AutoNation, Inc. (AN) Thriving on Soaring Truck and Luxury Vehicle Sales

AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) is coming off another impressive month, selling just shy of 33,000 vehicles for the month of August according to statistics released by the company today. Chairman and CEO Mike Jackson visited CNBC this morning to discuss the most recent statistics.

“The comp was difficult, August of last year was a fantastic month with a selling rate over 16 million, so to be up 7% on top of that is really quite something. And the big drivers are truck sales, up 9%, and very strong premium luxury business for us, up 12%,” Jackson said.

Sales were solid across the board, with domestic vehicle sales up 8% to over 10,000 units, imports up 5% to nearly 17,000, truck sales up 9% and luxury vehicle sales up 12% to 5,676. The continued success for AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) isn’t much of a surprise. The company is coming off its 15^th consecutive quarter of strong growth, and appears poised to raise the bar to a full four years running. Same store sales for the most recent month also remained strong, up 5% from the previous year.

In the case of trucks, the increasing sales are not only a positive for AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN), but may also be seen as a positive indicator for the economy as a whole. Jackson has previously stated that rising truck sales are a good indication of busy contractors, and reiterated that point today. And aside from the first quarter, the truck sales seem to bear that out, with the economy growing at a 3% rate and job growth strong.

It was revealed a few days ago by the SEC that AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) insider, COO Michael E. Maroone divested himself of 220,250 shares of stock in the company on August 27. The shares sold at an average price of $53.94. AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) began the day at $53.77, and is currently up half a percentage point on the day, and over 8% for the year.

Disclosure: none