Talk:Asbury Automotive Group

Revisions made
Done, took out alot of the self serving lingo that sounds like their PR department wrote it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Thecarguy (talk • contribs) 02:53, 3 February 2008 (UTC)

Conflict-of-interest
The language under the section "The team" strongly indicates a conflict of interest in this article, as it references "Our Leadership," etc.

This section must be rewritten from a neutral point of view as it violates wikipedia's conflict-of-interest, style, and neutrality policies. As written, it reads as the text of a self-aggrandizing press release from the corporation in question.
 * I agree. I've tagged the article for sounding like an advertisement, since the tone is inappropriate for an encyclopedia, conflict or not. Eliz81(talk)(contribs) 14:52, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Proposed August 2017 revisions
I have previously edited this page as a conflict of interest editor. I propose the following changes based on recent financial information and additional company history:

Asbury Automotive Group is a Fortune 500 company based in Atlanta and was founded in 1995. The company operates auto dealerships in various parts of the United States. Its current rank is 410 out of 500.

As of December 2016, it is one of the largest automobile retailers in the United States, operating 96 franchises (80 dealership locations) in 18 metropolitan markets within 10 states. As of August 2017, its dealerships represent 29 American, European and Asian brands. In 2016, the company reported its revenues of approximately $6.5 billion and sold over 180,000 retail vehicles.

Currently based out of Duluth, GA, the company is led by President & CEO, Craig Monaghan. .

Company History
Tom Gibson, a former president of Subaru of America Inc., formed Asbury Automotive Group in January 1995. The venture, which was backed by the Toronto investment group Onex Corporation, was a means to build a chain of "megadealers," or automobile retailers with annual sales of $150 million or more. Onex's holdings were diversified and included Sky Chefs, Purolator Courier, and three leading auto suppliers (Automotive Industries, Dura Mechanical, and R.J. Tower Corporation). Asbury was originally based in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.

In February 1995, Asbury formed a joint venture with Jim Nalley Auto Group, which owned 11 dealerships in the Atlanta area. The purchase of Plaza Motors, a luxury auto mall in St. Louis, followed the next month. In August, Asbury acquired a 70 percent interest in the David McDavid Auto Group, a $500 million business in Dallas with 14 dealerships and 17 branches. This brought Asbury's annual sales to $1.3 billion. McDavid Auto, which was officially renamed Asbury Automotive of Texas Ltd. after the acquisition, had been formed in Houston in 1936 and had been family-owned for three generations.

By February 1998, Asbury had added deals to buy two leading Florida car dealers, Coggin Automotive Group of Jacksonville and Courtesy Automotive Group of Tampa. Arkansas's McLarty Automotive Group (later renamed North Point), North Carolina's Crown Automotive, and Oregon's Thomason Auto Group were also acquired during the year.

In April of 2000, Asbury streamlined its corporate structure from eight individual companies to just one, as the Oregon platform changed its name to Asbury Automotive Group, L.L.C. and became the parent company. A depressed stock market led Asbury to keep its plans for an IPO, always considered an eventual possibility, on hold.

Two dealerships in the Jackson, Mississippi, market, Gray-Daniels Ford and Metro Mazda-Hyundai-Suzuki-Isuzu, were added in the first half of 2001. The Jackson-area dealerships were then re-branded under the Gray-Daniels Auto Family name. Tom Wimberley Auto World was also added later in the year. Asbury also acquired Kelly Pontiac-GMC of Jacksonville, Florida, in late 2001; it became part of Coggin Automotive Group.

In February of 2011, Craig T. Monaghan was promoted to CEO, with Charlies Oglesby stepping down as CEO. Monaghan is an industry veteran who spent seven years as the CFO of AutoNation Inc. and three years as CFO of Asbury. He started his career as an engineer at a General Motors assembly plant and later worked in GM's New York Treasurer's Office.

In February of 2017, Asbury finalized the acquisition of Hare Chevrolet, operating in Noblesville, IN. Transportation is the right term because Hare Chevrolet predates the automobile by more than six decades. The company began as W. Hare and Son Inc., a maker and seller of horse-drawn carriages.

In March of 2017, Asbury finalized the opening of Nalley Nissan Cumming, an open point awarded to Asbury in Metro Atlanta.

Divisions

 * Coggin Automotive Group operates 12 retail auto stores representing 17 franchises for the sale and servicing of 12 brands in the Jacksonville, Florida area.
 * Courtesy Cars has 12 franchises for the sale and servicing of 12 brands in the Tampa, Florida area.
 * Crown Automotive Group is comprised of 18 dealerships in 9 cities across Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
 * David McDavid Auto Group includes 7 retail locations in the Dallas/Fort Worth, Irving, Frisco, Plano, Austin, and Houston, Texas areas.
 * Gray Daniels Auto Family hosts 5 retail auto stores for the sale and service of 6 brands in Mississippi.
 * Greenville Automotive Group operates 4 automotive retail stores for the sale and service of 7 brands in the Greenville, South Carolina area.
 * Hare is Asbury's newest platform, providing sales, customer service, and service for new and used cars. Its first location is in Noblesville, IN.
 * Nalley Automotive Group includes 18 retail auto stores representing 13 franchises for the sale and servicing of 11 brands in the Atlanta area.
 * Plaza Motor Company, is a platform consisting of high-line brands including Infiniti, BMW, Audi, Land Rover, Jaguar, Lexus, and Mercedes in the St. Louis area.

Company History
Asbury Automotive Group was formed in January 1995 by Thomas Gibson, former Ford Motor Company executive and former President of Subaru of America, Inc. The venture was backed by two private equity groups, Ripplewood Holdings LLC, controlled by renowned investor Timothy C. Collins, and Freeman Spogli & Co, with a mission to roll up private automotive dealership groups across the US through a hub and spoke approach (via large platform acquisitions with follow on “tuck-in” acquisitions). Asbury was originally based in Conshohocken, PA and was named after Gibson and Collins’ alma mater, Indiana “Asbury” University, now known as Depauw University.

In 1996, Asbury entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a controlling stake in Nalley Automotive Group, which was comprised of 9 dealerships with 11 franchises including several heavy truck franchises in the Atlanta area. Asbury closed on its first tuck in acquisition, Roswell Jeep in the Atlanta area, prior to closing on the larger Nalley platform acquisition in February of 1997. In December of 1997, Asbury closed on the acquisition of its second Platform, Plaza Motors Group in St Louis, MO. Plaza, majority owned by John Capps, was comprised of 8 luxury franchises on one campus.

In 1998, Asbury more than quadrupled in size and through the acquisition of majority shares in 5 additional Platforms across the country including; • September 1998 - Courtesy Automotive Group of Tampa, FL; majority owned by Jeff Wooley, comprised of 9 dealerships with 11 franchises • October 1998 – Coggin Automotive Group with dealerships across central and the east coast of FL; majority owned by Luther Coggin, comprised of 8 dealerships with 9 franchises • December 1998 – McDavid Automotive Group of Texas; majority owned by David McDavid, comprised of 9 dealerships with 10 franchises • December 1998 - Crown Automotive Group in North Carolina and Virginia; majority owned by Royce Reynolds and comprised of 9 dealerships with 10 franchises • December 1998 – Thomason Automotive Group of Portland, OR; comprised of 4 dealerships and franchises in the Portland, OR market.

In February of 1999, Asbury completed its final Platform acquisition through the purchase of a majority share in 9 dealerships controlled by Mac McLarty, former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton, in the Little Rock, AR and Texarkana, TX markets. The McLarty platform was later rebranded as North Point Automotive Group.

With the goal of an initial public offering, Asbury hired Brian Kendrick as Chief Executive Officer in 1999. Kendrick, a former executive with Saks Fifth Avenue, relocated the Company to Stamford, CT in early 2000 and began building Asbury’s executive and corporate team. By the summer of 2001, Asbury was well on its way to an IPO and had completed multiple acquisitions across most of its platforms, including several individual acquisitions in the Jackson, MS market that were rebranded under the Gray Daniels name and combined to become Asbury’s 9th Platform.

Kendrick’s sudden passing in September 2001 temporarily delayed Asbury’s IPO plans. Later that year, Asbury hired Kenneth B Gilman, a long-time specialty retail executive with the Limited Group, as its next CEO. Gilman quickly endeavored to take the Company public and Asbury began trading on the NYSE under the symbol ABG on March 14th, 2002. Asbury relocated its headquarters to New York City in 2004. In 2007, Gilman announced his retirement from Asbury and Charles Oglesby, an automotive industry veteran and then head of Asbury’s Nalley and North Point platforms, was named CEO.

In early 2008, Asbury hired Craig T. Monaghan, former CFO of Autonation as its CFO, and announced the relocation of its headquarters to Duluth GA, a suburb northeast of the city of Atlanta.

In February 2011, Charles Oglesby retired from the Company and Craig Monaghan was named new CEO. By this time, Asbury had completed its exits from California and Oregon.

In 2017, Asbury entered the Indiana market through the acquisition of Hare Chevrolet, one of the oldest automotive companies in the US Asbury also opened a new Nissan dealership it was awarded early in the year in Cumming, GA. In August 2017, Monaghan announced his retirement as CEO and will be succeeded in January 2018 by industry veteran and Asbury’s current Chief Operating Officer, David Hult.

Since its IPO in 2002, Asbury consummated over 100 franchise acquisitions and divestitures which included the exit from California, Oregon and Arkansas markets. Asbury currently owns 80 dealerships consisting of 94 franchises in 9 states. With over $6.5 Billion in annual revenues, Asbury is #410 on the Fortune 500 list.


 * I added the references but for some reason it isn't showing.JonSullivan32 (talk) 19:10, 30 October 2017 (UTC)

Divisions

 * Coggin Automotive Group operates 12 retail auto stores representing 17 franchises for the sale and servicing of 12 brands in the Jacksonville, Florida area.
 * Courtesy Cars has 12 franchises for the sale and servicing of 12 brands in the Tampa, Florida area.
 * Crown Automotive Group is comprised of 18 dealerships in 9 cities across Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
 * David McDavid Auto Group includes 7 retail locations in the Dallas/Fort Worth, Irving, Frisco, Plano, Austin, and Houston, Texas areas.
 * Gray Daniels Auto Family hosts 5 retail auto stores for the sale and service of 6 brands in Mississippi.
 * Greenville Automotive Group operates 4 automotive retail stores for the sale and service of 7 brands in the Greenville, South Carolina area.
 * Hare is Asbury's newest platform, providing sales, customer service, and service for new and used cars. Its first location is in Noblesville, IN.
 * Nalley Automotive Group includes 18 retail auto stores representing 13 franchises for the sale and servicing of 11 brands in the Atlanta area.
 * Plaza Motor Company, is a platform consisting of high-line brands including Infiniti, BMW, Audi, Land Rover, Jaguar, Lexus, and Mercedes in the St. Louis area.

Proposed Corrections & Updated Data
I am writing on behalf of the team at Asbury Automotive Group. We are looking to update the information on our Wikipedia page, but when we tried to do so ourselves a few years the changes were reverted by moderators. Much of the information that is currently on the page is outdated and no longer true. We are only looking to add up-to-date facts and information regarding the organization. Examples of this: 2 of the 3 key people on the page are no longer with the organization All of the financial numbers are from 2016 The employee count is from 2017 We no longer are associated with the Gray-Daniels “division” The opening section states that we canceled the deal to buy the Park Place group but does not mention our purchase of the group in August of 2020 Any help or guidance in this matter would be greatly appreciated. Thank you! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Charlieagrinsoni (talk • contribs) 19:30, 26 March 2021 (UTC)