Press Release Details

AutoNation to Receive 2002 'Shareholder Value Award' From Automotive News, PricewaterhouseCoopers

Jan 15, 2003
Company's 2002 Stock Performance Tops That of Other Major Public Auto Retailers and Standard & Poor's 500 Index

DETROIT, Jan. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AutoNation (NYSE: AN), America's largest retailer of both new and used vehicles, announced today that it will be receiving the 2002 "Global Shareholder Value Award" for automotive retailers during a dinner ceremony here this evening hosted by the industry trade journal Automotive News and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Automotive News and PricewaterhouseCoopers present the Global Shareholder Value Awards each year to recognize excellence in shareholder value creation over one and three-year periods among automotive vehicle manufacturers, suppliers and retailers. AutoNation will be recognized for its 2002 stock performance, a 1.9% appreciation in share price that led all major publicly traded automotive retailers by 18 to 53 percentage points and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index by 25 percentage points. AutoNation's 2002 stock performance followed a 106% appreciation in the Company's share price in 2001.

"Our commitment to maintaining AutoNation's lead as America's best run and most profitable automotive retailer has allowed us to deliver two straight years of solid stock performance," said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mike Jackson. "It's a focused mission that's serving our customers, our associates and, as this award recognizes, our shareholders."

Jackson will accept AutoNation's Global Shareholder Value Award at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Dearborn, Mich., during a dinner ceremony marking the final evening of the 2003 Automotive News World Congress.

About AutoNation, Inc.

AutoNation, Inc., headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is America's largest retailer of both new and used vehicles. Ranked #101 on the 2002 Fortune 500 survey of America's largest corporations, AutoNation employs approximately 30,000 people and owns and operates 370 automotive retail franchises in 17 states. For additional information, please visit www.AutoNation.com, where consumers can find more than 83,000 vehicles available for sale, or visit http://corp.AutoNation.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain statements and information included in this release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Federal Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. Additional discussion of factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from management's projections, estimates and expectations is contained in the Company's SEC filings. The Company undertakes no duty to update its forward- looking statements, including its earnings outlook.

SOURCE AutoNation, Inc.

CONTACT: Oscar Suris of AutoNation, Inc., +1-954-769-3576, or suriso@autonation.com

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