Penske Automotive Group Inc (PAG) 2024 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon. Welcome to the Penske Automotive Group fourth-quarter 2024 earnings conference call. Today's call is being recorded and will be available for replay approximately one hour after completion through February 20, 2025, on the company's website under the Investors tab at www.penskeautomotive.com.

午安.歡迎參加 Penske Automotive Group 2024 年第四季財報電話會議。今天的電話會議正在錄音，並將在結束後約一小時至 2025 年 2 月 20 日期間在公司網站 www.penskeautomotive.com 的「投資者」標籤下提供重播。

I will now introduce Tony Pordon, the company's Executive Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Development. Sir, please go ahead.

現在我將介紹公司投資者關係和企業發展執行副總裁 Tony Pordon。先生，請說。

Thank you, Julianne. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. A press release detailing Penske Automotive Group's Fourth Quarter 2024 financial results was issued this morning and is posted on our website, along with a presentation designed to assist you in understanding the company's results. As always, I'm available by e-mail or phone for any follow-up questions you may have.

謝謝你，茱麗安。大家下午好，感謝大家今天的參與。今天早上發布了一份新聞稿，詳細介紹了 Penske Automotive Group 2024 年第四季度的財務業績，並發佈在我們的網站上，同時發布了一份旨在幫助您了解公司業績的簡報。像往常一樣，我可以透過電子郵件或電話解答您的任何後續問題。

Joining me for today's call are Roger Penske, our Chair; Shelley Hulgrave, EVP and Chief Financial Officer; Rich Shearing, North American Operations; Randall Seymore, International Operations; and Tony Facione, who's our Vice President and Corporate Controller.

參加今天電話會議的還有我們的主席 Roger Penske； Shelley Hulgrave，執行副總裁兼財務長； Rich Shearing，北美業務；蘭德爾·西摩（Randall Seymore），國際營運部；以及我們的副總裁兼公司財務總監 Tony Facione。

Our discussion today may include forward-looking statements about our operations, earnings potential, outlook, acquisitions, future events, growth plans, liquidity and assessment of business conditions. We may also discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures such as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA and our leverage ratio. We are prominently presented the comparable GAAP measures and have reconciled the non-GAAP measures to their most directly comparable GAAP measures in this morning's press release and investor presentation, both of which are available on our website. Our future results may vary from our expected because of risks and uncertainties outlined in today's press release under forward-looking statements. I'd also direct you to our SEC filings including our Form 10-K and previously filed Form 10-Qs for additional discussion and factors that could cause future events to differ materially from expectations.

我們今天的討論可能包括關於我們的營運、獲利潛力、前景、收購、未來事件、成長計劃、流動性和商業狀況評估的前瞻性陳述。我們也可能討論某些非 GAAP 財務指標，例如息稅折舊攤提前利潤 (EBITDA) 和我們的槓桿率。我們在今天早上的新聞稿和投資者報告中突出介紹了可比較的 GAAP 指標，並將非 GAAP 指標與最直接可比較的 GAAP 指標進行了協調，這兩項內容均可在我們的網站上查閱。由於今天的新聞稿中前瞻性陳述中概述的風險和不確定性，我們未來的結果可能與我們的預期有所不同。我也會引導您參閱我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件，包括我們的 10-K 表和先前提交的 10-Q 表，以便進一步討論並了解可能導致未來事件與預期存在重大差異的因素。

At this time, I would now like to turn the call over to Roger Penske.

現在，我想將電話轉給羅傑·彭斯克 (Roger Penske)。

Thank you, Tony. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. I'd like to begin by thanking each of our team members for their hard work and commitment to exceeding expectations through their efforts at PAG and delivered a strong fourth quarter and another outstanding year of profitability.

謝謝你，托尼。大家下午好，感謝大家今天的參與。首先，我要感謝我們團隊的每一位成員，感謝他們的辛勤工作和承諾，感謝他們在 PAG 的努力下超越預期，帶來了強勁的第四季度和又一個出色的盈利年度。

During 2024, PAG delivered 491,000 new and used vehicles and over 20,500 new and used commercial trucks. We increased our revenue by 3% to $30.5 billion. We generated $1.24 billion in earnings before taxes, $919 million of net income and earnings per share of $13.74. We continue to grow our business by completing acquisitions of $2.1 billion, the expected annualized revenue including expanding automotive operations in the US and UK entering the retail automotive market in Australia with three Porsche dealerships and adding a strategic commercial truck location in Wisconsin.

2024 年，PAG 交付了 491,000 輛新車和二手車以及超過 20,500 輛新車和二手商用卡車。我們的營收成長了 3%，達到 305 億美元。我們的稅前利潤為 12.4 億美元，淨收入為 9.19 億美元，每股收益為 13.74 美元。我們繼續透過完成 21 億美元的收購來發展我們的業務，預期年收入包括擴大在美國和英國的汽車業務，透過三家保時捷經銷店進入澳洲零售汽車市場，以及在威斯康辛州增加一個戰略性商用卡車地點。

In our press release this morning, we announced the 17th consecutive increase in our quarterly dividend. The increase was $0.03 per share to $1.22 per share. Since the end of '23, we have increased our dividend by 54%. We maintained strong balance sheet and debt capitalization with ratios of 26.2 and leverage of 1.2 times.

在今天上午的新聞稿中，我們宣布連續第 17 次增加季度股息。每股增加 0.03 美元至每股 1.22 美元。自23年底以來，我們的股利已增加了54%。我們維持了強勁的資產負債表和債務資本化，比率為 26.2，槓桿率為 1.2 倍。

Now let's turn our attention to the later quarter results. I'm very pleased with the financial performance during the quarter. Revenue increased 6% to a record $7.7 billion. New and used automotive gross profit per unit retail remained strong, and overall gross margin was 16.3%, representing the sixth consecutive quarter of consistent gross margin. Our efforts to control costs drove a 70 basis point reduction when selling, general, and administrative expenses as a percentage of gross profit when compared to the fourth quarter last year, and a 90 basis points improvement sequentially when compared to the third quarter of 2024.

現在讓我們把注意力轉向後一季的業績。我對本季的財務表現非常滿意。營收成長 6%，達到創紀錄的 77 億美元。新車和二手車每單位零售毛利率保持強勁，整體毛利率為16.3%，連續六季維持穩定的毛利率。我們為控製成本所做的努力使得銷售、一般及行政開支佔毛利的百分比與去年第四季度相比減少了 70 個基點，與 2024 年第三季度相比環比提高了 90 個基點。

In the fourth quarter of 2024, PAG generated $315 million in income before taxes, $236 million in net income and income per share of $3.54. Income before taxes increased 23%, net income grew 24%, and earnings per share increased 25%. On an adjusted basis, income before taxes increased 6% and income grew by 2% and earnings per share increased by 3% when compared to last year.

2024年第四季，PAG的稅前收入為3.15億美元，淨收入為2.36億美元，每股盈餘為3.54美元。稅前收入成長23%，淨收入成長24%，每股收益成長25%。經過調整後，與去年相比，稅前收入成長了 6%，收入成長了 2%，每股盈餘成長了 3%。

Looking at our retail auto business, we delivered 120,530 units during the quarter, up nearly 3%. Our same-store units were flat, new units delivered increased 11%. Average new vehicle transaction price increased 5% to $60,288, gross profit per new vehicle retail remained strong at $5,146 and increased sequentially by $74 from the third quarter of 2024 and remain nearly 2,000 higher in 2019. Used units declined 6%. Gross profit per vehicle retail increased $349 quarter-over-quarter.

縱觀我們的零售汽車業務，我們在本季度交付了 120,530 輛，成長近 3%。我們的同店單位數持平，新交貨單位數增加了 11%。平均新車交易價格上漲 5% 至 60,288 美元，每輛新車零售毛利保持強勁，為 5,146 美元，環比 2024 年第三季增加 74 美元，與 2019 年相比仍高出近 2,000 美元。二手單位數量下降了 6%。每輛車零售毛利比上一季增加了 349 美元。

The unit decline is associated with the disposal of three UK CarShop locations as we transition the UK-based car shop location to Sytner Select in 2024. Sytner Select dealership sell fewer units, which contributed to the 6% decline in used vehicles retail during the fourth quarter. Excluding Sytner Select, dealerships in both periods used vehicles retail would have increased 8%.

單位數量的下降與我們將於 2024 年將位於英國的汽車店地點轉移至 Sytner Select 而出售三個英國 CarShop 地點有關。Sytner Select 經銷商的銷售量減少，導致第四季二手車零售量下降 6%。不包括 Sytner Select，兩個時期經銷商的二手車零售額將增加 8%。

Variable gross profit per unit retail was $5,319, representing a $60 per unit increase versus Q4 '23 and sequential increase to $2,003 when compared to the third quarter of '24. Approximately 1/2 of our gross profit is derived from our service and parts business. As we look to continue growing this important part of our business, we've increased our technician count by 7% during 2024 and our effective labor rate in the US has increased 6%. In the quarter, service and parts revenue increased 13% to $771 million, including 7% on a same-store basis, with customer pay up 3%, already up 24% and collision repair up 4%.

每單位零售變動毛利為 5,319 美元，較 23 年第四季每單位增加 60 美元，與 24 年第三季相比季增至 2,003 美元。我們的毛利約有一半來自於服務和零件業務。隨著我們希望繼續發展我們業務的這一重要部分，我們在 2024 年將技術人員數量增加了 7%，並且我們在美國的有效勞動力率增加了 6%。本季度，服務和零件收入增長 13% 至 7.71 億美元，其中同店收入增長 7%，客戶支付增長 3%，此前已增長 24%，碰撞修復增長 4%。

Fixed absorption in the US increased 320 basis points to 87.5%. In the US, the average age of vehicle service is 6.1 years, up from 5.5 in 2019. The average miles on our vehicle service was 69,000.

美國固定吸收率增加了320個基點，達到87.5%。在美國，車輛平均使用年限為 6.1 年，高於 2019 年的 5.5 年。我們的車輛平均行駛里程為69,000英里。

Let me now turn it over to Rich Shearing.

現在我把話題交給 Rich Shearing。

Thank you, Roger, and good afternoon, everyone. In our US retail automotive operations, we experienced a surge in traffic post election. For the quarter, new units increased 10%, while used units increased 6%. During the quarter, 33% of the new units sold in the US.

謝謝你，羅傑，大家午安。在我們的美國汽車零售業務中，我們經歷了選舉後的流量激增。本季度，新單位數量增加了 10%，而二手單位數量增加了 6%。本季度，33% 的新車在美國銷售。

were sold at MSRP demonstrating continued strength in demand. Although we've done a great job working with our OEMs to manage BEV inventory, to be more closely aligned with customer demand, the majority of BEV units still require significant discounting. In Q4, the average discount on above from MSRP was nearly $6,900 per unit.

均以製造商建議零售價出售，顯示需求持續強勁。儘管我們在與 OEM 合作管理 BEV 庫存方面做得很好，以便更緊密地滿足客戶需求，但大多數 BEV 裝置仍然需要大幅折扣。在第四季度，上述產品的平均折扣為每台近 6,900 美元。

Turning to our retail commercial truck business. We remain one of the largest commercial truck retailers for Daimler Trucks North America and the retail truck business is one of our core pillars of our diversified model. We operate 35 full sales and service facilities, 11 stand-alone service and parts facilities and 12 collision centers. We believe Class 8 commercial truck demand will continue to be driven primarily by replacement purchases in 2025.

轉向我們的零售商用卡車業務。我們仍然是戴姆勒北美最大的商用卡車零售商之一，零售卡車業務是我們多元化模式的核心支柱之一。我們經營 35 個完整的銷售和服務設施、11 個獨立的服務和零件設施以及 12 個碰撞中心。我們相信，到 2025 年，8 級商用卡車的需求將繼續主要受替換購買的推動。

During Q4, North American industry Class 8 retail sales were flat at 82,000 units. At the end of December, the current industry backlog was 145,500 units or approximately five months represented five months' worth of sales. Premier Truck Group sold 4,432 new and used unit in Q4, which was down 18% when compared to Q4 last year. The year-over-year decline in sales is related to the timing of deliveries and supply shortages pushed out deliveries from the first half to the second half of the year in 2023. However, during that same period, gross profit per unit retail increased by 21%.

第四季，北美產業8級零售量持平於82,000台。截至12月底，目前業界積壓訂單為145,500輛，約相當於5個月的銷售量。Premier Truck Group 第四季銷售新車和二手車 4,432 輛，與去年第四季相比下降 18%。銷售量年減與交貨時間有關，供應短缺導致交貨從 2023 年上半年延後到下半年。然而，在同一時期，單位零售毛利成長了21%。

Revenue was $774 million and EBT was $45 million for the quarter with a return on sales of 5.8% up 10 basis points. Same-store SG&A to gross profit was 6.8% and fixed absorption was 122%.

本季營收為 7.74 億美元，息稅前利潤為 4,500 萬美元，銷售報酬率為 5.8%，上升 10 個基點。同店銷售、一般及行政開支佔毛利的 6.8%，固定吸收率為 122%。

As we look towards '25 and '26 we expect replacement demand to continue, while the anticipated emissions change for '27 and the recovery and freight market could help drive higher retail sales.

展望2025年和2026年，我們預計更換需求將持續，而2027年預期排放量將發生變化，復甦和貨運市場可能有助於推動零售額上漲。

Turning to Penske Transportation Solutions. During Q4, operating revenue increased $0.03 to $2.8 billion. Full service revenue and contract increased 9%, logistics revenue increased 3%, and rental revenue declined 9% as the freight recession continued to act a number of units on rent and our rental utilization. The PTS operating profit increased $32 million but was offset by higher interest cost of $9 million and a decline in gain on sale of $25 million. The PTS earnings before tax of $188 million, consistent with Q4 last year.

轉向 Penske 運輸解決方案。第四季度，營業收入增加 0.03 美元，達到 28 億美元。全方位服務收入和合約成長了 9%，物流收入增加了 3%，而租金收入下降了 9%，因為貨運衰退繼續對一些單位的租金和我們的租金利用率產生影響。PTS 營業利潤增加了 3,200 萬美元，但被 900 萬美元的利息成本增加和 2,500 萬美元的銷售收益下降所抵銷。PTS 稅前利潤為 1.88 億美元，與去年第四季持平。

PAG share of the PTS earnings was $52.3 million, up from $51.2 million in the fourth quarter of the prior year. And for the year, PAG's share of PTS earnings totaled $198 million and we received $98.4 million in cash distributions.

PAG 在 PTS 收益中的份額為 5,230 萬美元，高於去年同期的 5,120 萬美元。全年來看，PAG 在 PTS 收益中的份額總計 1.98 億美元，而我們則獲得了 9,840 萬美元的現金分配。

I would now like to turn the call over to Randall Seymore.

現在我想將電話轉給蘭德爾·西摩（Randall Seymore）。

Thanks, Rich. Good afternoon, everyone. Looking at the UK retail automotive market, our same-store new units delivered in Q4 increased by 1.5%, which compares favorably with the 2.7% decline in the U.K. vehicle market in Q4.

謝謝，里奇。大家下午好。縱觀英國零售汽車市場，我們第四季同店新車交付量成長了 1.5%，與英國汽車市場第四季 2.7% 的降幅相比表現良好。

New vehicle gross per unit remained resilient, increasing $428 per unit on a sequential basis when compared to the third quarter. Same-store used units 18% as a result of the transition of the UK CarShop locations to Sytner Select, which focuses on lower volume but higher quality premium vehicles. Including those dealerships, same-store used units in the UK would have decreased 2%.

新車每輛毛利率保持強勁，與第三季相比，每輛環比增加 428 美元。由於英國 CarShop 門市轉型為 Sytner Select，同店二手車銷量成長 18%，Sytner Select 專注於銷量較低但品質較高的高檔汽車。如果將這些經銷商計算在內，英國同店二手車銷售量將下降 2%。

But pleasingly, used vehicle same-store gross profit increased $542 per unit when compared to the fourth quarter in 2023. Service and Parts same-store revenue increased 8.6%.

但令人高興的是，與 2023 年第四季相比，二手車同店毛利每輛增加了 542 美元。服務和零件同店收入成長8.6%。

Turning to Australia. As you may recall, in December, we acquired our third Porsche location Melbourne, the second largest city in Australia. We now operate three Porsche locations with an expected and annualized revenue of $260 million in one Penske Select used car location. During the fourth quarter, these dealerships retailed 468 new and used units generated $53 million in revenue with a return to 4.5% on sales.

轉向澳大利亞。您可能還記得，去年 12 月，我們在澳洲第二大城市墨爾本收購了第三家保時捷中心。我們目前經營三家保時捷店，其中一家 Penske Select 二手車店的預期年收入為 2.6 億美元。第四季度，這些經銷商零售了 468 輛新車和二手車，創造了 5,300 萬美元的收入，銷售回報率為 4.5%。

Turning to our on- and off-highway markets in Australia. We remain very pleased with our progress. In Q4, the business produced a record revenue and a reduction in SG&A to gross profit of 630 basis points. Service and parts represent approximately 65% of our total gross profit to focus on increasing units in operation is a key driver of the business. In the on-highway market, we delivered a record number of MAN trucks in 2024, boosted by our largest fleet sale ever.

轉向我們在澳洲的公路和非公路用車市場。我們對我們的進展仍然感到非常滿意。第四季度，該業務創造了創紀錄的收入，並將銷售、一般及行政費用降至毛利的 630 個基點。服務和零件約占我們總毛利的65%，專注於增加營運單位是業務的關鍵驅動力。在公路市場，由於我們有史以來最大規模的車隊銷售，我們在 2024 年交付了創紀錄數量的 MAN 卡車。

In the off-highway sector, revenue and margin were driven by strong Energy Solutions, mining and defense business. The Energy Solutions order bank has over AUD600 million for delivery in 2025 and beyond, predominantly related to the growth in large data center and battery energy storage solution business. We remain market leadership in the high horsepower generation segment with over 55% share. And in the defense market, we provide power and support for submarines, frigates and infantry fighting vehicles.

在非公路用車領域，強勁的能源解決方案、採礦和國防業務推動了收入和利潤。能源解決方案訂單庫擁有超過 6 億澳元，將於 2025 年及以後交付，主要與大型資料中心和電池儲能解決方案業務的成長有關。我們在大馬力發電領域仍佔據市場領先地位，佔有超過 55% 的份額。在國防市場，我們為潛艦、護衛艦和步兵戰車提供動力和支援。

I would now like to turn the call to Shelley Hulgrave.

現在我想把電話轉給雪莉·赫爾格雷夫 (Shelley Hulgrave)。

Thank you, Randall. Good afternoon, everyone. I will review our cash flow, balance sheet and capital allocation. Our balance sheet and strong cash flow provides us with opportunities to maximize capital allocation. As a result, we continue to grow our business through acquisitions and return capital to shareholders through dividends and opportunistic securities repurchases.

謝謝你，蘭德爾。大家下午好。我將檢視我們的現金流量、資產負債表和資本配置。我們的資產負債表和強勁的現金流為我們提供了最大化資本配置的機會。因此，我們繼續透過收購來發展業務，並透過股利和機會性證券回購向股東返還資本。

During 2024, we generated $1.2 billion in cash flow from operations and our EBITDA was $1.49 billion. Our free cash flow, which is cash flow from operations after deducting capital expenditures was $811 million. In our press release this morning, we announced the 17th consecutive increase in our quarterly dividend. The increase was $0.03 per share to $1.22 per share. Since the end of 2023, we have increased the dividend 54%.

2024 年，我們產生的營運現金流為 12 億美元，EBITDA 為 14.9 億美元。我們的自由現金流，即扣除資本支出後的營運現金流為 8.11 億美元。在今天上午的新聞稿中，我們宣布連續第 17 次增加季度股息。每股增加 0.03 美元至每股 1.22 美元。自 2023 年底以來，我們已將股利提高了 54%。

Using yesterday's closing price, our current yield is approximately 2.9% with a payout ratio of 36%. Dividends paid to shareholders during 2024 were $274 million, and we repurchased approximately 517,000 shares at $149.69 per share for $78 million. Combined, we returned approximately $352 million to shareholders in 2024.

以昨日的收盤價計算，我們目前的收益率約為 2.9%，股息率為 36%。2024 年向股東支付的股息為 2.74 億美元，我們以每股 149.69 美元的價格回購了約 517,000 股，共計 7,800 萬美元。2024 年，我們共向股東返還了約 3.52 億美元。

In addition to the return to shareholders, we completed acquisitions of 23 retail automotive franchises and 5 commercial truck locations in 2024. Together, these acquisitions represent $2.1 billion in estimated annualized revenues, including $0.9 billion in retail automotive revenue and $200 million in retail commercial truck revenue. Additionally, as we focus on strategic capital allocation, we also divested or closed 10 retail automotive locations in 2024 which represented approximately $650 million in estimated annualized revenue. Our strong cash flow has allowed PAG to keep its non-vehicle debt and leverage low.

除了回報股東之外，我們還於 2024 年完成了 23 家零售汽車特許經營店和 5 家商用卡車店的收購。這些收購合計帶來約 21 億美元的年收入，其中包括 9 億美元的汽車零售收入和 2 億美元的商用卡車零售收入。此外，由於我們專注於策略資本配置，我們也在 2024 年剝離或關閉了 10 家汽車零售店，預計年收入約為 6.5 億美元。強勁的現金流使得 PAG 的非投資工具債務和槓桿率保持在較低水準。

At the end of December, our non-vehicle long-term debt was $1.852 billion, up $220 million from the end of December 2023. 74% of the non-vehicle long-term debt is at fixed rates. Debt to total capitalization was 26.2% and leverage was 1.2 times. When including floor plan debt, we have $4.5 billion of variable debt, 55% of our variable rate debt is in the U.S. We estimate a 25 basis point change in interest rates would impact interest expense by approximately $11 million.

截至 12 月底，我們的非車輛長期債務為 18.52 億美元，較 2023 年 12 月底增加 2.2 億美元。負債與總資本比為26.2%，槓桿率為1.2倍。如果包括樓層平面圖債務，我們有 45 億美元的可變債務，其中 55% 的可變利率債務在美國。

As of December 31, we had $72 million of cash and the liquidity available to us was $1.8 billion.

截至 12 月 31 日，我們擁有 7,200 萬美元現金，可用流動資金為 18 億美元。

As we look ahead to the maturity of our $550 million of 3.5% senior subordinated notes in September of this year, we currently expect to repay those notes from cash flows from operations or borrowings under our credit agreement. Total inventory was $4.6 billion, up $350 million from the end of December 2023. Floor plan debt was $4 billion. New and used inventory remains in good shape. New vehicle inventory is at a 49-day supply, which includes 41 days in the US.

我們的 5.5 億美元 3.5% 優先次級票據將於今年 9 月到期，我們目前預計將根據我們的信貸協議，使用經營活動產生的現金流或借款來償還這些票據。總庫存量為 46 億美元，比 2023 年 12 月底增加 3.5 億美元。樓層平面圖債務為 40 億美元。新舊庫存保​​持良好狀況。新車庫存可供49天供應，其中美國為41天。

and 65 days in the UK Day supply of new vehicles for premium was 52 and volume foreign was 32. The days supply of new battery electric vehicles in the U.S. is 76 days at the end of 2024 down from 88 days at the end of June. Used vehicle inventory is at a 47 days supply, which includes 35 days in the US and 60 days in the UK.

英國國內新車供應量為 65 天，高階汽車供應量為 52 天，國外新車供應量為 32 天。2024 年底，美國新型電動車的供應天數為 76 天，低於 6 月底的 88 天。二手車庫存供應量為 47 天，其中美國為 35 天，英國為 60 天。

At this time, I'll turn the call back to Roger for some final remarks.

現在，我將把電話轉回給羅傑，請他發表一些最後的評論。

Yes. Thank you, Shelley, Rich and Randall. 2024 was a remarkable year for PAG and reflected record revenue and one of the strongest years of profitability in the company's history. I remain particularly pleased with the continued resilience of gross profit per new vehicle retail and the focus on our cost controls. I'm very confident in our model and the performance of the business.

是的。謝謝你，雪萊、里奇和蘭德爾。 2024年對PAG來說是非凡的一年，創下了創紀錄的收入，也是公司歷史上獲利能力最強的年份之一。我對新車零售毛利潤的持續彈性和對成本控制的關注感到特別高興。我對我們的模式和業務表現非常有信心。

Appreciate you joining us today.

感謝您今天加入我們。

Let's turn it over to the operator for questions. Thank you.

讓我們把問題交給接線生。謝謝。

(Operator Instructions) Michael Ward, Freedom Capital.

（操作員指示）邁克爾·沃德（Michael Ward），自由資本（Freedom Capital）。

Hello, everybody. When I look at that chart on page 6 of your slide deck, it's been pretty consistent. I mean since 2019 with your allocation strategy, has anything changed? I mean, is there anything -- when you look at -- it seems like we're in a wave where maybe acquisition opportunities are a little bit greater. And will that continue in '25, '26, will you continue to look at your core -- confidence whether it's overseas, whether it's in trucks, whether it's US.

大家好。當我查看投影片第 6 頁的圖表時，發現它非常一致。我的意思是，自 2019 年以來，您的分配策略有什麼變化嗎？我的意思是，當你觀察時，似乎我們正處於一個浪潮之中，收購機會可能會更大一些。這種趨勢會在 25 年和 26 年繼續延續嗎？

Is there anything shifting there? Or can we expect more of the same, assuming that we're in a similar type environment.

那裡有什麼變化嗎？或者，假設我們處在類似的環境中，我們是否可以期待更多相同的情況。

Hi Mike, it's Shelley. We've talked before about our capital allocation strategy of wanting to grow 5% through acquisition and 5% internally. We did a really good job of taking advantage of some of the opportunities that came available to us this year, acquiring $2.1 billion in annualized revenue. So if you stay along that same line, 5% of revenue, I think that's a good target in terms of our acquisition strategy, we're of course going to balance that with multiples on our stock, but you're solely right. We're going to look at every corner of our business.

嗨，麥克，我是雪萊。我們之前談過我們的資本配置策略，希望透過收購實現 5% 的成長，內部實現 5% 的成長。我們很好地利用了今年出現的一些機會，獲得了 21 億美元的年收入。因此，如果您堅持同樣的思路，即 5% 的收入，我認為就我們的收購策略而言，這是一個很好的目標，我們當然會透過股票倍數來平衡這一點，但您完全正確。我們將審視業務的每個角落。

And we did that this year, right? We looked -- we -- we took a look at international to start the year with the acquisition in the UK. We expanded into the Australian retail market, which is a significant opportunity for us. We also expanded domestically, and we expanded with trucks.

我們今年就這麼做了，對吧？我們著眼於國際市場，以在英國進行收購作為新年伊始的展望。我們擴展到澳洲零售市場，這對我們來說是一個重要的機會。我們也在國內擴張，並且擴大了卡車業務。

So we'll continue to do that. We like being safe and secure, but for the right price and for the right opportunity, we will definitely take advantage of that. On the other side of that, we've got our return to shareholders over $350 million this year return which is important to us and something that we're going to continue to prioritize. I got $150 million of authorization from our Board to look at share repurchases. And so we'll just go on down the line.

因此我們會繼續這樣做。我們喜歡安全有保障，但如果價格合適、機會合適，我們一定會利用這一點。另一方面，今年我們為股東帶來的回報超過 3.5 億美元，這對我們很重要，我們將繼續優先考慮這一點。我從董事會獲得了 1.5 億美元的授權，用於研究股票回購。所以我們就繼續沿著這條線往下走。

John Murphy, Bank of America.

美國銀行的約翰‧墨菲。

Good afternoon, Roger and team. Roger, just a first question. It seems like the business is -- particularly on the new auto side is hitting an inflection point. And I think this was the first time in a while we've seen the front-end gross, as you mentioned, up sequentially on a year-over-year basis. This constant fear of the new GPUs are going to keep falling, but that's not what actually happened this quarter sequentially for sure.

下午好，羅傑和團隊。羅傑，這只是第一個問題。看起來業務——特別是新車方面——正在迎來轉折點。我認為這是我們最近第一次看到前端毛利如你所言與去年同期相比連續上升。對新 GPU 的這種持續擔憂將會持續下降，但本季的實際情況肯定不會如此。

Do you think we're hitting an inflection point here in the auto business, specifically and maybe in the total business as well and we're back to sort of this period of gross in front for us in the next few years?

您是否認為我們在汽車行業，特別是整個行業，正面臨一個轉折點，並且我們將在未來幾年回到這種總收入成長的時期？

Well, I think, number one, I think as you look at PAG, you've got to look at our brand mix. And as you know, overall, we're about 77% premium, in the UK, we're 95%. And when you look at brands like Mercedes, BMW, Porsche, Land Rover where we have very high concentration. We see that those brands are maintaining the growth, which certainly helps us.

嗯，我認為，首先，當你看 PAG 時，你必須看我們的品牌組合。如您所知，總體而言，我們的溢價率約為 77%，在英國，我們的溢價率為 95%。當您看到梅賽德斯、寶馬、保時捷、路虎等品牌時，您會發現我們的集中度非常高。我們看到這些品牌正在保持成長，這無疑對我們有幫助。

And overall, when you look at the -- go back to July of last year on new, we were at 6,500 and we're at 6,600 when I look at the January numbers.

整體而言，回顧去年 7 月的數據，我們的新增人數為 6,500 人，而 1 月的數據為 6,600 人。

So look, I'm not saying that there won't be some deterioration. That would not be the right thing to communicate today. But overall, I think that from an overall standpoint, we have the opportunity to continue to have the strong gross profit. Obviously, F&I, a piece of that and we're really flexing to have more product and probably less F&I are financed because of the mix of leasing coming back that will help us on the premium side because a lot of these cars will go out. They'll come back on a three-year lease and we'll get those as good used cars.

所以，我並不是說不會出現一些惡化的情況。今天傳達這樣的訊息並不合適。但總體而言，我認為從整體角度來看，我們有機會繼續獲得強勁的毛利。顯然，財務和投資是其中的一部分，我們確實在靈活地生產更多產品，而且可能減少財務和投資的融資，因為租賃組合的回歸將有助於我們在保費方面，因為很多汽車都會出去。他們會以三年的租約回來，我們會把它們當作好二手車。

And I think we can also use the vehicles we had in the past that we couldn't use new loaner cars in service. We're doing that now. And those cars coming out or make terrific used cars.

而且我認為我們還可以使用過去無法使用的新借用車。我們現在正在這麼做。這些汽車問世了，或者是製造出了非常棒的二手車。

So I think the growth on used will continue to be strong. Obviously, as we look at the UK, we've taken the day supply over 90 in the UK on used from 6.1 or 6.2 down to just over 1%. So that's driving a higher margin. And again, Toyota is very strong now, which could be some ability to determinate some downward pressure because we're dealing with Toyota with a single day -- single-digit supply of used -- new cars right now.

所以我認為二手車的成長仍將保持強勁。顯然，當我們看英國時，我們已經將英國 90 天以上的供應量從 6.1 或 6.2 下降到略高於 1%。這會提高利潤率。而且，豐田現在非常強大，這可能有一定的能力來確定一些下行壓力，因為我們現在與豐田打交道的二手新車供應量僅為個位數。

So I feel good about it. I think interest rates coming down. Hopefully, we'll see more. So affordability will be key and again, I see the captive finance companies being very active right now also. So that helps us maintain the growth.

所以我感覺很好。我認為利率會下降。希望我們能夠看到更多。因此，可負擔性將是關鍵，而且我看到專屬融資公司現在也非常活躍。這有助於我們保持成長。

And maybe, Roger, just to follow up on that. BEVs have been a wait on that DPU for quite some time now. Do you see relief from that going forward? I know the automaker is becoming more realistic about what they're going to be delivering to you with BEVs and you're not going to be overburdened with those?

羅傑，也許只是為了跟進一下這一點。BEV 已經等待該 DPU 相當長一段時間了。您覺得今後這種情況會得到緩解嗎？我知道汽車製造商對於他們將透過電動車向您提供什麼產品越來越現實，您不會因此而承受過重的負擔嗎？

Well, if you answer that question, six months ago, I would say that our inventories were 30% to 40% BEV's in the two premium to high premium brands. Now that is now down to about 11%, which really is more active from the standpoint of what we're seeing. We were at 8% last year so they've made a big pivot. And Porsche, who had the new Macan that came out, which was fully electric is already notified to the dealers that they're going to have a nice version, which is really key. When we look at the discount right now, just take MSRP across all the BEV's that we sell.

好吧，如果您回答這個問題的話，六個月前，我會說我們的庫存中，兩個高端到超高端品牌的 BEV 佔了 30% 到 40%。現在這一比例已下降至約 11%，從我們所看到的情況來看，這確實更加活躍。去年我們的成長率是 8%，因此他們做出了重大轉變。保時捷推出了新款 Macan，它是全電動的，並且已經通知經銷商他們將推出一款不錯的版本，這才是關鍵。當我們現在查看折扣時，只需將我們銷售的所有 BEV 的製造商建議零售價相加即可。

It's about $6,800 less than a nice vehicle in each brand.

比每個品牌的優質車輛便宜約 6,800 美元。

That's helpful. And just lastly, on the technician hiring plus 7% for 2024. What do you think you're going to be able to hit in 2025 as far as tech growth and how scarce are these folks are you're finding more and more people coming in?

這很有幫助。最後，2024 年技術人員招募將增加 7%。您認為到 2025 年，科技成長方面您將能夠實現什麼目標？

Well, I would say this and from taking across the network, that we're seeing more applicants than we have in the past. Now do they meet our criteria, probably the answer -- probably is now many of them. But we see filling this funnel with people that can move up in the organization, and we team them up with an A Tech, and it has really paid off because this is a great business and when we look at the text, they're generating $30,000 of gross profit per tech per month, which really helps us. And where we're driving efficiency and we're using technology, obviously, to get this gross profit. And again, I think this is key to us.

嗯，我想說的是，從網路情況來看，我們看到的申請人數比過去要多。現在他們是否符合我們的標準？但我們看到這個漏斗充滿了可以在組織中晉升的人，我們將他們與 A 級技術人員組成團隊，而這確實獲得了回報，因為這是一項很棒的業務，當我們查看文本時，他們每位技術人員每月可產生 30,000 美元的毛利潤，這確實對我們有幫助。我們正在提高效率並運用技術，顯然是為了獲得毛利。我再次強調，我認為這對我們來說至關重要。

One of the areas that we're always concerned about is body shop. And we're investing a lot in body shops, both on the auto side and also the commercial truck, and we see this as a secret sauce where we're staying in it, not divesting of our body shops. So because as we get in the premium side, not many people can fix a BMW or a Porsche properly, so we get the benefit of negotiating a better rate with the insurance companies. And I think when we grow our own we certainly have less turnover. And I would say our turnover for the company last year was about 18% on a worldwide basis.

我們始終關注的領域之一就是車身修理廠。我們在車身修理廠方面投入了大量資金，包括汽車方面和商用卡車方面，我們認為這是我們留在車身修理廠而不是剝離車身修理廠的秘訣。因此，由於我們在保費方面，沒有多少人可以正確修理寶馬或保時捷，所以我們可以與保險公司協商更優惠的費率。我認為，當我們自己種植時，我們的營業額肯定會更低。我想說，我們公司去年的全球營業額約為 18%。

And I think on the text, it probably was somewhere in 12% to 13%.

我認為就文本而言，這個比例可能在 12% 到 13% 之間。

Thomas Wendler, Stephen Inc.

托馬斯溫德勒，史蒂芬公司

I wanted to start off with just the commercial truck demand in 2025. How impactful do you think some of the prebuying could be prior to the emission changes in 2027?

我想從 2025 年的商用卡車需求開始說起。您認為 2027 年排放變化之前的部分預購行為會產生多大影響？

Yes, Tom, it's Rich Shearing here. I think there's a little bit of a wait and see at the moment because, obviously, you've seen the Trump administration and the new head of the EPA, taking a look at rescinding some of the waivers that are out there today, whether that's advanced clean truck, the truck true or transportation, refrigeration regulation, and then also looking at a national standard and taking away California's ability to have independent regulations. And so none of those things are turned around quite or easily. But I think there's a lot of support around some of those initiatives. And so I think time will tell.

是的，湯姆，我是里奇‧謝林 (Rich Shearing)。我認為目前需要稍微觀望一下，因為顯然你已經看到川普政府和美國環保署新任署長正在考慮撤銷目前存在的一些豁免，無論是先進清潔卡車、卡車本身還是運輸、製冷法規，然後還考慮制定國家標準並剝奪加州制定獨立法規的能力。所以，這些事情都無法輕易地扭轉。但我認為其中一些舉措得到了很多支持。所以我認為時間會證明一切。

But I think right now, most OEMs have probably made a significant investment already in meeting the 2027 standards is around the book. And so that's going to play into the results as well.

但我認為現在，大多數 OEM 可能已經為滿足 2027 年標準進行了大量投資。這也會對結果產生影響。

So I think as it relates to 2025, I don't think we'll see much of a prebuy effect there. As we go into '26, we'll have better clarity than on what the regulations are going to look like in '27. It may be a little bit easier to answer your question.

因此我認為，就 2025 年而言，我們不會看到太大的預購效應。當我們進入26年時，我們會更清楚地了解27年的法規將會是什麼樣子。回答你的問題可能會比較容易。

I think the other thing that would temper a prebuy is this rate recession, there's been -- it's lasted a lot longer than any of the previous cycles because of the amount of capacity that's in the marketplace at the moment. Typically, when you have a freight recession, the capacity comes out fairly quickly. You have a big reduction in used truck pricing. And then you get to a new state of equilibrium where the capacity and the trucks available meet the loads that are there, and that's not the case at the moment. With the used trucks that were sold at very high prices in the '21, '22 time frame, we're not seeing those carriers come out of the market as fast as they did in the past.

我認為另一個會抑制預購的因素是利率衰退，由於目前市場上的容量，這次衰退比之前的任何週期都持續的時間要長得多。通常，當貨運量下降時，運力就會很快耗盡。二手卡車價格大幅降低。然後你會達到一個新的平衡狀態，其中可用的容量和卡車與現有的負載相匹配，而目前的情況並非如此。由於 21、22 年期間二手卡車的售價非常高，我們並沒有看到這些運輸公司像過去那樣快速退出市場。

And so that's adding to the length of the freight recession. So there's still an excess capacity for the amount of freight in the market at the moment.

這將會延長貨運衰退的時間。因此，目前市場上的貨運量仍然過剩。

That was perfect. Maybe shifting gears a little bit here over to SG&A, 70 bps of improvement year-over-year this quarter. How should we be thinking about the major kind of puts and takes to SG&A in 2025?

那太完美了。也許這裡會稍微改變銷售、一般及行政開支，本季年增 70 個基點。我們該如何看待 2025 年銷售、一般及行政費用 (SG&A) 的主要變動？

Tom, it's Shelley, thanks for your question. Our team, first off, should be commended for their daily efforts in SG&A and they're continuing to fight against inflation by watching all of the costs that go into that numerator of the equation, we saw some success this quarter in terms of lowering our vehicle maintenance for service loaners. We saw an improvement in our advertising as we streamline our approach there. So really great job by our team of just daily battle to keep those costs low.

湯姆，我是雪萊，謝謝你的提問。首先，我們應該讚揚我們的團隊在銷售、一般及行政開支方面的日常努力，他們通過關注等式分子中的所有成本來繼續對抗通貨膨脹，本季度我們在降低服務借用者的車輛維護費用方面取得了一些成功。隨著我們簡化了廣告方法，我們的廣告業務得到了改善。所以我們的團隊每天都在努力降低成本，這確實非常出色。

When you look at the other side of the equation, though, we're looking at growing margin and the more profitable business line. So with fixed growth up 9%, and that's got a 58% gross margin to it, reducing inventory costs, so we get more out of those used vehicles, we're kind of pulling on all levers there.

然而，當你看等式的另一邊時，我們看到的是不斷增長的利潤率和更有利可圖的業務線。因此，固定成長率達到 9%，毛利率達到 58%，從而降低了庫存成本，我們從二手車中獲得更多收益，我們在某種程度上是利用所有槓桿。

In terms of 2025, I think we're still comfortable with that low 70s guidance. We've maintained it for the last 5 quarters. So it certainly seems to be more normalized as opposed to just a trend. And we continue to see some improvements quarter-over-quarter being down 90 basis points from the third quarter. It feels really good about our efforts.

就 2025 年而言，我認為我們仍然對 70 年代初期的預期感到滿意。過去五個季度我們一直維持這一水準。因此，它顯然更加正常化，而不只是一種趨勢。我們繼續看到季度環比有所改善，較第三季度下降了 90 個基點。我們的努力確實讓我感覺非常好。

And again, our team should be commended.

再次，我們的團隊值得稱讚。

And also we're really watching our comp to gross. This is a metric that people don't talk about much. But to me, we're looking at somewhere between 25% on the variable side and 25% on the fixed. And this is how you balance your compensation and also the number of employees you have per location. So inventory controls, comp to growth, and we talked about the technology, obviously, that we're doing.

而且我們也在密切關注我們的總收入。這是一個人們很少談論的指標。但對我來說，我們正在尋找介於可變部分 25% 和固定部分 25% 之間的某個值。這就是您平衡薪酬和每個地點的員工數量的方式。因此，庫存控制、成長比較，以及我們顯然談論了我們正在做的技術。

And I think all this is driving this. And if you look at us probably, when you look at 2025 we're going to be in that low 70%. I don't think we want to say we're going below 70 at all. So to be realistic, as you're looking to maybe some support on guidance on that, I'd say it's probably somewhere around 70% to 71%.

我認為所有這些都在推動這一進程。如果你看一下我們，那麼到 2025 年，我們的比例將處於 70% 以下。我認為我們根本不想說我們會低於 70。因此，從現實角度來說，當您希望獲得一些指導支援時，我認為這個比例大概在 70% 到 71% 左右。

Rajat Gupta, JPMorgan.

摩根大通的拉賈特古普塔 (Rajat Gupta)。

Great. Thanks for taking the question. I just had one quick one on the truck leasing business. It looks like the truck price was stabilizing. You mentioned the basin demand is very strong.

偉大的。感謝您回答這個問題。我只是想簡單談談卡車租賃業務。看起來卡車價格正在穩定。您提到盆地需求非常強勁。

Could you give us a sense of your outlook there for 2025 keeping the moving parts in mind? I mean, could we expect to grow again despite some of the interest rate and having severance? And I have a quick follow-up on that.

您能否從動態角度出發，談談您對 2025 年的展望？我的意思是，儘管存在一定的利率和遣散費，我們還能期望再次實現成長嗎？我對此有一個快速的跟進。

Well, what I would say to you is, number one, we have a headwind on gain on sale. When you look at that from this last year, it was about $160 million, down from the previous year and certainly, our interest costs were up $124. I think we're going to still see higher interest costs in 2025 because we're replacing 3% bonds with 5%. We just did $700 million here in the last 10 to 12 days. And those are across the higher rates which have a five-year term on them.

嗯，我想對你說的是，第一，我們的銷售收益遇到了阻力。從去年的情況來看，這一數字約為 1.6 億美元，比前一年下降，而且我們的利息成本肯定上漲了 1.24 億美元。我認為，到 2025 年，我們仍會看到更高的利息成本，因為我們將用 5% 的債券取代 3% 的債券。在過去的 10 到 12 天內，我們在這裡賺了 7 億美元。這些是較高利率且期限為五年的貸款。

From the standpoint of the used truck market, we think from the standpoint we're thinking maybe we hit bottom. So obviously, we hope that that's going to turn in our favor. Remember, last year, we sold 41,000 units which was a record for us. And even as we look at January and February going forward, we expect to have a strong first quarter. And that will help us balance our rental fleet, rental fleet was 88,000 and I think at the present time, we've taken out probably close to 10% and to me, that's going to make a big difference on utilization, which is key. It doesn't take much.

從二手卡車市場的角度來看，我們認為我們可能已經觸底。所以顯然我們希望這對我們有利。記得，去年我們銷售了 41,000 台，創下了我們的紀錄。展望一月和二月，我們預計第一季將會表現強勁。這將幫助我們平衡我們的租賃車隊，租賃車隊是 88,000 輛，我認為目前，我們可能已經減少了接近 10%，對我來說，這將對利用率產生很大的影響，這是關鍵。不需要太多。

Remember, we don't have to buy more trucks at this point to get revenue or gross profit. We just got to move our utilization because once we balance our fleet. It's all about utilization, and that's where we're focusing today. Obviously, we're balancing the personnel around the rental business also. So from our perspective, I'd be a little bit of headwind still on gain, certainly on the interest side, but when you look, we're up in sales from a lease standpoint, from a contract maintenance and also in logistics.

請記住，我們現在不必購買更多卡車來獲得收入或毛利。我們只需要提高我們的利用率，因為一旦我們平衡了我們的車隊。一切都與利用率有關，這也是我們今天關注的重點。顯然，我們也在平衡租賃業務的人員。因此，從我們的角度來看，在收益方面，當然是在利息方面，我仍然會遇到一些阻力，但是當你看時，從租賃的角度、從合約維護的角度以及物流的角度，我們的銷售額都在上升。

So overall, I think that we're in good shape. And the number is available, you see it. We were -- I think we posted a pretax about $717 million of pretax and net income was somewhere around $685. And I would say we'll be around that same area, hopefully, a little bit better, we get through 2025.

所以總的來說，我認為我們的情況很好。而且這個號碼是可用的，你看到了。我們的稅前利潤約為 7.17 億美元，淨收入約為 6.85 億美元。我想說，我們會在同一區域，希望情況會好一些，直到 2025 年。

Got it. Got it. That's helpful. And then just on the auto business on the used car side. I mean you're still going through the reset of the UK stores. Can you give us a sense of when you expect your used business to start growing again? Maybe if you could break it apart across the US and UK in decent context of the supply challenges of younger buyers, when do you expect that business to start to grow again? On a unit perspective obviously, growth have been very high.

知道了。知道了。這很有幫助。然後只談二手車業務。我的意思是您仍在進行英國商店的重置。您能否告訴我們，您預計二手業務何時會再次開始成長？也許，如果您能夠在年輕買家面臨的供應挑戰的大背景下，將美國和英國的情況進行分類，您預計該業務何時會再次開始成長？從單位角度來看，成長率顯然非常高。

Hi Rajat, it's Randall. I'll start with the UK. I would say it's going to continue to be challenged. The estimate for the market for new car next year in the UK is about flat.

你好，Rajat，我是 Randall。我先從英國說起。我想說它將繼續面臨挑戰。對明年英國新車市場的預期基本持平。

So I think we're going to be in a similar market conditions. So that's why we've taken the strategy to really focus on how we organically get inventory instead of going to the auction and buying cars that are very difficult to make growth on. So it's more of a gross strategy given the available inventory.

所以我認為我們將會處於類似的市場狀況。因此，我們採取的策略是真正專注於如何有機地獲取庫存，而不是去拍賣和購買很難成長的汽車。因此，考慮到現有庫存，這更像是一種總體策略。

Look, we're really focused with our team too is how you maximize our retention of trades when people are buying a new vehicle or a used vehicle. So those are some of the levers we're pulling to get more inventory given the market conditions.

你看，我們團隊也非常關注當人們購買新車或二手車時如何最大限度地保留交易。因此，考慮到市場狀況，這些是我們為獲取更多庫存所採取的一些手段。

And when you strip out, Randall, you strip out the CarShop closures, actually, our used vehicle business was up on a worldwide basis (inaudible) got to comment.

蘭德爾，當你去掉 CarShop 關閉的部分時，實際上，我們的二手車業務在全球範圍內是成長的（聽不清楚），需要發表評論。

Yes, Rajat, you look in the US market then. Just as a comparison, when the new market is up that generates the used cars. And we saw that certainly when you compare fourth quarter and the activity level there compared to the full year, if you look at the fourth quarter, our used retail sales were up 6% and you had a new car SAR in the fourth quarter that was near $16 million, whereas for the full year, 24, our used car retail was up 1%. So I think if we see the SAR that's being forecasted for this year in that 16 to 16.5 per million car range, I think we'll see used cars correspondingly from a retail standpoint up as well.

是的，拉賈特，你關注的是美國市場。只是作為比較，當新車市場興起時，就會產生二手車。我們發現，當您將第四季度的活動水平與全年進行比較時，如果您看第四季度，我們的二手車零售額增長了 6%，第四季度的新車 SAR 接近 1600 萬美元，而全年 24 月份，我們的二手車零售額增長了 1%。因此，我認為，如果我們看到今年預測的 SAR 在每百萬輛汽車 16 到 16.5 個的範圍內，那麼我認為從零售的角度來看，二手車的價格也會相應上漲。

We have that -- this is probably the last 12 months, right, the next 12 months would be the end of the difficult cycle of the lease returns, right?

我們知道——這可能是最後 12 個月了，對吧，接下來的 12 個月將是租賃回報困難週期的結束，對吧？

So then when you go beyond '25 into '26, at least return should start kicking back up.

那麼，當你超越 25 年進入 26 年時，至少回報率應該會開始回升。

That's one of the issues we have today is lease returns because leasing went from say, in the premium side from 55%, probably down in the 30s. Our lease business has gone from 25 to 33, but it takes 3 years before this really starts to impact us. And these are critical vehicles for us because they're a young vehicle, we can get good margin on those plus we certify them and makes a big difference, especially on the premium side.

我們今天面臨的問題之一是租賃回報，因為租賃的溢價率從 55% 下降到了 30% 左右。我們的租賃業務從 25 家增加到了 33 家，但這需要 3 年才能真正開始對我們產生影響。對我們來說，這些都是至關重要的車輛，因為它們是較新的車輛，我們可以從中獲得良好的利潤，再加上我們對它們進行認證，這會帶來很大的不同，特別是在高端方面。

(Operator Instructions) David Whiston, Morningstar.

（操作員指示）大衛·惠斯頓（David Whiston），晨星。

Good afternoon, everyone. Just two questions for me. First on affordability and somewhat related to that is negative equity. Given your clientele, is that really not a problem for you guys right now?

大家下午好。我只有兩個問題。首先是負擔能力，與此有點相關的是負資產。考慮到你們的客戶，這對你們來說真的不是什麼問題嗎？

Well, I think negative equity, when we saw people buying used cars, what 12, 18 months ago, car we were selling for 30 sold for 40. Obviously, this is an issue from the standpoint of trade-ins. Now we don't see a lot of that in the premium side because we had a lot of leasing and the manufacturers, obviously, we're taking the residual risk on those. So we want more of those vehicles coming back.

嗯，我認為是負資產，當我們看到人們購買二手車時，12 到 18 個月前我們以 30 美元出售的車賣到了 40 美元。顯然，從以舊換新的角度來看，這是一個問題。現在我們在高端產品方面沒有看到太多這樣的情況，因為我們有很多租賃，而製造商顯然承擔了這些剩餘風險。因此我們希望有更多這樣的車輛回歸。

So I think because of our mix and primarily premium we don't quite have that customer. I don't if our team agrees with that. But we're not dealing with that customer. When you look at our subprime business, it's only about 6% across the company.

因此我認為，由於我們的產品組合和主要產品品質較高，我們還沒有完全吸引到這樣的客戶。我不知道我們的團隊是否同意這一點。但我們不和那位顧客打交道。如果你看看我們的次級房貸業務，你會發現它只占公司整體的 6% 左右。

Where is your subprime exposure actually? Is that more on the import side? Or is it in the premium luxury space too?

你的次級房貸風險實際上在哪裡？這更多的是屬於進口方面嗎？還是它也屬於高端奢華領域？

It would be on the volume forward and used car, primarily -- probably it's more used car than it is new.

其主要關注點在於銷量和二手車——二手車可能比新車更多。

Okay. And it's been reported that you are working with CUPRA. If that deal were to come together. I mean who do you envision that brand's demographic being to buy those vehicles?

好的。據報道，您正在與 CUPRA 合作。如果該協議能夠達成。我的意思是，您認為該品牌的購買者會是哪些人？

Well, you've read about the discussions we're having with CUPRA. This is a 24- to 36-month journey. And we really -- there's a lot of open items here, so we really can't comment on where we are, but we are talking with them. We felt that it would be proper to let the market know that we were in discussion but we don't really have anything to report tangibly at this point.

好吧，您已經讀過了我們與 CUPRA 進行的討論。這是一段為期24至36個月的旅程。我們確實——這裡有很多懸而未決的問題，所以我們真的無法評論我們所處的階段，但我們正在與他們交談。我們認為讓市場知道我們正在討論是適當的，但目前我們確實沒有任何實際可報告的內容。

We have no further questions. I'd like to turn the call back over to Mr. Penske for any closing remarks.

我們沒有其他問題了。我想將電話轉回給彭斯克先生，請他做最後發言。

Thank you, operator. Thanks, everybody. We had a great quarter, a great year, and we're looking forward to '25. Hopefully, to continue our progress. Thanks, everybody.

謝謝您，接線生。謝謝大家。我們度過了一個美好的季度、一個美好的一年，我們期待著25年。希望我們能夠繼續進步。謝謝大家。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。