Revenue and earnings for the Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based UnitedAuto Group Inc. surged in the third quarter, riding an improving economy, an industrywide summer sales craze and about two dozen franchise acquisitions, according to the Detroit Free Press.

UnitedAuto, the nation's second-largest megadealer, on Nov. 4 reported net income of $25.3 million, or 61 cents a share, for the July-September period, up 15 percent from a year ago.

Revenue at the company's 134 U.S. and 79 international franchises grew 18 percent to $2.4 billion, driven by a 10-percent increase in revenues at stores open at least a year, the Free Press said in a story by business writer Sarah A. Webster.

New-car sales in the United States, spurred by cash-back rebates and special financing deals including zero percent interest loans, grew to a robust annualized pace of 17.6 million units during the third quarter. At UnitedAuto, this helped boost new-car sale revenue to $1.4 billion from $1.2 billion a year ago, an 18 percent increase.

But used-car sale revenue grew the most -- 25 percent -- during the quarter, and most other areas of the operations also experienced an increase. Revenues increased 21 percent for finance and insurance operations, 20 percent for service and parts and 10 percent for the wholesale business. Fleet sales, however, were down 14 percent, the Free Press noted.

UnitedAuto has this year completed acquisitions of 14 franchises in the United Kingdom and 9 in the United States. While the company would not say how much the new stores contributed to the third-quarter results, they are expected to generate $650 million in revenue annually, according to the Free Press.

UnitedAuto Chairman Roger Penske dismissed concerns during a conference call that sales might be disappointing in the fourth quarter because they were down industrywide in October from highs over the summer. Penske said four franchises in the San Diego area were shut down briefly because of wildfires last month but the impact was minimal. "We really had good traction in October," Penske said.

UnitedAuto earned $62.9 million, or $1.52 per share, through the first nine months and expects to earn about $2.08 a share for the full year.