Company Makes Retail History with Sale of 6 Millionth Vehicles
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., March 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AutoNation,
Inc. (NYSE: AN), America's largest automotive retailer, has once again been
named by Fortune magazine as America's Most Admired Company in the
automotive retail category. The award is based on a poll that includes
executives, industry peers and analysts. This marks the fifth time in the
past six years that AutoNation has earned the coveted designation.
AutoNation is one of two companies in Florida to be named "Most Admired,"
in their industry.
"This award is especially satisfying because it's based on the
assessment of our peers," said Mike Jackson, chairman and CEO of
AutoNation. "We're under the scrutiny of the people who know our business
better than anyone - other automotive retailers -- so it's a powerful
indication that we have been able to put in place the systems and
strategies to keep us at the forefront of our industry."
In fact, AutoNation has implemented a number of groundbreaking
initiatives recently. Transparency has been the driving theme behind many
of these, including the AutoNation Pledge, which is a company-wide
commitment to delivering customer-friendly financing. And the newest
effort, the SmartChoice program, which is based around a customer-friendly,
easy to read sales menu, listing everything from the sale price to
financing options to monthly payments -- information that in the past had
often been difficult to discern and time-consuming to collect.
These efforts have been successful not only in the eyes of the
company's peers." Customers have responded very positively, and AutoNation
this month sold its 6 millionth vehicle," said Michael E. Maroone,
AutoNation's president and chief operating officer. "When you consider
these achievements, you get a sense of just how appealing initiatives like
SmartChoice and the AutoNation Pledge really are to consumers."
In addition to sales, AutoNation serviced more than 5 million vehicles
last year, making them the largest service company among automotive
retailers. "The record sales and service volume that we have achieved helps
to validate the goals we've set for ourselves," said Maroone. "We believe
that by putting in place policies and programs that consumers want, we set
customer expectations and show the way for other retailers to follow. We're
grateful when these efforts are recognized by our peers, but we're even
happier when they're noticed by consumers."
In addition to being named Most Admired, AutoNation is also ranked #115
on FORTUNE magazine's list of America's 500 largest corporations. More
information is available online at http://www.autonation.com, where consumers can
also find approximately 90,000 vehicles for sale.
ABOUT AUTONATION, INC.
AutoNation, Inc., headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is America's
largest automotive retailer and a component of the Standard and Poor's 500
Index. AutoNation has approximately 26,000 full-time employees and owns and
operates 331 new vehicle franchises in 16 states. For additional
information, please visit http://corp.AutoNation.com or http://www.AutoNation.com,
where more than 90,000 vehicles a day are available for sale.
SOURCE AutoNation, Inc.
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Related links:
http://corp.autonation.com
http://www.AutoNation.com
Photo Notes:http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20001017/AUTONATIONLOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/750525.html /
CONTACT:
Marc Cannon of AutoNation, Inc.,
+1-954-769-3146, or cannonm@autonation.com
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