STAMFORD, Conn., March 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE: ABG), one of the nation's largest automotive retailers, announced today that Michael J. Durham and Jeff Wooley have been appointed to the company's board of directors. The appointments, which are effective immediately, increase the size of Asbury's board to 12 members. Mr. Durham has also been appointed to Asbury's Audit Committee.

"I am pleased to welcome Michael and Jeff to Asbury's board of directors," said Asbury CEO Kenneth B. Gilman. "These additions bring a vast array of experience with customer service oriented companies -- both within and outside of automotive retailing. Michael's deep financial and Internet/technology knowledge should be invaluable to Asbury's shareholders. And having worked closely with Jeff as one of our most respected platform CEOs, I consider him to be one of the best 'car guys' in the industry, and an exceedingly astute businessman."

Mr. Durham is former president and chief executive officer of Sabre, Inc., a position he held from July 1996 until October 1999. From March 1995 until July 1996 he served as the company's president. During Mr. Durham's tenure at Sabre he helped execute its restructuring as a separate subsidiary of AMR Corporation, American Airlines' parent company, as well as its successful initial public offering.

Prior to joining Sabre, Mr. Durham spent 16 years working for AMR/American Airlines in various roles. He was senior vice president and treasurer of AMR Corporation and senior vice president of finance and CFO of American Airlines from October 1989 until he assumed the position of president at Sabre.

Currently, Mr. Durham is non-executive chairman of the board of directors at Hotwire, an Internet-based travel company that is majority owned by leading U.S. airlines. He serves as a member of the board of directors and chairman of the audit committees of Kinko's, Inc., GridOne Advisory Corp. and Scheduling.com, three privately held corporations. Mr. Durham is also an active member of the board of the University Medical Center in Dallas, Circle 10 Council of The Boy Scouts of America, and of the advisory boards for a number of private companies in the information technology and Internet industries.

Mr. Durham holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Cornell University's Johnson Graduate School of Management and a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from the University of Rochester. He is a member of the University of Rochester Honorary Trustees' Alumni Council.

A 38-year veteran of the automotive industry, Mr. Wooley is currently CEO of Courtesy Automotive Group, Asbury's Tampa platform. Mr. Wooley began his career in the automobile business in 1965 as a retail salesman. Shortly thereafter, he joined Pontiac Motor Division in Nashville, Tennessee, as a District Service Manager and then Sales Manager. In 1973 he became the General Sales Manager at Beaman Pontiac in Nashville, Tennessee.

Mr. Wooley with Mr. Beaman purchased his first dealership in 1975 and in 1980 Mr. Wooley bought Mr. Beaman out. Since then, he has come to own and run day-to-day operations for thirteen franchises in the Tampa area, that currently span a well-balanced range of product offerings from luxury (Mercedes Benz, Infiniti) to mid-line imports (Toyota, Nissan) to mid-line domestic (Pontiac, GMC) to value (Kia, Hyundai). In 1998 Mr. Wooley became a part of the Asbury team when Asbury purchased Courtesy Automotive Group.

Mr. Wooley served on the Pontiac National Dealer Council and was Chairman of that council in 1982.

Mr. Wooley currently serves on the board of directors of the Gulf Ridge Council, Boy Scouts of America, and also contributes his time to other community organizations, including Berkeley Preparatory School and The Children's Hospital at St. Joseph's. Mr. Wooley attended the University of Oklahoma.

About Asbury Automotive Group

Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (www.asburyauto.com), headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, is one of the largest automobile retailers in the U.S., with 2002 revenues of $4.5 billion. Built through a combination of organic growth and a series of strategic acquisitions over the past six years, Asbury now operates through nine geographically concentrated, individually branded "platforms." These platforms operate 93 retail auto stores, encompassing 131 franchises for the sale and servicing of 36 different brands of American, European and Asian automobiles. Asbury believes that its product mix includes one of the highest proportions of luxury and mid-line import brands among leading U.S. public automotive retailers. The company offers customers an extensive range of automotive products and services, including new and used vehicle sales and related financing and insurance, vehicle maintenance and repair services, replacement parts and service contracts.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The forward-looking statements include statements relating to goals, plans and projections regarding the company's financial position, results of operations, market position, product development and business strategy. These statements are based on management's current expectations and involve significant risks and uncertainties that may cause results to differ materially from those set forth in the statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, market factors, the company's relationships with vehicle manufacturers and other suppliers, risks associated with the company's substantial indebtedness, automotive industry sales trends and competition, risks related to pending and potential future acquisitions, general economic conditions both nationally and locally and governmental regulations and legislation. There can be no guarantees the company's plans for future operations will be successfully implemented or that they will prove to be commercially successful. These and other risk factors are discussed in the company's registration statement on Form S-1 and in the company's periodic reports on Form 10-Q. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. SOURCE Asbury Automotive Group, Inc.

-0- 03/26/2003

/CONTACT: David Shein of RFBinder Partners, +1-212-994-7514, david.shein@rfbinder.com, for Asbury Automotive Group, Inc./