Lithia Motors Inc., which outsold AutoNation Inc. for the first three months of 2022, did so again in the second quarter, making it the nation's largest new-vehicle retailer through the first half and putting Lithia closer to overtaking longtime No. 1 AutoNation for a full year.
Lithia reported Wednesday that it sold 68,752 new vehicles in the second quarter, including a small but undisclosed number sold in Canada. While Lithia's new-vehicle sales numbers dropped 8.5 percent compared with last year's second quarter, AutoNation's new-vehicle sales tumbled even more. New-vehicle sales performance for both retailers has been squeezed by the industry's inventory shortage, but Lithia's aggressive dealership acquisition strategy has helped it keep sales numbers up.
AutoNation on Thursday reported that it sold 57,890 new vehicles in the second quarter, down 25 percent from the year-ago period.
Through the first half of the year, Lithia sold 133,694 new vehicl…