AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AutoNation, Inc.
(NYSE: AN), America's largest automotive retailer, has joined the Plug-In
Partners campaign calling on automakers to manufacture plug-in hybrid electric
vehicles.
"The development of plug-in hybrids could reduce America's addiction to
oil," said AutoNation CEO Mike Jackson. "These new hybrids would offer
consumers a 50-mile all-electric range, get the equivalent of 100 miles per
gallon, be fully recharged at night and deliver all the performance and
comfort of traditional gasoline-powered vehicles without the damaging
emissions. We believe Americans will buy these vehicles, which is why we want
to sell them."
The Plug-In Partners campaign, launched in January 2006 by the City of
Austin and Austin Energy, has attracted nearly 60 cities and counties,
including Los Angeles, Dallas, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco,
Baltimore and Phoenix, as well as dozens of environmental, national security
organizations, business and utility partners. The coalition is working with
its partners to generate "soft" fleet orders to demonstrate the potential
market for plug-in hybrid vehicles. It also has begun a nationwide petition
drive for individual consumers to express their support and interest in buying
a plug-in hybrid vehicle.
Austin Mayor Will Wynn said: "AutoNation's support of the Plug-In Partners
campaign demonstrates the growing momentum for the manufacturing of plug-in
hybrids. Mike Jackson certainly knows what type of vehicles that Americans
will buy. We salute his commitment to help us reduce this country's
dependence on foreign oil and decrease greenhouse gas emission while also
lowering fuel costs for consumers."
Contrasting plug-in hybrids to the limited range of earlier electric
vehicles, Jackson added, "Next-generation batteries are significantly more
powerful and can tolerate discharging and charging much more forgivingly than
earlier versions. That opens up the possibility of creating a vehicle that
will deliver genuine benefits to consumers and society."
Additional information about the campaign is available at
www.pluginpartners.org.
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 27,000 full-time employees and owns and
operates 333 new vehicle franchises in 16 states. For additional information,
please visit http://corp.AutoNation.com or www.AutoNation.com, where more than
100,000 vehicles are available for sale.
SOURCE AutoNation, Inc.
CONTACT:
Marc Cannon of AutoNation, Inc.
+1-954-769-3146
or
cannonm@autonation.com