Automotive Trucks information on net.

Dispositions Announced; Stock Repurchase Authorization Completed

Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI), a Fortune 500 specialty retailer, today announced it has acquired Lexus and Toyota franchises in Manchester, N.H., and relocated its Fort Bend, Texas, Toyota franchise into a new state-of-the-art facility. The company also announced that it has completed its stock repurchase program under its current board authorization.

In January, Group 1 acquired Lexus and Toyota franchises in Manchester that are expected to generate $127.1 million in annual revenues. This is the sole Lexus franchise in the state of New Hampshire. Prior to this acquisition, Toyota, Scion and Lexus represented 29 percent of Group 1's new vehicle unit sales at the end of the third quarter 2005. The combination of these additions and the relocation of the Fort Bend Toyota store is expected to grow that figure.

Group 1 also announced the relocation of Fort Bend Toyota into a new facility located at the corner of the heavily traveled Highway 59 and Grand Parkway exit in rapidly growing Fort Bend County, Texas, a suburb of Houston. The new 84,000-square-foot facility has 42 service bays, doubling the service and parts capacity from the previous location.

Dispositions

The company disposed of a Nissan franchise in Southern California in November 2005 and a Hummer franchise in Tulsa, Okla., in January 2006. The two franchises had estimated 2005 annual run rate revenues of $31.7 million.

Stock Repurchase

During the fourth quarter of 2005, Group 1 repurchased 623,207 shares of its common stock at an average price of $30.40, completing its board-authorized $18.9 million share repurchase program.

"We could not be more pleased with our investments in the Lexus and Toyota franchises in Manchester and Houston," said Earl J. Hesterberg, Group 1's president and chief executive officer. "These franchise and facility actions will support additional revenue and profit growth while leveraging our operational scale. The stock repurchase and franchise dispositions demonstrate our commitment to improve stockholder value and are consistent with our previously announced strategy."