Daniel, they are the largest automotive group and they have about a dozen stores in the DFW market. Behind them, in DFW, in the number of stores, is Group 1 and VanTuyl. They don't have one store that beats either a Group 1 or a VanTuyl store. Many of the family stores crush them. Group 1 is smaller but their stock price is $10 more per share. VanTuy is the largest privately owned group and known for their profitability.
They stifle creative people and are notorious for low pay. They will buy a market leader and within a year all of the good people are gone and the store is average at best. There have been a bunch of open points awarded in Dallas and Ft. Worth but none of them went to AutoNation. That tells me that the manufacturers don't want them.
Nothing like reporting to a bunch of MBAs telling you how to do something that they have never done.
There was another article quoting one of their big shots about how they were going to re-invent the internet and concentrate on used cars. It was a year or two ago. I haven't seen any signs of this but again, this is the company that once owned Blockbuster video. You would think they would have learned something about the internet back then.
As far a size is concerned, I remember when Sears was the largest retail outlet and J.C. Penny was the largest clothing chain. There is no other industry that is as vulnerable to big market fluctuations as automotive.
