最大的收購者之一。您現在所說的本益比目前有點偏高，而您的股票更有吸引力，對於整個市場來說，這是一個相當大的聲明。

So Bryan, I was just curious what too high means? I mean you mentioned 15% to 30% of sales or 3 to 6 times EBITDA. Do you think the market -- how rich do you think the market is right now? And how do you think it gets normalized, hopefully, over the coming quarters?

所以布萊恩，我只是好奇太高代表什麼？我的意思是你提到的銷售額的 15% 到 30% 或 EBITDA 的 3 到 6 倍。您認為市場－您認為現在的市場有多豐富？您認為未來幾季它會如何正常化？

Great question, John. I think you probably heard some confidence in my voice 90 days ago on the call that we thought things were softening a little bit in pricing. And I guess I'm sitting here with a little bit different perspective that there's been some pretty high prices paid for transactions.

很好的問題，約翰。我想您可能在 90 天前的電話會議中聽到了我的自信聲音，當時我認為價格情況正在有所緩和。我想我在這裡的觀點有點不同，那就是交易的代價相當高昂。

And we're -- the difficulty of what we're seeing, John, is that when you're talking about us buying at a 3 to 6 times normalized earnings multiple, you've got two factors happening, though there's high multiples of 6 to 10 times in many places in the country still because there is still a lot of cash out there. And then you add another 15 -- depending on manufacturers, I should say, another 15 to double the earnings levels on a three-year look back you start to get into multiples and returns that are low to mid-single digits that it just doesn't make sense for us.

約翰，我們看到的困難是，當你談到我們以 3 到 6 倍的標準市盈率購買時，有兩個因素在起作用，儘管全國許多地方的本益比仍然高達 6 到 10 倍，因為市場上仍然有大量現金。然後再添加 15 — — 取決於製造商，我應該說，再添加 15 來使三年後的收益水平翻一番，您就會開始獲得倍數和回報率，這些回報率是低到中等個位數，這對我們來說毫無意義。

And when we sit and trade at a forward-looking multiple of somewhere around high single digits, low double digits, it just doesn't make any sense for us to do that when we know that our ecosystem is built. We know that the $15 million that we made in DFC is going to be $50 million to $60 million this year, and we know that long term, it's $500 million at a 20% penetration rate.

當我們坐下來以大約高個位數或低兩位數的前瞻性倍數進行交易時，當我們知道我們的生態系統已經建立時，我們這樣做根本就沒有任何意義。我們知道，我們在 DFC 賺取的 1500 萬美元今年將會變成 5000 萬到 6000 萬美元，而且我們知道，從長遠來看，如果滲透率為 20%，這個數字將會達到 5 億美元。

So these are things that we're not even realizing in our own earnings potential. So why would we just not buy our shares back. And that's where we are actually in a nice position that we're generating lots of capital that when the market turns acquisition wise, then we can turn our attentions back to that.

所以，這些都是我們自己都沒有意識到的獲利潛力。那我們為什麼不回購我們的股票呢？現在我們處於一個很好的位置，我們正在創造大量的資本，當市場轉向收購時，我們可以將注意力重新轉向資本。

I do believe it's probably still a few quarters away. I think we can probably hit $2 billion in total revenue for the year, okay? But -- and again, that's going to be in the United States, 90% of it, okay? But we have to pick and choose those opportunities of stores that really haven't realized the profit potential that we're able to find for that 3 to 6 times normalized earnings, which is where we're really going to be sitting.

我確實相信這可能還需要幾個季度的時間。我認為我們今年的總收入可能可以達到 20 億美元，好嗎？但是——我再說一遍，其中 90% 都在美國，好嗎？但我們必須挑選那些還沒有真正實現獲利潛力的商店的機會，我們能夠找到3到6倍正常收益的機會，這才是我們真正的處境。

So, it may take another few years for it truly to normalize because people have made a lot more money than what they typically had. And that's something that we try to tell them. You already got that money we're not going to pay twice for something when your earnings are normalized. So we typically do ask for financial statements for the last few months and then try to look at the trajectory and explain that to them and hold their hands through it so they can still monetize.

因此，可能還需要幾年時間才能真正恢復正常，因為人們賺的錢比平常多得多。這正是我們試圖告訴他們的事情。當您的收入恢復正常時，您已經得到了這筆錢，我們不會為某件事付兩次錢。因此，我們通常會要求過去幾個月的財務報表，然後嘗試查看發展軌跡，並向他們解釋，並指導他們，以便他們仍然可以賺錢。

The important thing to remember that is Lithia, we have done about half of the transactions over the last decade and a half that have been done by public companies, okay? And we are sitting there as a buyer that has closed every single one of those transactions other than 2, okay? So over our 3 decades of purchasing, we've only had 2 transactions out of almost 600 transactions, that fell apart, okay? That's not typical in the industry. Typically, about 4 out of 10 transactions get completed even once they are contractually committed, meaning that 6 fall out of 10.

要記住的重要一點是，Lithia，在過去十五年裡，我們完成的交易中有大約一半都是由上市公司完成的，好嗎？而我們身為買家，已經完成了除 2 筆交易之外的所有交易，好嗎？所以，在我們 30 年的採購生涯中，近 600 筆交易中只有 2 筆失敗了，好嗎？這在業界並不常見。通常情況下，即使簽訂了合同，10 筆交易中只有 4 筆能夠完成，這意味著 10 筆交易中會有 6 筆失敗。

That's helpful. And just one follow-up on one of the other comments you made. You said 95% success rate, which indicates 5% don't work out as well as expected. Does that mean that those stores eventually falling into divestiture? Or are the stores that get closed or fixed?

這很有幫助。我只想對您提出的其他評論之一進行一次跟進。你說的成功率為 95%，這意味著 5% 的效果不如預期。這是否意味著這些商店最終將被剝離？還是關閉或修復的商店？

You nailed it. In the US, we haven't really had to close stores and in the UK, we did because they were just so microscopic in size. But in that 95%, what makes up to 5%. Typically, what makes up the 5% is us not missing a target on an acquisition. It's us buying a group that may have had one or two underperforming stores in it. And then it's just a matter of trying it for six to nine months. And if it doesn't meet our thresholds, then we typically divest it.

你成功了。在美國，我們實際上並沒有關閉商店，而在英國，我們關閉了商店，因為它們的規模太小了。但在那 95% 裡，又有多少是 5% 呢？通常來說，這 5% 表示我們在收購中沒有錯過目標。我們收購的是一個集團，其中可能有一兩家業績不佳的店。接下來就是嘗試六到九個月的時間了。如果它不符合我們的門檻，那麼我們通常會將其剝離。

Got it. And then just one last quick question on the outlook. When you're talking about the front-end growth of $4,100, $4,300, you kind of mentioned there might be some downside in a new GPU. But it sounds like the -- you're pretty comfortable with the other two components there being used in F&I. As we think about that front-end gross going forward, which is the most important number out of those four there because you're working a deal.

知道了。最後再問一個關於前景的簡短問題。當您談到 4,100 美元、4,300 美元的前端增長時，您提到了新的 GPU 可能會存在一些缺點。但聽起來——您對 F&I 中使用的其他兩個組件非常滿意。當我們考慮未來的前端毛利時，這是這四個數字中最重要的一個，因為你正在達成交易。

Do you think that's going to settle in closer to $4,000 plus or minus? I mean we -- I mean, because that's really the number you run the business on. So what's the upside downside on that in the range you think is normal?

您認為這個數字會接近 4,000 美元左右嗎？我的意思是我們——我的意思是，因為這實際上是你經營業務的數字。那麼，您認為在正常範圍內，上行和下行的幅度分別是多少？

Yeah. John, that's a great question. And I think I'm going to answer this from a Lithia and Driveway standpoint, not from an industry standpoint because it's imperative to remember that Lithia pre-COVID had a lot of its business in the Western states and a lot of small stores that didn't generate GPU, okay?

是的。約翰，這個問題問得很好。我認為我將從 Lithia 和 Driveway 的角度來回答這個問題，而不是從行業的角度，因為必須記住，在 COVID 之前，Lithia 的很多業務都在西部各州，而且很多小商店沒有產生 GPU，好嗎？

So we not only purchased a lot of luxury stores and doubled our mix percentage of luxury, we also purchased stores in the Southeast and South Central that have about $1,000 higher GPUs than the rest of the country. So our lift in GPUs is different than what the industry's lift is. So we're not looking at what the industry is doing. We're looking at what we're doing when we say $4,200 to $4,500, okay?

因此，我們不僅收購了大量奢侈品商店，並將奢侈品的混合百分比增加了一倍，我們還收購了東南部和中南部的商店，這些商店的 GPU 比全國其他地區高出約 1,000 美元。因此，我們的 GPU 提升與業界的提升不同。因此我們不會關注該行業在做什麼。當我們說 4,200 美元到 4,500 美元時，我們正在看我們在做什麼，好嗎？

Now where does the variation come from. We believe that we've already troughed on used, and there's a lot of upside on used vehicle GPU that should come back over time, okay? So in our modeling, we're assuming that there's $200 to $400 of improvement in front-end gross profit on used vehicles that will offset some of the reductions in new vehicles because we are still sitting at about $1,000 higher as an industry.

那麼變化從何而來？我們相信我們已經觸底了，二手車 GPU 還有很大的上升空間，隨著時間的推移應該會回升，好嗎？因此，在我們的模型中，我們假設二手車的前端毛利將提高 200 至 400 美元，這將抵消新車的部分減少，因為我們這個行業的毛利仍然高出約 1,000 美元。

We think because of our mix, we're only sitting about $500 to $600 higher, okay? And then, obviously, add back in the F&I lift of another couple of hundred dollars and you get to the $4200 to $4500.

我們認為，由於我們的組合，我們的價格只高出約 500 至 600 美元，好嗎？然後，顯然再加上另外幾百美元的 F&I 增額，您將獲得 4200 到 4500 美元。

And that you think the normalized range for you probably over time? We'll see how the market -- that's the target (inaudible)?

您認為隨著時間的推移，您的正常範圍可能會恢復嗎？我們將觀察市場狀況—這是目標（聽不清楚）？

Based on our new footprint and growing footprint, okay? So the mix and the footprint are the main reasons why we move from $3,700, which was our pre-COVID level to almost $500 to $800 higher, okay? Remember, in F&I too, we typically had grown F&I about $60 to $70. It's been five years, that's $300, okay, that you can apply to it. So there's not a big lift here.

根據我們的新足跡和不斷成長的足跡，好嗎？因此，組合和足跡是我們從 3,700 美元（即 COVID 之前的水平）上漲至近 500 至 800 美元的主要原因，好嗎？請記住，在財務與投資方面，我們通常也會將財務與投資成長至 60 至 70 美元左右。已經五年了，那是 300 美元，好的，你可以申請它。因此，這裡的升力不大。

It's truly -- we are at the point that our goal as leaders is to be able to change the mindset of our department and our store leaders, okay? And I think this idea of performance through people we've got to help paint a picture for our store leaders, how do they find their next gear because I think we're all in this red that believes that the market still may be a little soft, we know it's not okay, that SAAR is going to return and GPUs are still quite strong, especially with upside in the used vehicle area. And obviously, F&I is always there to be commanded and to be captured through better people and better performance.

確實——作為領導者，我們的目標是能夠改變我們部門和商店領導者的思維方式，好嗎？我認為，透過人們的表現這一想法，我們必須幫助為我們的商店領導者描繪一幅圖景，他們如何找到他們的下一個檔位，因為我認為我們都處於這種虧損狀態，相信市場可能仍然有點疲軟，我們知道這不好，SAAR 將會回歸，GPU 仍然相當強勁，特別是在二手車領域的上行空間。顯然，F&I 總是可以透過更優秀的人才和更優異的表現來掌控和實現。

That's great. And thanks for saying 18 million units in the next couple of years because that's what our forecast is and are things were way too high. But I'm certainly at the same mindset. I think we're going to get there in '27, '28 --

那太棒了。感謝您說未來幾年將銷售 1800 萬台，因為這是我們的預測，但實際數字太高了。但我肯定也是這麼想的。我認為我們將在 27、28 年實現這一目標——

All right. We have to hit when that happens, okay. Hopefully, it's within the next four or five quarters.

好的。當這種情況發生時，我們必須打擊，好吧。希望能夠在未來四到五個季度內實現。

We'll see that. Thank you.

我們將會看到這一點。謝謝。

All right, John. Take it easy.

好的，約翰。別緊張。

Colin Langan, Wells Fargo.

富國銀行的科林·蘭根。

Just wanted -- I'm not sure if I missed this in your commentary, new GPUs were down sequentially, others that have reported have been flat to up. Any explanation of sort of the relative performance being different? Is that just a UK factor driving some of that? Or why not seeing that seasonal help that others have seen?

只是想——我不確定我是否錯過了你的評論，新的 GPU 數量連續下降，而其他報告的數量則持平或上升。對於相對錶現的差異有什麼解釋嗎？這僅僅是英國因素造成的嗎？或者為什麼沒有看到其他人看到的季節性幫助？

It could be a little bit of GPU, Colin, but I think it might be mix differences of manufacturers. But you know what, I'll own it, Adam will own it. It's us, okay? There's opportunities, and we've got to get out of our mind that somehow the market is soft when the market is quite robust, okay?

這可能是 GPU 的一點原因，Colin，但我認為這可能是製造商的混合差異。但你知道嗎，我會擁有它，亞當也會擁有它。就是我們，好嗎？機會是存在的，我們必須擺脫這樣的想法：當市場相當強勁時，市場就會變得疲軟，好嗎？

So that's just something that I think after reflecting on the peers, it gives us upside as the largest retailer in the world that you know what, if we can figure that out and we can change the mindset of our people and inspire them to find the next year and we're going to be able to exceed.

所以，在反思了同行之後，我認為，作為世界上最大的零售商，這給我們帶來了優勢，如果我們能夠解決這個問題，並且能夠改變員工的心態，激勵他們尋找明年的成功，那麼我們一定能夠超越。

So I don't want to really assign a reason, but I would say that, that's -- it's probably more us than anything else, and let's own that and move forward and capture that.

所以我並不想真正找出原因，但我想說，這可能比其他任何事情都更關係到我們自己，讓我們擁有它、繼續前進並抓住它。

Okay. Right. And then I just wanted to follow up on a prior question. I think it was asked about the 2025 outlook on used in F&I. And I mean if I look at consolidated, which is going to be the same-store base, you're at like [$1,700] unused in Q4 and the guide is [$1,800 to $2,100], prior answer sounded to sort of explain why it would be down, but the guidance would imply that improves.

好的。正確的。然後我只是想跟進一下之前的問題。我認為這是針對 2025 年 F&I 使用前景的問題。我的意思是，如果我看合併數據，也就是同店基數，第四季度未使用的金額為 [1,700 美元]，而指引為 [1,800 美元至 2,100 美元]，之前的答案似乎解釋了為什麼會下降，但指引暗示情況會有所改善。

So just trying to make sure I understand what is driving used in F&I because even at the midpoint on F&I would be better. What is driving it better, is that at least the Q4 rate that we're looking at currently?

因此，只是想確保我理解 F&I 中使用的駕駛是什麼，因為即使在 F&I 的中間點也會更好。推動其向好發展的因素是什麼？

So really quickly on F&I, it's truly people performance, okay? It's managing the performance of the people.

那麼，關於財務與投資，這確實是人們的表現，好嗎？它管理的是人們的表現。

When it comes to the used car market, Colin, we do have seasonality in used vehicles on GPUs. And as we all know, it's been quite volatile over the last few years that have been driven off of the inventory demand or lack of demand on supply of new vehicles. So I really believe that, that's going to normalize.

科林，談到二手車市場，GPU 上的二手車確實具有季節性。眾所周知，過去幾年，市場波動很大，主要是由於庫存需求或新車供應不足。所以我真的相信這將會正常化。

We've got Q2, Q3 coming, which usually means strengthening of used cars. And I believe that we've got a lot of opportunity internally to be able to improve and find scarce vehicles and effectively use our AI and our reporting tools to look at price to market and cost to market to be able to grow our performance. And that's really where our opportunities lie.

我們即將迎來第二、第三季度，這通常意味著二手車的走強。我相信，我們內部有很多機會可以改進和找到稀缺的車輛，並有效地利用我們的人工智慧和報告工具來查看市場價格和市場成本，從而提高我們的表現。這正是我們的機會所在。

And why we believe [$1,700] isn't an appropriate level on a normalized basis. I think that's a depressed level still that's troughed out now for almost, what, six, eight quarters, okay? And it's time to capture the opportunity that's there and respect that we've got the scarcest cars in the country, and they should command more money and let the world see those through Driveway and GreenCars. And find those 50x more customers to help drive price to market up.

這就是我們認為為什麼 [1,700 美元] 不是一個合適的正常水平。我認為這仍然處於低迷狀態，已經持續了差不多六個或八個季度了，好嗎？現在是時候抓住機會並尊重我們擁有的全國最稀缺的汽車，它們應該賣出更多的錢，並讓全世界透過 Driveway 和 GreenCars 看到它們。並找到這 50 倍以上的客戶來幫助推動市場價格上漲。

Ron Josey, Citi.

花旗銀行的 Ron Josey。

Bryan, I wanted to ask just a little bit more about the online approach that you all have. I know we pulled back some in '24. So any insights on the vision here would be helpful in terms of how you're thinking online can grow, particularly from a used perspective, just given the importance of used with trade with profitability after service. And then do you think we'll get to online growing as a channel here in '25? Or is that more of a '26 and beyond?

布萊恩，我想再問一些關於你們的線上方法的問題。我知道我們在 24 年撤回了一些。因此，對於您如何看待線上成長，特別是從二手角度來看，對此願景的任何見解都會有所幫助，因為考慮到二手交易和服務後的盈利能力的重要性。那麼，您認為到 25 年，我們將實現線上成長嗎？或者這更像是 26 年及以後的事？

Thanks, Ron, and it's a big part of our ecosystem of how we thought about the design and that idea that you have the potential of 50 times more customers. I think what we've done is we've relaxed the pushing of our physical network to actively involved. If they don't get it, they're going to fall behind because our internal and our external approaches to our online business are growing, okay? We're quite excited to see what's happening in GreenCars and Driveway. It is an integrated model that is integrated now fully into the stores.

謝謝，羅恩，這是我們生態系統的重要組成部分，體現了我們對設計的思考，以及你有潛力吸引 50 倍以上的客戶的想法。我認為我們所做的是放鬆了對實體網路的推動，轉而積極參與。如果他們不明白這一點，他們就會落後，因為我們對線上業務的內部和外部方法都在成長，好嗎？我們非常高興看到 GreenCars 和 Driveway 的發展。這是一種整合模型，現已完全整合到商店中。

We developed some new reporting on what we call ecosystem effectiveness. It includes some loyalty metrics in sales and service. It includes some online functionality. It includes now the myDriveway portal, okay, and this idea that customers are going to be able to now easily access our online services.

我們就所謂的生態係有效性制定了一些新的報告。它包括銷售和服務中的一些忠誠度指標。它包括一些在線功能。現在它包括 myDriveway 門戶，好的，這個想法是客戶現在能夠輕鬆訪問我們的線上服務。

And we didn't talk a lot about the myDriveway portal, but we're going to be dumping almost 70,000 customers into that portal come March, which are all of our DSC customer base. So they're going to be making all payments through there. They're going to be doing all payoffs through there. They can get their valuations through there.

我們並沒有談論太多關於 myDriveway 入口網站的事情，但到 3 月份，我們將向該入口網站注入近 70,000 名客戶，他們都是我們的 DSC 客戶群。所以他們將通過那裡進行所有付款。他們將通過那裡進行所有的還款。他們可以透過那裡獲得估值。

Customers can already book service appointments. They can attach themselves to any store through there. They can have different cars attached to different stores. It's quite functional, and it's really empowering. So we really believe that the snowball effect that will occur from the myDriveway portal will help integrate everything together to make those customers experiences more seamless.

客戶已經可以預約服務。他們可以通過那裡進入任何商店。他們可以將不同的車輛連接到不同的商店。它非常實用，而且確實能增強能力。因此，我們確實相信，myDriveway 入口網站產生的滾雪球效應將有助於將一切整合在一起，為客戶提供更無縫的體驗。

We are targeting some pretty good lift in Driveway and GreenCars this year to the tune of about 50% lift, okay? And we're starting to see that in the early part of the year through just figuring out efficiencies and again, managing performance through people to be able to really improve.

我們今年的目標是讓 Driveway 和 GreenCars 的銷售量達到相當好的提升，大概是 50% 的提升，好嗎？我們在年初就開始看到這一點，透過弄清楚效率，並再次透過人員管理績效能夠真正改善。

We've also changed compensation plans within our e-commerce businesses to help motivate people to do more with less, okay? We're also looking at how do we align our stores compensation plans with the ideas of loyalty, potential, and growth, okay? And those are things that over the next coming years, we'll be working on with new departmental leaders and new store leaders as they come into the organization to align that top-line growth as well and make sure that it follows through with SG&A cost improvements.

我們也改變了電子商務業務中的薪酬計劃，以激勵人們用更少的資源做更多的事情，好嗎？我們也正在研究如何使我們的商店薪酬計劃與忠誠度、潛力和成長的理念保持一致，好嗎？這些都是未來幾年內我們將與新部門領導和新店鋪領導一起努力的事情，當他們加入組織時，我們將協調營收成長並確保其與銷售、一般和行政費用 (SG&A) 成本的改善相一致。

So hopefully, that gives you a little bit of color, Ron, on where we sit on the online approach, but we're pretty excited of reaching this point where the ecosystem is built. Now it's a matter of leveraging it.

所以，羅恩，希望這能讓你稍微了解我們在線上的做法，但我們對生態系統的建立感到非常興奮。現在的問題是如何利用它。

David Whiston, Morningstar.

晨星公司的戴維‧惠斯頓 (David Whiston)。

Bryan, you've talked a couple of times about a mindset change being needed such as warranty crowding out customer pay and having customer pay underperform, like -- can you be a little more specific as to what you mean by that? Like what actual action items do you want to see happen to have this change take place?

布萊恩，您曾多次談到需要改變思維方式，例如保固擠佔了客戶付款以及客戶付款表現不佳，例如 - 您能更具體地解釋一下這是什麼意思嗎？例如，您希望看到哪些實際行動來實現這項改變？

I think it starts with believing in your North Star, which is potential, okay? We went through a potential exercise in November and December. And there's a lot of low bars being established when there's units and operations in those stores.

我認為這一切始於相信你的北極星，這是潛力，好嗎？我們在十一月和十二月進行了一次潛在的演習。當這些商店有單位並進行營運時，就會設立許多低門檻。

So that's -- when I talk about mindset change, it's our RVPs, our group leaders and our regional presidents sitting down with general managers and departmental managers and diagnosing where the opportunities lie and building plans fundamentally how to take the actions to capture that market share. It's as smaller things as in aftersales what is my percentage of vehicles that are Driveway repair, meaning I'm repairing a car in someone's driveway.

所以，當我談到思維轉變時，就是我們的區域副總裁、集團領導和地區總裁與總經理和部門經理坐在一起，診斷機會所在，並從根本上製定計劃，如何採取行動來佔領市場份額。這是一些很小的事情，例如在售後服務中，我需要車道維修的車輛佔比是多少，這意味著我在別人的車道上修理汽車。

Or it's Driveway pickup, meaning, I'm picking up the car from someone's driveway, and I'm taking it back to the store in fixing it. If they're not involved with those things, they're not involved with automotive service retail today because there's not an optionality.

或者是車道取車，意思是，我從某人的車道上取車，然後把它帶回商店修理。如果他們不參與這些事情，他們今天就不會參與汽車服務零售，因為沒有可選性。

And David, there's probably 30 things in each of the key departments that need to be done, but it starts with that ability to engage leaders to see things that they're not seeing today, okay? We have something that we call store visits. You obviously know about our store performance scorecards that lays out the foundation to what is high performance look like.

戴維，每個關鍵部門可能都有 30 件事要做，但首先要讓領導者發現他們今天沒有發現的東西，好嗎？我們有一種東西叫做「商店訪問」。您顯然了解我們的商店績效記分卡，它為高績效奠定了基礎。

Underpinning all of that, our second-tier reports that get into the details of these in-store visits that are pointing those leaders towards that. The mindset that we need to change above the store is if there's not movement within 60 to 90 days of doing that sit down, then that person that's in that departmental role or that store role, they don't believe, which means we need to be looking for a way to change their mind again or exit them from that leadership position.

在所有這些的基礎之上，我們的第二層報告深入介紹了這些店內訪問的詳細信息，並為領導者提供了指導。我們需要在商店層面改變的思維模式是，如果在坐下來談後的 60 到 90 天內沒有任何動靜，那麼擔任該部門職務或該商店職務的人就不會相信，這意味著我們需要尋找一種方法來再次改變他們的想法或讓他們退出領導職位。

That may mean that they can find another position in the company, but there's been way too soft of management when -- and lip service coming from the stores, if the performance isn't getting changed quickly, it's never going to get changed. 60 to 90 days is our new mantra, okay? It was that way five to seven years ago. It's that way again. And I know Adam and the RPs and RVPs believe in that strategy, they've just got to go execute on it again, okay?

這可能意味著他們可以在公司找到另一個職位，但是管理太過鬆懈——而且來自商店的口頭承諾，如果業績不能迅速改變，就永遠不會改變。 60 到 90 天是我們的新口號，好嗎？五到七年前就是這樣的。又是這樣。我知道亞當、RP 和 RVP 都相信這個策略，他們只需要再次執行它，好嗎？

And our store leaders need to understand that change management is a mindset. It's about helping people see things that they can't see on their own. It's about shifting them into the next gear and helping them find that gear and then looking towards that next gear on top of that to be able to continuously improve in our organization.

我們的商店領導者需要明白，變革管理是一種思考方式。它旨在幫助人們看到他們自己看不到的事物。這是為了將他們轉換到下一個檔位，並幫助他們找到這個檔位，然後在此基礎上展望下一個檔位，以便能夠不斷改進我們的組織。

Hopefully, that gives you some insights, David. If you want to take it offline, we can sure talk to you about it at a departmental level and what the key drivers are that we'll be working on.

希望這能帶給你一些啟發，大衛。如果您想將其離線，我們當然可以在部門層級與您討論此事，並討論我們將要研究的關鍵驅動因素是什麼。

I really appreciate you fleshing it out. That's helpful. Just to be clear then, you're not really short tax and short service base.

我真的很感謝你能充實它。這很有幫助。需要明確的是，你其實並不是缺乏稅收和服務基礎。

No. I mean that's more of a symptom in some locations, but it is not the effect, okay? It's -- we don't have the ability to have tech shortages because we grow tech internally. Yeah, and maybe taxes, there are some soft spots still. But outside that, that's not the reason. It is truly a mindset of the people in the stores that believe that they can't do more with less, and they can, okay? They can do more with less. We've just got to help them see it.

不。我的意思是，在某些地方這更像是一種症狀，但不是效果，好嗎？因為我們內部開發技術，所以我們不會有技術短缺的情況。是的，也許還有稅收，仍然存在一些薄弱之處。但除此之外，這不是原因。這確實是一種商店員工的心態，他們相信用更少的資源無法做更多的事情，但他們可以，好嗎？他們可以用更少的錢做更多的事情。我們只是要幫助他們認識這一點。

Mr. DeBoer, we have no further questions at this time. I'd like to turn the floor back over to you for closing comments.

德波爾先生，我們目前沒有其他問題。我想把發言權交還給您，請您發表最後評論。

Well, thanks, Christine. Thank you, everyone, for joining us today. We look forward to seeing you on the Lithia Driveway first quarter call in April. All the best. Thanks, everyone, for joining us.

好吧，謝謝你，克里斯汀。感謝大家今天的參與。我們期待在四月份的 Lithia Driveway 第一季電話會議上見到您。一切順利。感謝大家加入我們。

Ladies and gentlemen, this does conclude today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation and have a wonderful day.

女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。現在您可以斷開您的線路。感謝您的參與並祝您有美好的一天。