Press Release Details

Champion Joins Champion

Jun 15, 2004
              Roger Clemens Signs With Champion Automotive Group

HOUSTON, June 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Houston Astros star and future Hall Of Fame member Roger Clemens has signed a long-term agreement to become the exclusive spokesperson for Champion Automotive Group, Texas' largest network of automotive retail stores.

"When you're a competitive guy like me, you always want to work with a champion," said Clemens. "And when it comes to this group of dealerships, that's more than just a name. As a professional ball player and a Houston- area native, I'm proud and excited to have the opportunity to work with two great teams -- one on the ball field and the other in the business arena."

In his new role, Clemens will serve as pitchman for Champion's 21 locations, a network of stores that stretches from Austin to Houston to Corpus Christi. The multi-year agreement will enable Champion to build on the respect and awareness Clemens has generated in the market through appearances in the company's broadcast and print advertising as well as participation in special events, contests and promotions.

"This is a great partnership," said Michael E. Maroone, president and chief operating officer of AutoNation, Champion's parent company. "We're matching the power of Roger Clemens, one of the most dominant pitchers of all time, with the power of the area's most dominant automotive group."

AutoNation has a strong team of prominent sports figures promoting their dealership networks. This includes Dan Marino, the legendary Miami Dolphins quarterback, who serves as spokesperson for all AutoNation markets in Florida as well as Atlanta and Memphis; John Elway, two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback for the Denver Broncos, who represents the John Elway dealerships in Denver and the Desert Auto Group in Las Vegas; and Wayne Gretzky, widely considered the greatest professional hockey player of all time, who promotes the Power dealership network in Southern California.

Since the company's founding in 1996, AutoNation has grown to become the largest automotive retailer in the country, with annual sales approaching $20 billion. The company continues to expand, most recently in Texas with the acquisition of Dallas-Fort Worth's John Roberts BMW and Mini, the largest BMW and Mini dealership in the area. This brings to 66 the number of new vehicle franchises the company owns in the state of Texas and to 365 the number of new vehicle dealerships the company owns nationwide. More information is available online at http://www.autonation.com.

About AutoNation, Inc.

AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE: AN), headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is America's largest automotive retailer. Ranked No. 97 on the 2004 Fortune 500 and a component of the Standard and Poor's 500 Index, AutoNation employs approximately 28,000 people and owns and operates 365 new vehicle franchises in 18 states. For additional information, please visit http://corp.AutoNation.com or http://www.AutoNation.com, where more than 100,000 vehicles are available for sale.

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.
    -0-                             06/15/2004
    /CONTACT:  Marc Cannon of AutoNation, Inc., +1-954-769-3146, or
cannonm@autonation.com /
       /Photo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20001017/AUTONATIONLOGO
AP Archive:  http://photoarchive.ap.org
              PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com/
    /Company News On-Call:  http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/750525.html/
    /Web site:  http://corp.autonation.com /
                http://www.AutoNation.com /
    (AN)

CO:  AutoNation, Inc.; Champion Automotive Group
ST:  Florida, Texas
IN:  AUT
SU:

MR-KW 
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5094 06/15/2004 16:30 EDT http://www.prnewswire.com