Company: GPI
Filing Date: 2025-02-14
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001031203-25-000013
Chunk: 63

Company: GROUP 1 AUTOMOTIVE INC
Filing Date: 2025-02-14
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1A
Chunk 63
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 challenge new vehicle sales in 2025 and beyond. These EV mandates could impact our vehicle manufacturers’ production mix and volumes, which in turn may impact our new vehicle sales and results of operations.

Deterioration in market conditions or changes in our credit profile could adversely affect our operations and financial condition.

We rely on the positive cash flow we generate from our operations and our access to the credit and capital markets to fund our operations, growth strategy, and return of cash to our shareholders through share repurchases and dividends. Changes in the credit and capital markets, including market disruptions, limited liquidity and interest rate fluctuations, may increase the cost of financing or restrict our access to these potential sources of future liquidity. Our continued access to liquidity sources on favorable terms depends on multiple factors, including our operating performance and credit ratings. Our debt securities currently are rated just below investment-grade and a downgrade of this rating likely would negatively impact our access to the debt markets and increase our cost of borrowing. Disruptions in the debt markets or any downgrade of our credit ratings could adversely affect our operations and financial condition and our ability to finance acquisitions or return cash to our shareholders. We can make no assurances that our ability to obtain additional financing through the debt markets will not be adversely affected by economic conditions or that we will be able to maintain or improve our current credit ratings.

Our floorplan notes payable, mortgages and other debt are benchmarked to SOFR, which can be highly volatile as a result of changing economic conditions. Although we utilize derivative instruments to partially mitigate our exposure to interest rate fluctuations, significant increases in SOFR or other variable interest rates could have a material adverse impact on our interest expense due to the significance of our debt and floorplan balances. Refer to Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk for additional analysis regarding our interest rate sensitivity.

We are subject to risks associated with our dependence on manufacturer business relationships and agreements.

The success of our business is dependent on vehicle manufacturers on whom we rely exclusively on for our new vehicle inventory. Our ability to sell new vehicles is dependent on a vehicle manufacturer’s ability to produce and allocate to our dealerships an attractive, high quality and desirable product mix at the right time in order to satisfy customer demand.     

Manufacturers generally support their franchisees by providing direct financial assistance in various areas, including, among others, incentives, floorplan assistance and advertising assistance. A discontinuation or change in our manufacturers’ warranty and incentive programs could adversely affect our business. Manufacturers also provide product warranties and, in