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Letter to the Editor

AutoNation to Launch 'Courtesy' Brand Collision Centers in Orlando

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- AutoNation, Inc., America's largest automotive retailer, has announced that 11 of its Orlando-area franchised dealerships and eight of its stand-alone collision centers will adopt "Courtesy" as their local-market brand with a marketing campaign debuting on December 26th.

In addition to common marketing programs, the AutoNation-owned locations in Orlando, Winter Park, Casselberry, Longwood, Maitland and Sanford will share common store practices such as quality certified used vehicles and customer-friendly, menu pricing on finance and insurance products.

"We want Orlando area consumers to feel they cannot make an intelligent buying or servicing decision without considering the Courtesy brand," said Michael E. Maroone, AutoNation's President and Chief Operating Officer. "No other retailer in Central Florida will be able to match the combination of price, service and selection of Courtesy, the market's largest automotive retail brand."

The Courtesy brand already has an established presence in the Orlando area with five AutoNation-owned stores currently using the Courtesy brand name, including Courtesy Toyota in Winter Park and Courtesy Buick, Courtesy Honda, Courtesy Pontiac/GMC and Courtesy Magic's Suzuki Isuzu in Longwood. The six additional stores that will be adopting the Courtesy brand are AutoNation Chrysler/Jeep in Casselberry, Don Mealey Acura in Longwood, Don Mealey Chevrolet/Oldsmobile and World Chevrolet in Orlando, and Metro Chrysler Jeep and Seminole Ford in Sanford. There are eight stand-alone AutoNation Collision Centers in the Orlando-area adopting the Courtesy brand.

In addition, AutoNation will continue to operate its Mercedes-Benz of Orlando store and its Porsche of Orlando store under their existing names.

The local-market branding strategy is one that AutoNation has previously executed in Denver with "John Elway," in the Tampa Bay area with "AutoWay," in South Florida with "Maroone," in Las Vegas with "Desert," in Jacksonville, Fla. with "Mike Shad," and in Baltimore with "Fox." In each branding effort, multiple stores adopt the same local-market brand and AutoNation realizes significant economies of scale, promising consumers the delivery of a brand promise that includes superior price, service and selection offerings to consumers.

AutoNation, Inc., a Fortune 100 company based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., owns and operates 367 new vehicle franchises in 17 states. In 2000, the Company generated more than $20 billion in revenue.

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