Interim Financial Statements (Policies)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2022

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

The accompanying unaudited consolidated condensed financial statements of PAG have been prepared pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Certain information and disclosures normally included in our annual financial statements prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“U.S. GAAP”) have been condensed or omitted pursuant to the SEC rules and regulations. The information presented as of March 31, 2022, and December 31, 2021, and for the three months ended March 31, 2022 and 2021 is unaudited but includes all adjustments which our management believes to be necessary for the fair presentation of results for the periods presented. Results for interim periods are not necessarily indicative of results to be expected for the year. These consolidated condensed financial statements should be read in conjunction with our audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2021, which are included as part of our Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. The accounts requiring the use of significant estimates include accounts receivable, inventories, income taxes, intangible assets, leases, and certain reserves.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

Accounting standards define fair value as the price that would be received from selling an asset, or paid to transfer a liability in the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability, in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. Accounting standards establish a fair value hierarchy which requires an entity to maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs when measuring fair value and also establishes the following three levels of inputs that may be used to measure fair value:


Level 1			Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities

Level 2			Observable inputs other than Level 1 prices such as quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities, quoted market prices in markets that are not active, or model-derived valuations or other inputs that are observable or can be corroborated by observable market data for substantially the full term of the assets or liabilities

Level 3			Unobservable inputs that are supported by little or no market activity and that are significant to the fair value of the assets or liabilities

Our financial instruments consist of cash and cash equivalents, debt, floor plan notes payable, forward exchange contracts, and interest rate swaps used to hedge future cash flows. Other than our fixed rate debt, the carrying amount of all significant financial instruments approximates fair value due either to length of maturity, the existence of variable interest rates that approximate prevailing market rates, or as a result of mark to market accounting.

Our fixed rate debt consists of amounts outstanding under our senior subordinated notes and mortgage facilities. We estimate the fair value of our senior unsecured notes using quoted prices for the identical liability (Level 2), and we estimate the fair value of our mortgage facilities using a present value technique based on our current market interest rates for similar types of financial instruments (Level 2).

Disposals

DisposalsThe results of operations for disposals are included within continuing operations unless they meet the criteria to be classified as held for sale and treated as discontinued operations. We had no disposals during the three months ended March 31, 2022.

Income Taxes

Tax regulations may require items to be included in our tax return at different times than when those items are reflected in our financial statements. Some of the differences are permanent, such as expenses that are not deductible on our tax return, and some are temporary differences, such as the timing of depreciation expense. Temporary differences create deferred tax assets and liabilities. Deferred tax assets generally represent items that will be used as a tax deduction or credit in our tax return in future years which we have already recorded in our financial statements. Deferred tax liabilities generally represent deductions taken on our tax return that have not yet been recognized as an expense in our financial statements. We establish valuation allowances for our deferred tax assets if the amount of expected future taxable income is not more likely than not to allow for the use of the deduction or credit.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Reference Rate Reform

In March 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-04, “Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Facilitation of the Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting.” This ASU provides optional guidance for a limited time to ease the potential burden in accounting for reference rate reform. The new guidance provides optional expedients and exceptions for applying U.S. GAAP to contracts, hedging relationships, and other transactions affected by reference rate reform if certain criteria are met. The amendments apply only to contracts and hedging relationships that reference the London Interbank Offered Rate ("LIBOR") or another reference rate expected to be discontinued due to reference rate reform. Additionally, entities can elect to continue applying hedge accounting for hedging relationships affected by reference rate reform if certain conditions are met. In January 2021, the FASB issued ASU 2021-01, “Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Scope.” This ASU refines the scope of ASC 848 and clarifies some of its guidance as part of the Board’s monitoring of global reference rate reform activities. The ASU permits entities to elect certain optional expedients and exceptions when accounting for derivative contracts and certain hedging relationships affected by changes in the interest rates used for discounting cash flows, for computing variation margin settlements, and for calculating price alignment interest in connection with reference rate reform activities. These new standards were effective upon issuance and generally can be applied to applicable contract modifications through December 31, 2022. While our credit facility in the U.S. and many of our floorplan arrangements utilize LIBOR as a benchmark for calculating the applicable interest rate, some of our floorplan arrangements have already transitioned to utilizing an alternative benchmark rate. We are continuing to evaluate the impact of the transition from LIBOR to alternative reference interest rates. We cannot predict the effect of the potential changes to or elimination of LIBOR, the establishment and use of alternative rates or benchmarks, and the corresponding effects on our cost of capital but do not expect a significant impact on our consolidated financial position, results of operations, and cash flows.

- Definition

Disclosure of accounting policy for income taxes, which may include its accounting policies for recognizing and measuring deferred tax assets and liabilities and related valuation allowances, recognizing investment tax credits, operating loss carryforwards, tax credit carryforwards, and other carryforwards, methodologies for determining its effective income tax rate and the characterization of interest and penalties in the financial statements.

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