DealersUS
AutoNation adds Goodyear CEO Mark Stewart to its board as Carvana overtakes it in Sep 2026 sales
Governance changed in October; the Sep 2026 US sales trend did not.
AutoNation announced on Oct 16, 2026, on its newsroom (autonation.com), that it has appointed Mark Stewart to its Board of Directors. Filings and press coverage identify Stewart as CEO and President of Goodyear, joining as an independent director. The board seat is a governance change; the US sales trend behind it is unchanged. MarketCheck data for US dealer websites shows AutoNation sold 50,953 vehicles in Sep 2026, down from 51,883 in Sep 2025, a decline of 1.8%. Used was the weaker side, falling from 24,391 to 23,281 units, a drop of 4.6%, while new held close to flat at +0.7%. Over the same month Carvana sold 71,192 vehicles, up 43.3% year on year, moving ahead of AutoNation by units sold.
What the data shows
| Dealer group | Sold Sep 2025 (units) | Sold Sep 2026 (units) | Change (%) | Median days on market Sep 2025 (days) | Median days on market Sep 2026 (days) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carvana | 49,687 | 71,192 | +43.3% | 22 | 22 |
| Carmax | 59,130 | 66,255 | +12.0% | 28 | 25 |
| Lithia Motors Inc. | 58,278 | 55,902 | -4.1% | 34 | 38 |
| AutoNation Inc. | 51,883 | 50,953 | -1.8% | 32 | 33 |
| Asbury Automotive Group | 24,562 | 29,272 | +19.2% | 31 | 28 |
| Group 1 Automotive Inc. | 28,818 | 27,317 | -5.2% | 28 | 28 |
| Penske Automotive Group Inc. | 25,296 | 26,575 | +5.1% | 28 | 29 |
| Berkshire Hathaway Automotive | 23,186 | 25,411 | +9.6% | 26 | 25 |
Reading the table: the two online-first used retailers and three franchise groups grew, AutoNation, Lithia and Group 1 shrank, and AutoNation slipped from third to fourth by units sold. The table covers all new and used sales on US dealer websites, Sep 2025 and Sep 2026, for the largest groups by units sold.
The group-level view for AutoNation separates the two sides of the business. New sold units moved from 27,492 to 27,672, a change of +0.7%, and the new median asking price was close to flat, $46,980 against $46,817, a change of -0.3%. Used sold units fell from 24,391 to 23,281, down 4.6%, while the used median asking price rose from $23,998 to $25,988, up 8.3%, on younger stock: median used miles fell from 54,629 to 50,348, down 7.8%. Median days on market rose on both sides, from 41 to 42 days on new and from 21 to 23 days on used. The mean discount to MSRP on new sales narrowed from -3.96% in Sep 2025 to -3.22% in Sep 2026. Prices, miles and days on market are medians; the MSRP row is a mean.
Why it matters
The sales base is still smaller than a year ago. AutoNation's dealer-website sales fell 1.8% year on year in Sep 2026. A board refresh lands against a group that is selling fewer units than it did in Sep 2025, not more.
Used is the weak side, but the slide eased. The used decline was 4.6% in Sep 2026. MarketCheck research put the Aug 2026 used decline at 10.7%, so the gap narrowed month to month. For competing franchise and independent dealers, a large group losing used buyers remains an opening.
Used stock is younger, pricier and slower to sell. The used median asking price rose 8.3% while median miles fell 7.8% and median used days on market rose from 21 to 23. Higher asking prices on fresher cars have not translated into a faster turn. MarketCheck research counts 100,472 live AutoNation listings as of Oct 5, 2026.
New-car asking prices held firm. The median new asking price barely moved and the mean discount to MSRP narrowed to -3.22%. On the data, this is a group holding its new-vehicle asking prices rather than discounting to move volume.
Carvana is now ahead on units. In Sep 2025 AutoNation led Carvana, 51,883 to 49,687. In Sep 2026 Carvana sold 71,192 against AutoNation's 50,953, with median days on market steady at 22. Asbury grew 19.2% and Berkshire Hathaway Automotive 9.6%, so the picture is group by group rather than uniform.
What to watch
- AutoNation's Oct 2026 used sales. Another year-on-year decline would read the September narrowing as a pause rather than a turn.
- Used days on market across the large groups. AutoNation's median moved from 21 to 23 days while Carvana held at 22; a widening gap gives competing dealers room on used pricing.
- The new-vehicle discount. Whether AutoNation's mean discount to MSRP stays near -3.22% into year-end, or widens back toward the -3.96% of Sep 2025.
- Board and executive moves read together. AutoNation also named a technology and AI chief this month, per MarketCheck research. No filing or release states a strategic purpose for the board appointment, so stated strategy, rather than the appointments themselves, is the thing to wait for.
How this was measured
Sales are listings that left US franchise and independent dealer websites, Sep 2026 against Sep 2025, the latest complete month; the data lags about two months. Prices are advertised asking prices, not transaction prices, and off-market figures are last-list prices used as a sold proxy. The discount to MSRP is a mean. Auctions and private sales are excluded.
The read used the MarketCheck Sold Summary API (the get_sold_summary tool in the MarketCheck MCP; docs https://docs.marketcheck.com/docs/get-started/api/mcp/tools/sold-summary), national summaries ranked by dealership group name and by inventory type, for Sep 2025 and Sep 2026. Data label: MarketCheck sold-vehicle statistics, US dealer websites. API keys: https://developers.marketcheck.com.
The story we checked
"AutoNation Appoints Mark Stewart to Board of Directors," autonation.com, Oct 16, 2026. Fact-check tally: 4 verified, 1 unverifiable. Verified: the appointment announced Oct 16, 2026; Stewart joining as an independent director effective Oct 13, 2026; Stewart as CEO and President of Goodyear; the board expanding to ten members. Unverifiable: that the appointment signals a change in AutoNation's technology or data strategy, as no filing or release states a strategic purpose.
You can run the same read in MarketCheck AI Desk: https://ai.marketcheck.com/install.
Reproduce this
- search_past_90_days: Pull listings that left dealer websites in the last 90 days, at their last asking price, to track used turn at large groups.
- search_active_cars: Filter live dealer listings to AutoNation stores to see current used asking prices and mileage.
- generate_market_movers: Check what is moving in one US metro where the large groups compete on used inventory.
The story we checkedAutoNation Appoints Mark Stewart to Board of Directors, autonation.com, Oct 16, 2026
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