Penske Financial Analysis

Introduction

To start my introduction I would like to begin with the mission statement of Penske. “Unique in its heritage and formidable in its national and international scope, Penske Corporation is a closely held transportation services company that encompasses retail automotive sales and services, truck leasing, supply chain logistics management, transportation components manufacturing, and high-performance racing,”(Penske.com). In my evaluation of Penske I’ve gained a lot of new information and facts that I will now share with you. In the end I will give you my alternatives and recommendations in which I think will help Penske Corporation in the long run.

History

Roger Penske was born on February 20, 1937 in a small town in Ohio. He has five children and is marred to his wife Kathy. In 1958 Roger began to pursue racing, selling and purchasing automobiles and had great success at it. “By 1960 he was named Sports illustrated race car driver of the year, winning prestigious races until 1965 when he retired as a driver, to concentrate on owning and running a successful race car team,”(Wikipedia.org). Little did Roger know that in the next 37 years of racing he would have created a juggernaut in racing having over “260 major race wins, including 14 Indianapolis 500 wins, over 200 pole positions and 18 national championships,”(Penske.com).

Penske Corporation is the parent company of four business groups, the first being Penske Transportation. In 1982 Penske Truck Leasing merged with Hertz Rental Company to form Hertz Penske Truck Leasing. By 1988 Penske bought out Hertz share and formed Penske Truck Leasing. With its’ headquarters in Reading Pennsylvania, Penske Truck Leasing is a joint venture of Penske Corporation and General Electric. “A global transportation service Penske operates over 216,000 vehicles and serves customers from over 1,000 locations in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia,”(Wikipedia). A service that Penske Truck Leasing provides is Penske Truck Rental. Penske Truck Rental is basically a do it your self-moving business with over 50,000 trucks and a variety of vans, straight trucks and tractor trailers to choose from while serving customers at over 1,500 locations to best fit your needs. The second business group is Penske Automotive. Penske Automotive has five locations in California. These dealerships sell more than 40,000 cars annually, and the dealership Longo Toyota being the nations largest. These dealerships sell Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, Aston Martin, Jaguar and Lexus vehicles.

The third of the four groups is Penske Performance. Penske Performance has dominated since it entered racing. With over 260 major wins it has established itself at the top of the game. Penske Performance operates several automotive-related businesses. Penske Racing being one “is the most successful Indy car racing team in history with 110 race wins, highlighted by a record 13 of 27 Indianapolis 500 mile race victories,”(Legacy). Penske Racings premier drivers are Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman, Helio Castroneves and Sam Hornish JR. The fourth and final group of Penske Corporation is Penske Capital Partners. “Penske Capital Partners (PCP), is a venture formed with J.P. Morgan Partners, GE Capital and Aon Corporation, and is focused on making strategic acquisitions in the transportation industry,” (Legacy).

Financials

Penske, who is worth an estimated 1.7 billion dollars invested 80 million of that into dealerships and invested it in United Auto Group. On the NYSE United Auto Group is represented by the symbol UAG. In 1997 and 1998 the net loss of UAG was 11 million dollars. “Under Penske’s leadership, the value of UAG’s shares has climbed from an average of $8.45 in March of 1999, the month before Penske announced a plan to take it over, to nearly $30 these days,” (Thisdarncar). UAG is second to only its main competitor AutoNation in total revenue. With work in progress total revenue has risen from $2,395,739 in the 1st quarter of 2005 to $2,672,944 in 2006. About 83% of its total revenue comes from BMW, Honda, Lexus, Mercedez and Toyota sales. Penske logistics is among the top 5 in the United States. It brought in more than 1 billion in annual turnover.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

UAG’s market presence can’t be overlooked. With 152 franchises in the United States and 101 outside the United States, their belief in international sales towers over the competition. I mentioned earlier in my report that 83% of revenue come from foreign and luxury brands. This I would conclude is an advantage over the competition whom seem to trade with domestic brands. A strength