You are given a text that consists of multiple sentences. Your task is to perform abstractive summarization on this text. Use your understanding of the content to express the main ideas and crucial details in a shorter, coherent, and natural sounding text. 
Text: Leading our call today will be Mike Jackson, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; and Joe Lower, our Chief Financial Officer.
I will be available by phone following the call to address any additional questions that you may have.
AutoNation's third quarter results were the best ever in the Company's history.
We reported an all-time record quarter adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations of $2.38, an increase of 102% compared to last year.
In the third quarter, we saw solid demand and a strong pricing environment due to low interest rates and increased interest in vehicle ownership from consumers.
With the higher demand and tight inventory, we adjusted pricing and we were able to improve our margins.
New vehicle inventory remains tight, and we expect it will remain tight into '21.
For the quarter, same store total variable gross profit per vehicle retailed increased $966 or 28% compared to the prior year.
Same-store new vehicle gross profit per vehicle retailed increased $914 or 56%, and same-store used vehicle gross profit per vehicle retail increased $602 or 43% compared to prior year.
With our continue focused on our We will Buy Your Car initiative, we more than doubled the number of vehicles we source compared to last quarter.
Approximately 75% of the pre-owned units retailed are acquired from customers.
For the third quarter, we acquired over 12,000 units, with We'll Buy Your Car, and we're currently sourcing over 4,000 units a month to both supplement our inventory as well as reduce our average used vehicle acquisition cost.
During the third quarter, we continued to leverage our digital capabilities to drive cost reductions and increase efficiency for the business's long-term success.
These efforts, combined with our strong gross profit growth, drove significant SG&A leverage in the quarter.
Adjusted SG&A as a percentage of gross profit was 64.4% in the third quarter of 2020, representing a 800 basis point improvement compared to the third quarter of 2019.
We are committed to operating below 68% SG&A as percent of gross profit on a long-term basis.
Our AutoNation USA stores delivered another profitable quarter.
The continued growth and strong execution at these stores solidified our decision to move forward with the AutoNation USA expansion announced in the second quarter.
We plan to build over 100 AutoNation USA pre-owned stores, with over 50 completed by the end of 2025.
Our plan includes five new AutoNation US stores to be opened by the end of '21.
The AutoNation USA expansion will include extending AutoNation's coast to coast footprint into new markets, with our first new stores to open in Austin and San Antonio in '21.
These stores will continue to leverage the AutoNation brand and its proven processes for competitive advantage.
With this expansion, we have set the long-term goal of selling over 1 million combined new and used retail units per year.
As Mike just highlighted, today we reported adjusted net income from continuing operations of $212 million or $2.38 per share versus $106 million or $1.18 per share during the third quarter of 2019.
This represents a 102% increase on a per share basis.
Third quarter 2020 adjusted results exclude charges of $28 million after-tax or $0.31 per share associated with the previously announced exit of our aftermarket collision parts business and an unrealized loss of $2 million after-tax or $0.02 per share associated with our equity investment in Vroom.
During the third quarter, same-store revenue was in line with the prior year as increases in used vehicle and customer financial services revenue were offset by declines in sales of new vehicles and customer care.
High supply of new vehicles continued to limit sales volumes, and lower miles driven has limited the pace of customer care recovery.
That said, we continued to execute in an extremely high level during the quarter, with adjusted same store gross profit increasing 13% year-over-year.
Recovering demand, coupled with limited new vehicle supply, drove strong margins, with same store total PVRs up $966 or 28% compared to the prior year.
We were also able to grow our same-store used unit sales, which were up 3% year-over-year as we successfully met strong demand with trade-in volume and inventory sourced through our We'll Buy Your Car program.
Looking ahead, we expect the rebalancing of volume and vehicle margins as inventories recover next year.
Our customer care business also continues to gradually improve.
Adjusted same store customer care gross profit declined 2% in the quarter compared to the prior year.
And, as Mike highlighted, adjusted SG&A as a percentage of gross profit was 64.4% for the third quarter, which represents an 800 basis point improvement compared to the year-ago period.
This impressive performance was driven by the combination of strong cost discipline, leverage of our digital capabilities and healthy vehicle margins.
Looking ahead, we remain committed to maintaining expense discipline, and we continue to target operating below 68% SG&A as a percentage of gross profit.
A decline in floor plan interest expense also benefited our results.
Floor plan interest expense decreased to $11 million compared to $33 million in the third quarter of 2019 due to both lower interest rates and lower average floor plan balances.
This, combined with lower non-vehicle interest expense, a slightly lower effective tax rate and fewer shares outstanding, generated adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations of $2.38, up 102%.
Moving to the balance sheet and liquidity.
Our cash balance at quarter-end was $351 million, which, combined with our additional borrowing capacity, resulted in total liquidity of $2.4 billion at the end of September.
Our covenant leverage ratio of debt to EBITDA declined to 2.0 times at the end of the third quarter, down from 2.3 times at the end of the second quarter.
Including cash and used floor plan availability, our net leverage ratio was 1.4 times at quarter-end.
Looking ahead, we will continue our disciplined capital allocation strategy, utilizing our strong balance sheet, robust cash flow generation and ample liquidity to invest in our business and drive long-term shareholder value.
To this end, today we are providing additional details regarding the expansion of our AutoNation USA footprint, leveraging our established brand and proven success to further penetrate the attractive used vehicle market.
Our AutoNation USA stores require upfront capital investment of about $10 million to $11 million per store, and we expect to build at least 50 additional stores by the end of 2025.
Our AutoNation USA expansion is an exciting growth driver, with each store expected to earn a pre-tax profit of almost $2.5 million annually, once running at initial run rate.
In addition, today we announced that our Board of Directors has increased our share repurchase authorization to $500 million.
Throughout this pandemic, AutoNation has remained committed to our associates and communities we live and work in.
2020 marks the fifth anniversary of our DRIVE PINK initiative.
Our associates, our customers and our partners have helped AutoNation reach a tremendous milestone of raising and contributing over $25 million in the fight against cancer.
I'm excited by the opportunities there are in front us.
We have built an industry-leading brand, and we're the largest and most recognized automotive retailer.
We will capitalize on our strategic advantages.

user
qtrly earnings per share from continuing operations $2.05; qtrly adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations $2.38.
qtrly revenue $5.40 billion, down 1%.
qtrly same-store new vehicle gross profit per vehicle retailed was $2,535, up 56%.
qtrly same-store used vehicle gross profit per vehicle retailed was $1,994, up 43%.
qtrly same-store customer financial services gross profit per vehicle retailed was $2,154, up 11%.
increased share repurchase authorization to $500 million.
plans to build over 100 autonation usa pre-owned vehicle stores, with over 50 completed by end of 2025.
qtrly same-store total variable gross profit per vehicle retailed was up $966.
qtrly adjusted sg&a as a percentage of gross profit was 64.4%, up 800 basis points.

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