STAMFORD, Conn., June 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE: ABG), one of the nation's largest automotive retailers, today announced that Steve Silverio has been named CEO of Thomason Auto Group, based in Portland, Oregon. Mr. Silverio will replace current CEO David Wegner.

Thomason Auto Group is one of the largest dealership groups in the Northwest. Since 1983, Thomason has grown from a single dealership to a dealership group consisting of 9 new car franchises (2 Ford, 2 Hyundai, Honda, Toyota, Nissan, and Pontiac/GMC) and 4 Thomason Select used car stores.

"We are pleased to have Steve Silverio on board as CEO in Portland," said Kenneth B. Gilman, president and CEO of Asbury Automotive. "Steve has been a key member of the team that has led our Coggin platform in Jacksonville to significant revenue and profit gains over the past two years, and we are confident that he will be able to translate that strong performance into a new market. We would like to thank Dave Wegner for his outstanding contributions to Asbury, and wish him well in his future endeavors."

Mr. Silverio began his automotive retailing career in 1973 at Stephen's World of Wheels in Bristol, Connecticut, and since then has held a number of positions, including sales person, used car manager and general sales manager. He has also owned and operated his own dealerships. Mr. Silverio has held general manager positions at Enfield Honda in Enfield, CT and Buddy Hutchinson Toyota in Jacksonville, Florida. He has been an employee of Asbury Automotive Group since 2000, when Asbury purchased Buddy Hutchinson Toyota and incorporated it into its Jacksonville platform, Coggin Automotive Group. In 2001, Mr. Silverio was promoted to executive vice president and director of variable operations for Coggin Automotive Group. In this position he was responsible for the new car sales, used car sales, inventories and advertising operations for all 16 Coggin stores. During this period Coggin experienced over 20% growth in revenue and over 50% growth in profitability. Mr. Silverio was born in St. Joseph, Missouri, and attended the University of Connecticut. He served in the armed services from 1968-1971, including two tours of duty in Vietnam.

"Thomason is a great brand in a strong market with seasoned automotive executives, and I'm excited to have the opportunity to make the platform even more successful," Silverio said. "I'm especially looking forward to working with the great staff at Thomason and getting to know the people of Portland."

About Asbury Automotive Group

Asbury Automotive Group, Inc., 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 92 retail auto stores, encompassing 132 franchises for the sale and servicing of 35 different brands of American, European and Asian automobiles. Asbury's product mix includes one of the highest proportions of luxury and mid-line import brands among leading U.S. 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, uncertainties related to pending acquisitions, including the risk that one or more pending acquisitions will fail to be completed as contemplated, 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 its other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 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
-0- 06/04/2003
/CONTACT: David Shein of RFBinder Partners, +1-212-994-7514,
david.shein@rfbinder.com, for Asbury Automotive Group/
(ABG)

CO: Asbury Automotive Group; Thomason Auto Group
ST: Connecticut, Oregon
IN: AUT REA
SU: PER

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6078 06/04/2003 12:00 EDT http://www.prnewswire.com