AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

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Bret Jordan: Hey, good morning, guys. Could you talk a little bit more about RepairSmith, and maybe what the scope of services that you can offer on a remote basis are? And are there any regional restrictions there, you know, as far as, you know, outdoor work or driveway repair, how you sort of envision that?

Mike Manley: Yes, it’s great question, Bret. I mean, obviously, there’s a limited range of services and repairs that can be carried out on someone’s drive or in a car park or those elements and those, but it’s still incredibly broad if you think about servicing oil changes, filter change, cabin change, all of those things they can do repairs, a whole host of different repairs, which includes vehicle diagnostics. They can also provide free. There’s a lot of business, I’ll give you one of the things that to me is always a great area. There’s a lot of business of private, one guy selling a car to another guy or one girl selling the car to another guy, those are private sales. Some of those people actually wouldn’t mind their technician turning up for a relatively competitive fee and doing a quick diagnostic on the car they’re buying, gives them a lot of protection in that used — in that C2C market.

So there’s a whole host of things that RepairSmith are exploring and working on. They also have great relationships with lead companies, because it’s incredibly convenient for these large fleet operators to have their van, their transport vehicle serviced at night when they’re not using them. So I mean, the breadth of services that they can provide is phenomenal. They add back to all of the physical infrastructure that we have. All of the physical infrastructure that we have. So if you turn that up at your house, for example, and you’ve asked us to come into do a diagnosis and actually you need new transmission, we’re going to do that on the side of the road, that’s clear. But RepairSmith now have access to tens of thousands of ramps around the country where they can go and do that for you.

So you did the benefit is if they’re able to repair at your door, they can repair at your door, they could certainly diagnose it for you so you know what you’re in, and by the way, if necessary, we can get you to a ramp. So I don’t actually see much limitations based upon what you’ve said with the exception of obviously the further north you go in winter, and the less, I would say, the less likely you are to do what I would call prolonged jobs. But again, if you look at the person’s current footprint, our current footprint, how we’re going to grow together, that’s obviously been part of the thought process.

Bret Jordan: Okay, great. And then one quick question, you’ve commented that 50% of transactions were at or above MSRP. Could you give us the percent above MSRP and maybe what’s the cadence in that mix?

Joe Lower: It’s above MSRP has really not changed, really through the entire business

Mike Manley: That we need to clarify this, there’s not 50% — never ever added in 50% transactions done above MSRR.

Joe Lower: No, add MSRP.

Mike Manley: MSRP.

Bret Jordan: No your comment was 50% at or above and I was trying to get the above.

Joe Lower: Yes. So good clarification. My mistake, very clear above MSRP, really the pandemic has never been much above 3% and today is slightly below 2% and that is really a company policy and approach, which we’ve maintained. So think of 50% of their bucks at MSRP and less than 2% a buck. So thanks for clarifying that.

Bret Jordan: Perfect. Thank you.

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