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Lithia Motors finishes first quarter strong Wednesday Apr 25, 2018 at 8:02 AM Apr 25, 2018 at 8:03 AM Greg Stiles Mail Tribune @GregMTBusiness Lithia Motors fended off flat same store sales and a 2 percent decrease in new vehicle deals to produce its best first quarter on record. Spurred by 5 percent growth in used vehicle sales and a 3 percent pick-up in service revenue, the Medford auto retailer reported net income of $52 million on revenue of $2.7 billion. “Vehicle sales improved sequentially each month of the quarter,” said Bryan DeBoer, president and CEO. “January and February were softer than expected and we experienced more severe weather than typical in the northeast throughout the quarter. Despite the slower start, we finished strong with a record March, generating over 70 percent of our earnings. We expect this momentum to continue throughout 2018 and beyond. While fixed operations remains strong, sales shortfalls in January and February created an urgent call to action for our leaders to more aggressively pursue the over $200 million in unrealized earnings potential available to us.” The company also boosted its per share dividend to 29 cents, payable May 25 to shareholders of record on May 11. “We continue to expand and optimize our network of local customer service and delivery centers,” said DeBoer. “With two-thirds of the year remaining, we have nearly eclipsed the amount of revenue acquired in 2017. We see significant opportunities in the market that are more attractively priced than in the recent past.”