Welcome to the 2020 Annual Meeting for AutoNation, Inc. Our host for today's call is Marc Cannon, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer. At this time, all participants will be in listen-only mode. I will now turn the call over to your host, Mr. Cannon. You may begin.
Good morning and welcome to the virtual webcast of the 2020 Annual Meeting of Stockholders of AutoNation Inc. We do not expect any technical difficulties today. However, in the event we lose audio or webcast connections, we are unable to provide any updates. Please wait 10 minutes for resolution. The polls are open. To vote, click on the Vote Here button at the bottom right corner of the webcast screen. The polls will remain open until the conclusion of the matters to be voted on portion of the meeting. I would like to now introduce AutoNation General Counsel and Corporate Secretary Coleman Edmunds to begin the meeting.
Thank you, Mark. During the webcast today, the company may make forward-looking statements about our expectations or predictions about the future. Because these statements are based on current assumptions and factors that involve risks and uncertainties, the company's actual performance and results may differ materially from what is said here today. Please refer to AutoNation's 2019 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 18, 2020, for detailed discussions of principal risks and uncertainties that could cause such differences and to our subsequent SEC filings for updates. With that, I'll turn the call over to AutoNation's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mike Jackson, to share a few opening remarks before we call the business meeting to order.
Thank you, Coleman. First and foremost, I'd like to begin by thanking all AutoNation employees across the country for the tremendous efforts during these challenging times. Their hard work and dedication continue to support first responders, essential workers, and the communities in which we live and work. I would also like to thank and introduce the board of directors who have served with great dedication and distinction through these difficult times. First, Rick Burdick is our lead director and a former partner with Akin Gump, a global full-service law firm based in Washington, D.C. Rick has been a director of AutoNation for over 25 years. Rick serves on our Compensation Committee. David B. Edelson has served as one of our directors since July 2008 and serves as chair of our Audit Committee. Mr. Edelson is Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Loews Corporation.
Robert R. Grusky has served as one of our directors since June 2006. Mr. Grusky is founder and managing member of Hope Capital Management, LLC, an investment management firm he founded in 2000. Mr. Grusky chairs the company's Finance Committee. G. Mike Mikan has served as one of our directors since March 2013. Mr. Mikan is CEO and President of Bright Health Group, Inc., a consumer-focused health insurance and services business. Mr. Mikan chairs our Compensation Committee. Jackie A. Travisano has served as one of our directors since April 2018. Ms. Travisano serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the University of Miami. Mrs. Travisano chairs our Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee. Thomas J. Baltimore, Jr., has served as one of our directors since April 2019. Mr.
Baltimore has been the Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Park Hotels and Resorts, a New York Stock Exchange-listed lodging real estate investment trust since January 2017. Mr. Baltimore serves as our Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee as well as our Finance Committee. Stephen L. Gerard serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of CBIZ, a provider of integrated business services and products. A position he has held since October 2002. Mr. Gerard serves as our Audit Committee, serves on our Audit Committee and Compensation Committee. Lisa Lutoff-Perlo has served as Director of the Company since February 2020. Since December 2014, she has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Celebrity Cruises, a multi-billion-dollar cruise line and a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Cruises. Ms. Lutoff-Perlo serves on our Audit Committee and Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee.
Finally, Cheryl Miller, who has been in various leadership positions for AutoNation for over 10 years and was appointed as CEO and President in July of 2019. Ms. Miller currently is on medical leave. I'd like to review the results for 2019. Although that feels like a lifetime ago, we had an excellent year with revenue over $21 billion and EPS of $4.98, an all-time record, up 15% from 2018. I'll now turn the call back to Coleman Edmunds.
Thank you, Mike. I now call this Annual Meeting of Stockholders to order. The rules of conduct and procedures are shown at the bottom right corner of the webcast screen. The procedures we follow are simple and designed to ensure that we have a fair and orderly meeting. As noted, the polls are open. If you have not already voted your shares or wish to change your vote, you may do so by clicking on the Vote Here button at the bottom right corner of the webcast screen. The polls will remain open until the conclusion of the matters to be voted on portion of the meeting. Stockholders may submit questions electronically during the meeting by typing your question in the box located at the bottom left corner of the webcast screen. These questions will not be visible to other participants.
We intend to answer questions submitted during the meeting that are pertinent to the company and meeting matters as time permits. Please note that this meeting is being recorded. However, participants are not permitted to use any recording device. The board appointed Broadridge Financial Solutions to act as the inspector of elections to the meeting. We are informed by our inspector that a quorum shall be deemed present for purposes of conducting the business of the meeting. KPMG, our lead independent auditor, are attending today's meeting through live webcast. We will now review the matters to be voted on. The first item on the agenda is the election of directors. The director nominees are Mike Jackson, Thomas Baltimore, Rick Burdick, David Edelson, Stephen Gerard, Robert Grusky, Mike Mikan, Cheryl Miller, and Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, and Jackie Travisano. Your board recommends a vote for these nominees.
Agenda item two concerns the ratification of the selection of KPMG as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for 2020. Agenda item three gives stockholders the opportunity to approve on an advisory basis executive compensation. Your board recommends a vote for agenda items two and three. Agenda item four is a stockholder proposal regarding special meetings. The proposal was submitted by John Chevedden. I recognize Mr. Chevedden for a period of three minutes. Operator, please open Mr. Chevedden's line.
Hello, this is John Chevedden. Can you hear me okay? Hello?
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Okay. This is proposal four, shareholder right to call a special meeting. Shareholders ask our board to take the steps necessary to amend the appropriate governing documents to give the owners of a combined 10% of our outstanding common stock the power to call a special shareholder meeting. This proposal could be adopted with a protective provision that if any shareholder owned 10% or more of AutoNation stock, then such a shareholder would need the participation of another 10% of company stock to call a special meeting. Special meetings allow shareholders to vote on important matters such as electing new directors that can arise between annual meetings. In regard to new directors, Mr. Thomas Baltimore was new to our board of directors in 2019 and yet received five times as many negative votes as most of our other directors. Mr.
Baltimore's negative votes could call into question the succession planning of our board of directors, especially given that some AutoNation directors once appointed have extended terms. For instance, Rick Burdick had a 29-year-long tenure. It is important to have a new director who favorably impresses shareholders right from the start. Dozens of Fortune 500 companies provide for both shareholders' rights to act by written consent and to call a special meeting. This proposal will make our company more competitive from a corporate governance standpoint. Another way to improve our corporate governance would be executive pay each year. With CEO turnover at AutoNation compounded with a declining stock price for the last five years, it is especially important that executive pay incentives are properly aligned with company performance and that shareholders have the right to vote on executive pay each year.
This proposal topic, sponsored by William Steiner, won 78% support at a Sprint annual meeting with 1.7 billion yes votes. This 78% support might have been even higher if more shareholders had access to independent proxy voting advice. Please vote yes, shareholder right to call a special meeting proposal four.
Your board recommends a vote against item four for the reasons set forth in the company's proxy statement. This concludes the review of matters to be voted on. The polls are now closed. The inspector of election will collect and tabulate all the proxies and ballots. Subject to a final tabulation, we report the following preliminary results provided by the inspector: all of the director nominees have been elected, that the appointment of KPMG has been ratified, that stockholders have approved executive compensation, and that stockholders have voted against the special meeting proposal. The final voting results will become part of the record of the meeting and will be reported in a Form 8-K to be filed in connection with the matters voted on at this meeting.
Thank you, Coleman. All items of business has now been completed. We'll now address questions that are pertinent to the company and meeting matters. Mr. Cannon, do we have any questions?
Yes. How has AutoNation been impacted by COVID-19 is the first question, Mike.
Well, obviously, the entire world and all of America has been dramatically impacted by COVID-19. For us in particular, shelter-in-place and stay-at-home orders have significantly disrupted business. And since those orders were put in place in mid-March, we've seen a 50% decline in vehicle sales, both new and used, and also a decline in our parts and service business being far below the capacity that we have. Our dealerships all remain open on the customer care side. We have some showrooms closed by city or state orders, but the team's morale is high. It's strong, and we continue to work through the challenges of COVID-19.
Thank you. Next question. What is AutoNation doing to ensure the safety of both customers and its employees?
Yeah, I think retail has changed forever from this, and we will have to have different processes in the future. And we think we've taken significant steps already to ensure the safety of our customers and our employees. That includes providing masks, gloves, hand sanitizers, single-use pens, sprays, wipes, a much-heightened level of cleaning throughout the stores, including all the high-touch areas such as keyboards, telephones, and guest common areas. Our team has posted bulletins to remind all customers, and we've put spacing down on the importance of social distancing and handwashing. So I think we've taken a comprehensive approach to keep our customers safe and to keep our employees safe.
Can you share details on Cheryl's health issues?
has requested a leave of absence, and Cheryl has requested that the details of her medical condition remain private, and the company is going to respect that. So we will not provide additional details. I will serve as CEO for the next several months until Cheryl returns, and also, as of this morning, I'm very proud to announce Jim Bender as the new President of AutoNation. Mr. Bender has had key positions with this company over 20 years. He's implemented many successful initiatives. He's highly respected throughout the entire organization. He's a legend at the store level. This will be very much welcomed by the company. He's an outstanding leader, and I'm very proud to make that announcement today.
Are the manufacturers providing support to dealers at this time?
Yes, absolutely. The manufacturers have been very responsible and responsive to this crisis, both on how they deal with production, be careful not to completely oversupply the market, to offer us a reduced floor plan, have additional incentive opportunities for customers, being very flexible, extending customers' leases and payments. They have done everything you could have hoped for and asked to be a true partner through a crisis, and we're wishing them all well and hoping for a, as soon as appropriate, resumption of production.
Mike, that concludes the questions we have.
Thank you, Mark. Thank you all for your continued support and interest in AutoNation. This concludes today's webcast, and the meeting is now adjourned. Thank you.
This now concludes the meeting. Thank you for joining, and have a pleasant day.