FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., March 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AutoNation, Inc. , America's largest automotive retailer, has once again been named by Fortune magazine as America's Most Admired Company in the automotive retail category. The award is based on a poll that includes executives, industry peers and analysts. This marks the fifth time in the past six years that AutoNation has earned the coveted designation. AutoNation is one of two companies in Florida to be named "Most Admired," in their industry.
"This award is especially satisfying because it's based on the assessment of our peers," said Mike Jackson, chairman and CEO of AutoNation. "We're under the scrutiny of the people who know our business better than anyone - other automotive retailers -- so it's a powerful indication that we have been able to put in place the systems and strategies to keep us at the forefront of our industry."
In fact, AutoNation has implemented a number of groundbreaking initiatives recently. Transparency has been the driving theme behind many of these, including the AutoNation Pledge, which is a company-wide commitment to delivering customer-friendly financing. And the newest effort, the SmartChoice program, which is based around a customer-friendly, easy to read sales menu, listing everything from the sale price to financing options to monthly payments -- information that in the past had often been difficult to discern and time-consuming to collect.
These efforts have been successful not only in the eyes of the company's peers." Customers have responded very positively, and AutoNation this month sold its 6 millionth vehicle," said Michael E. Maroone, AutoNation's president and chief operating officer. "When you consider these achievements, you get a sense of just how appealing initiatives like SmartChoice and the AutoNation Pledge really are to consumers."
In addition to sales, AutoNation serviced more than 5 million vehicles last year, making them the largest service company among automotive retailers. "The record sales and service volume that we have achieved helps to validate the goals we've set for ourselves," said Maroone. "We believe that by putting in place policies and programs that consumers want, we set customer expectations and show the way for other retailers to follow. We're grateful when these efforts are recognized by our peers, but we're even happier when they're noticed by consumers."
In addition to being named Most Admired, AutoNation is also ranked #115 on FORTUNE magazine's list of America's 500 largest corporations. More information is available online at http://www.autonation.com/, where consumers can also find approximately 90,000 vehicles for sale.
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 26,000 full-time employees and owns and operates 331 new vehicle franchises in 16 states. For additional information, please visit http://corp.autonation.com/ or http://www.autonation.com/, where more than 90,000 vehicles a day are available for sale.
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