UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

Commission file number: 001-31262

ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC.
(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:
9% Senior Subordinated Notes due 2012

        Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ý    No o

        Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant's knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. o

        Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an accelerated filer (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes ý    No o

        Based on the closing price of the registrant's common stock as of June 30, 2003, the aggregate market value of the common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant was $88,871,982.

        Indicate the number of shares outstanding of each of the registrant's classes of common stock, as of the latest practicable date: The number of shares of common stock outstanding as of March 5, 2004, was 32,434,904 (net of 1,590,013 treasury shares).

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

        List hereunder the following documents incorporated by reference and the Part of the Form 10-K into which the document is incorporated:

        Portions of the definitive Proxy Statement for the Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be filed within 120 days after the end of the registrant's fiscal year are incorporated by reference into Part III, Items 10 through 14 of this Form 10-K.

ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC.

2003 FORM 10-K ANNUAL REPORT

PART I

Forward Looking Information

        This report contains "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The forward-looking statements include statements relating to goals, plans and pending acquisitions, projections regarding our financial position, results of operations, market position, product development and business strategy. These statements are based on management's current expectations and involve significant risks and uncertainties that may cause results to differ materially from those set forth in the statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things:

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market factors,



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our relationships with vehicle manufacturers and other suppliers,



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risks associated with our substantial indebtedness,



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risks related to pending and potential future acquisitions, and



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general economic conditions both nationally and locally and governmental regulations and legislation.

        There can be no guarantees our plans for future operations will be successfully implemented or that they will prove to be commercially successful. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

        The factors set forth below under "Item 1. Business-Risk Factors," "Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and other cautionary statements made in this report should be read and understood as being applicable to all related forward-looking statements wherever they appear in this report.

Industry Data

        This Annual Report on Form 10-K includes statistical data regarding the automotive retailing industry. Unless otherwise indicated such data is taken or derived from the information published by:

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The Industry Analysis Division of the National Automobile Dealers Association, also known as "NADA," Data 2003,



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Automotive News 2003 Market Data Book,



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CNW Marketing/Research,



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Sales & Marketing Management 2002 Survey of Buying Power and Media Markets,



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Bureau of Economic Analysis,



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J.D. Power, and



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Wards Automotive.

        Although we believe these industry sources are reliable, we have not independently researched or verified this information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on this information.

Item 1. Business

Overview

        We are one of the largest automotive retailers in the United States, operating 140 franchises at 97 dealership locations as of December 31, 2003. We offer our customers an extensive range of automotive

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products and services including new and used vehicles and related financing, vehicle maintenance and repair services, replacement parts and warranty, insurance and extended service contracts. Our revenues for the year ended December 31, 2003 were $4.8 billion.

        Our retail network is organized into nine regional dealership groups, or "platforms", which are groups of dealerships operating under a distinct local brand name in 20 markets. In April 2003, we acquired Mercedes-Benz of Fresno, with the intention of building a additional platform in Northern California through additional "tuck-in" acquisitions. Including Fresno, we operate dealerships in 21 markets. Our franchises include a diverse portfolio of 35 American, European and Asian brands. For the year ended December 31, 2003, 67% of our new vehicle retail revenue was from either luxury or mid-line import brands. Our platforms are located in markets or clusters of markets that we believe represent attractive opportunities, generally due to the relatively low concentration of dealerships and high rates of population and income growth.

        The following is a detailed breakdown of our platforms as of December 31, 2003:

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(a)

This platform market has two of these franchises.

(b)

Pending divestiture as of December 31, 2003.

        Each platform originally operated as an independent business before being acquired and integrated into our operations, and each continues to enjoy high local brand name recognition and regional concentration.

        We compete in a large and highly fragmented industry comprised of approximately 21,700 franchised dealerships. The U.S. automotive retailing industry is estimated to have annual sales of approximately $1 trillion, with the 100 largest dealer groups generating less than 10% of total revenues and controlling less than 10% of all franchised dealerships. We believe that further consolidation is likely due to increased capital requirements of dealerships, the number of dealership owners approaching retirement age, the limited number of viable exit strategies for dealership owners and the desire of certain manufacturers to strengthen their brand identity through consolidation of their franchise dealerships. We also believe that an opportunity exists for dealership groups with significant equity capital and experience in identifying, acquiring and professionally managing dealerships, to acquire additional dealerships and we intend to continue to seek acquisitions, consistent with our business strategy.

        In addition to new and used vehicles, dealerships offer a wide range of other products and services, including repair and warranty work, replacement parts, extended warranty coverage and financing and insurance products. For the year ended December 31, 2003, our average dealership's revenue consisted of approximately 61% new vehicle sales, 25% used vehicle sales, 11% parts and services and 3% finance and insurance.

Company History

        Our predecessor company was formed in 1994 by then-current management and Ripplewood Investments L.L.C. In 1997, an investment fund affiliated with Freeman Spogli & Co. Inc. acquired a

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significant interest in us. These groups identified an opportunity to aggregate a number of the nation's top retail automotive dealers into one cohesive organization. We acquired eight of our platforms between 1996 and 1999, and combined them on April 30, 2000. Since the consolidation of the eight platforms as of April 30, 2000, a ninth platform, the Mississippi platform, was formed on July 2, 2001. In April 2003, we acquired a dealership in Northern California, with the intention of ultimately building a platform.

        Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. was incorporated on February 15, 2002. Immediately prior to the closing of the initial public offering ("IPO"), the members of Asbury Automotive Group, L.L.C. transferred their membership interests to us in exchange for shares of our common stock. On March 13, 2002, we effected an initial public offering of our common stock and on March 14, 2002, our common stock was listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "ABG". The IPO closed on March 19, 2002.

Our Strengths

        We believe our competitive strengths are as follows:

Diversified Revenue and Profit Streams

        Our operations provide a diversified revenue base that we believe mitigates the impact of fluctuating new car sales volumes. Used car sales and parts, service and collision repair sales, generate higher profit margins than new car sales and tend to fluctuate less with economic cycles. Our finance and insurance business, substantially all of which is commission based, has no associated costs of goods sold and represented 3% of our revenues and 18% of our gross profit during the year ended December 31, 2003.

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New Vehicles.    Our franchises include a diverse portfolio of 35 American, European and Asian brands. We believe that our diverse brand, product and price mix enables us to reduce our exposure to specific product supply shortages and changing customer preferences. New vehicle sales were approximately 61% of our total revenues and 29% of total our gross profit for the year ended December 31, 2003.



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Used Vehicles.    We sell used vehicles at virtually all our franchised dealerships. Retail sales of used vehicles, which generally have higher gross margins than new vehicles, making up approximately 25% of our total revenues and 14% of our total gross profit during the year ended December 31, 2003. We obtain used vehicles through customer trade-ins, auctions restricted to new vehicle dealers (offering off-lease, rental and fleet vehicles) and "open" auctions which offer repossessed vehicles and vehicles sold by other dealers. We sell the majority of our used vehicles to retail customers. We dispose of used vehicles that are not purchased by retail customers through sales to other dealers and at auctions.



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Parts, Service and Collision Repair ("fixed operations").    We sell parts and provide maintenance and repair service at all our franchised dealerships. In addition, we have 23 free-standing collision repair centers in close proximity to dealerships in substantially all our platforms. Our dealerships and collision repair centers collectively operate approximately 2,230 service bays. Revenues from parts, service and collision repair centers were approximately 11% of our total revenues and 39% of our total gross profit for the year ended December 31, 2003. We believe that parts and service and collision repair revenues are more stable than vehicle sales. Industry-wide, parts and service revenues have consistently increased over the last 20 years. We believe that this is due to the increased cost of maintaining vehicles, the added technical complexity of vehicles and the increased number of vehicles on the road.

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Finance and Insurance ("F&I").    We arranged third-party customer financing on approximately 70% of the vehicles we sold for the year ended December 31, 2003. These transactions result in commissions being paid to us by the indirect lenders, including manufacturer-captive finance companies. In addition to finance commissions, these transactions create other highly profitable sales commission opportunities, including selling extended service contracts and various insurance-related products to the consumer. Our size and sales volume motivate vendors to provide these products to us at substantially reduced fees compared to industry norms which results in competitive advantages as well as acquisition synergies. Profits from finance and insurance generated approximately 3% of our total revenues and 18% of our total gross profit for the year ended December 31, 2003. We earn sales- based commissions on substantially all of these products while taking virtually no risk related to loan payments, insurance payments or investment performance, which are fully borne by third-parties. These commissions are subject to cancellation, in certain circumstances, if the customer cancels the contract.

Highly Variable Cost Structure

        Our variable cost structure helps us manage expenses in a variety of economic environments, as the majority of our operating expenses consist of incentive-based compensation, vehicle carrying costs, advertising and other variable and controllable costs. For example, on average, approximately 70% of general manager compensation and virtually all salesperson compensation is variable, tied to profits and profit margins.

Advantageous Brand Mix

        We classify our primary franchise sales lines into luxury, mid-line import, mid-line domestic and value. Our current brand mix includes a high proportion of luxury and mid-line import franchises to total franchises. Our franchise mix contains a higher proportion of what we believe to be the most desirable luxury and mid-line import brands than most other public automotive retailers. Luxury and mid-line imports together accounted for 67% of our new retail vehicle revenues for the year ended December 31, 2003 and comprise over half of our total franchises. Luxury and mid-line imports generate above average gross margins on sales, have greater customer loyalty and repeat purchases and utilize parts and service and maintenance services at the point of sale more frequently than mid-line domestic and value automobiles. Luxury and mid-line imports have also gained market share at the expense of mid-line domestics over time. We also believe that luxury vehicle sales are less susceptible to economic cycles than other types of vehicles.

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        The following table reflects current franchises and the share of new retail vehicle revenue represented by each class of franchises:

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(a)

Includes one pending divestiture as of December 31, 2003.

Regional Platforms With Strong Local Brands

        Each of our platforms was comprised of between 8 and 27 franchise locations at December 31, 2003, and for the year ended December 31, 2003, sold an average of approximately 17,600 retail vehicles and generated an average of approximately $531 million in revenues. Each of our platforms maintains a strong local brand that has been enhanced through local advertising over many years. We believe that our cultivation of strong local brands can be beneficial because consumers may prefer to interact with a locally recognized brand; placing our franchises in one region under a single brand allows us to generate significant advertising savings; and our platforms can retain customers even as they purchase and service different automobile brands. Furthermore, we believe that the majority of our dealerships are located in geographic areas with above average population growth and relatively low dealer concentration and favorable franchise laws.

Experienced and incentivized management

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Retail and Automotive Management Experience.    We have a management team with extensive experience and expertise in the retail and automotive sectors. Kenneth B. Gilman, our president and chief executive officer, served for 25 years at Limited Brands (formerly The Limited, Inc.) where his last assignment was as chief executive officer of Lane Bryant, a retailer of women's clothing and a subsidiary of Limited Brands. From 1993 to 2001, Mr. Gilman served as vice chairman and chief administrative officer of Limited Brands with responsibility for, among other things, finance, information technology, supply chain management and production. Robert D. Frank, our senior vice president of automotive operations, has spent most of his 35-year career working in all aspects of automotive operations, including serving as chief operating officer from 1993 to 1997 of the Larry H. Miller Group, an operator of more than 20 auto dealerships, and as vice president of Chrysler's Asian operations. In addition, the former platform owners of four of our nine platforms, each with greater than 25 years of experience in the automotive retailing industry, continue to manage their respective platforms.



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Incentivization at Every Level.    We tie compensation to performance by relying upon an incentive-based pay system at both the platform and dealership levels. At the platform level all our senior management are compensated on an incentive-based pay system and the majority have a stake in our performance based upon their ownership of approximately 12.3% of our total equity as of December 31, 2003. We also create incentives at the dealership level. We compensate our general managers based on dealership profitability, and the compensation of department managers and salespeople is similarly based upon departmental profitability and individual performance, respectively.

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Our Strategy

Focus on Higher Margin Products and Services

        While new vehicle sales are critical to drawing customers to our dealerships, used vehicle retail sales, parts, service and collision repair and finance and insurance provide significantly higher profit margins and account for the majority of our profitability. In addition, we have discipline-specific executives at both the corporate and platform levels who focus on both increasing the penetration of current services and expanding the breadth of our offerings to customers. While each of our platforms operates independently in a manner consistent with its specific market's characteristics, each pursues an integrated strategy to grow these higher margin businesses to enhance profitability and stimulate internal growth.

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Parts, Service and Collision Repair.    Each of our platforms offers parts, performs vehicle service work and operates collision repair centers, all of which provide important sources of recurring revenue with high gross profit margins. We intend to continue to grow this higher-margin business by adding new service bays, increasing capacity utilization of existing service bays and ensuring high levels of customer satisfaction within our parts, service and collision repair operations. In addition, given the increased sophistication of vehicles, our repair operations provide detailed expertise and state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment that we believe independent repair shops cannot adequately provide. Finally, warranty work cannot be completed by independent dealers, as this work must be done at a certified dealership.



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Finance and Insurance.    We intend to continue to bolster our finance and insurance revenues by offering a broad range of conventional finance and lease alternatives to fund the purchase of new and used vehicles. In addition to offering these third-party financing products, we intend to expand our already broad offering of third-party products such as credit insurance, extended service contracts, maintenance programs and a host of other niche products to meet all of our customer needs on a "one stop" shopping basis. Moreover, continued in-depth sales training efforts and innovative computer technologies will serve as important tools in growing our finance and insurance profitability. We have increased platform finance and insurance per vehicle retailed ("PVR") from $673 for the year ended December 31, 2001, to $816 for the year ended December 31, 2003. See "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Information." We have successfully increased our platform finance and insurance PVR each year since our inception.

Local Management of Dealership Operations and Centralized Administrative and Strategic Functions

        We believe that local management of dealership operations on a platform basis enables our retail network to provide market-specific responses to sales, customer service and inventory requirements. In addition, the use of a single trade name at each of our platforms provides a strong presence for marketing and advertising of the platform's products and services in each local market. Our administrative headquarters is located in Stamford, Connecticut. We expect to relocate to New York, New York in April 2004. The administrative office is responsible for the capital structure of the business and the expansion and operating strategy. The implementation of our operational strategy rests with each platform management team based on the policies and procedures set forth by the corporate office. Each of our platforms has a management structure that is intended to promote and reward entrepreneurial spirit and the achievement of team goals and are complemented by centralized technology and financial controls, as well as sharing best practices and market intelligence throughout the organization.

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Platform Management

        Each of our dealerships is managed by a general manager who has authority over day-to-day operations. Our platform management teams' thorough understanding of their local markets enables them to effectively run day-to-day operations, market to customers, recruit new employees and gauge acquisition opportunities in their local markets. The general manager of each dealership is supported by a management team consisting, in most cases, of a new vehicle sales manager, a used vehicle sales manager, a finance and insurance manager and parts and service managers. Each dealership is managed by a trained and experienced general manager who has primary responsibility for decisions relating to inventory purchasing, advertising, sales pricing and personnel.

        We employ professional management practices in all aspects of our operations, including information technology and employee training. In addition, the corporate headquarters coordinates a platform peer review process in which the platform managers address best practices, operational challenges and successes, and formulate goals for other platforms. On a rotating basis, each platform's operations are examined in detail by management from other platforms. Through this process, we identify areas for improvement and disseminate best practices company-wide. Our dealership operations are complemented by centralized technology and strategic and financial controls, as well as sharing of best practices and market intelligence throughout the organization. Corporate and platform management utilize computer-based management information systems to monitor each dealership's sales, profitability and inventory on a regular, detailed basis. We believe the application of professional management practices provides us with a competitive advantage over many independent dealerships.

Continued Growth Through Targeted Acquisitions

        We intend to continue to grow through acquisitions. We will pursue tuck-in acquisitions to complement the related platform by increasing brand diversity, market coverage and products and services offered. We will seek to establish platforms in new markets through the purchase of multiple individual franchises or through the acquisition of large, profitable and well-managed dealership groups with leading market positions.

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Tuck-In Acquisitions.    One of our goals is to become the market leader in every region in which we operate a platform. We plan to acquire additional dealerships in each of the markets in which we operate to increase our brand mix, products and services offered in that market. Tuck-in acquisitions are typically re-branded immediately and operate thereafter under the respective platform's strong local brand name. From January 1, 2001 through December 31, 2003, we have made 17 tuck-in acquisitions (representing 33 franchises) to add additional strength and brand diversity to our platforms. We believe that these acquisitions in the past and in the future will facilitate our regional operating efficiencies and cost savings. In addition, we have generally been able to improve the gross profit of tuck-in dealerships following an acquisition. We believe this is due to improvements in finance and insurance PVR, greater capacity utilization of service bays, improved management practices and enhanced unit sales volumes related to the strength of our local brand names.



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Platform Acquisitions.    We will seek to establish platforms in new geographic markets through multiple purchases of individual franchises over time, or through acquisitions of large, profitable and well-managed dealership groups with leading market positions. We target metropolitan and high-growth suburban markets in which we are not currently present and platforms with superior operational and financial management personnel. We believe that the retention of existing high quality management who understand the local market enables acquired platforms to continue to operate efficiently, while allowing us to source future acquisitions more effectively and expand our operations without having to employ and train untested new personnel. We also believe retention of the local, established brand name is important to attracting a broad and loyal

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customer base. We believe we are well-positioned to pursue larger, established acquisition candidates as a result of our platform management retention strategies, the reputation of our existing platform managers as leaders in the automotive retailing industry, our size, our financial resources and our ability to offer our public equity as an acquisition currency.

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Focus on Acquisitions Providing Geographic and Brand Diversity.    By focusing on geographic and brand diversity, we seek to manage economic risk and drive growth and profitability. By having a presence in all major brands and by avoiding concentration with one manufacturer, we are well positioned to reduce our exposure to specific product supply shortages and changing customer preferences. At the same time, we will seek to continue to increase the proportion of our dealerships that are in markets with favorable demographic characteristics or that are franchises of fast-growing, high-margin brands. In particular, we will focus on luxury dealerships (such as BMW, Lexus and Mercedes-Benz) and mid-line import dealerships (such as Honda, Toyota and Nissan).

Sales and Marketing

        New Vehicle Sales.    Our new vehicle retail sales include new vehicle sales, new vehicle retail lease transactions and other similar agreements, which are arranged by our individual dealerships. New vehicle leases, which are provided by third parties, generally have short terms, which cause customers to return to a dealership more frequently than in the case of purchased vehicles. In addition, leases provide us with a steady source of late-model, off-lease vehicles for our used vehicle inventory. Generally, leased vehicles remain under factory warranty for the term of the lease, allowing dealerships to provide repair service to the lessee throughout the lease term. Historically, less than 1% of our new vehicle sales revenue is derived from fleet sales.

        We design our dealership service to meet the needs of our customers and establish relationships that will result in both repeat business and additional business through customer referrals. Our dealerships employ varying sales techniques to address changes in consumer preference.

        We incentivize our dealership managers to employ more efficient selling approaches, engage in extensive follow-up to develop long-term relationships with customers and extensively train sales staffs to be able to meet customer needs. We continually evaluate innovative ways to improve the buying experience for our customers and believe that our ability to share best practices across our dealerships gives us an advantage over other dealerships.

        We acquire substantially all our new vehicle inventory from manufacturers. Manufacturers allocate limited inventory among their franchised dealers based primarily on sales volume and input from dealers. We finance our inventory purchases through revolving credit arrangements known in the industry as "floor plan" facilities.

        Used Vehicle Sales.    Used vehicle sales typically yield higher gross profit percentages than new vehicle sales. We intend to grow our used vehicle sales by maintaining high quality inventory across all price ranges, providing competitive prices and extended service contracts and continuing to enhance our marketing initiatives. Based on sharing of best practices, several of our platforms have a centralized used car function responsible for determining which vehicles to stock at each store.

        Profits from the sales of used vehicles are dependent primarily on the ability of our dealerships to obtain a high quality supply of used vehicles and effectively manage inventory. New vehicle operations provide our used vehicle operations with a large supply of high quality trade-ins and off-lease vehicles, which we believe are a good source of attractive used vehicle inventory. We supplement our used inventory with vehicles purchased primarily at auctions. The reconditioning of used vehicles also creates profitable service work for our fixed operations departments.

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        Used vehicles are generally offered at our dealerships for not more than 60 days, after which, if they have not been sold to a retail buyer, they are either sold to an outside dealer or offered at auction. We may transfer used vehicles among dealerships to provide balanced inventories of used vehicles at each of our dealerships. We believe that acquisitions of additional dealerships will expand the internal market for the transfer of used vehicles among our dealerships and, therefore, increase the ability of each dealership to offer a balanced mix of used vehicles.

        We have taken several steps towards building client confidence in our used vehicle inventory, one of which includes participation in the manufacturers' certification processes which are available only to new vehicle franchises. This process makes certain used vehicles eligible for new vehicle benefits such as new vehicle finance rates and extended manufacturer warranties. In addition, each dealership offers extended warranties, which are provided by third parties, on its used car sales.

        Parts, Service and Collision Repair.    Historically, the automotive repair industry has been highly fragmented. However, we believe that the increased use of advanced technology in vehicles has made it difficult for independent repair shops to have the expertise required to perform major or technical repairs. Additionally, manufacturers permit warranty work to be performed only at franchised dealerships. As a result, unlike independent service stations or independent and superstore used car dealerships with service operations, our franchised dealerships are qualified to perform work covered by manufacturer warranties on increasingly technologically complex motor vehicles.

        We use variable rate structures designed to reflect the difficulty and sophistication of different types of repairs to compensate employees working in parts and service. In addition the profit percentages for parts vary according to market conditions and type.

        One of our major goals is to retain each vehicle purchaser as a long-term customer of our parts and service department. We believe that significant opportunity for growth exists in the auxiliary services part of our business. Each dealership has systems in place to track customer maintenance records and notify owners of vehicles purchased at the dealership when their vehicles are due for periodic services. Service and repair activities are an integral part of our overall approach to customer service.

        Finance and Insurance.    We usually arrange for the financing of the lease or purchase of new and used vehicles for purchasers through third party vendors. We arranged non-recourse customer financing on approximately 70% of the vehicles we sold and leased for the year ended December 31, 2003. These transactions generate commission revenue from indirect lenders, including the manufacturer captive finance companies. In addition to finance commissions, each of these transactions creates other opportunities for more profitable sales, such as extended service contracts and various insurance-related products for the consumer. Our size and volume capabilities motivate vendors to provide these products at substantially reduced fees compared to the industry average which result in competitive advantages as well as acquisition synergies. Furthermore, many of the insurance products we sell result in additional underwriting profits and investment income yields based on portfolio performances.

        To date, we have entered into "preferred lender agreements" with 15 lenders. Under the terms of the preferred lender agreements, each lender has agreed to provide a marketing fee to us for each loan that our dealerships place with that lender above the standard commission.

        Advertising.    Our largest advertising medium is local newspapers, followed by radio, television, direct mail and the yellow pages. The retail automotive industry has traditionally used locally produced, largely non-professional materials, often developed under the direction of each dealership's general manager. Each of our platforms has created common marketing materials for their dealerships using professional advertising agencies. Our sales and marketing department helps oversee and share creative materials and general marketing best practices across platforms. Our total marketing expense was

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$50.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2003, which translates into an average of $319 per retail vehicle sold.

        Commitment to Customer Service.    We are focused on providing a high level of customer service to meet the needs of an increasingly sophisticated and demanding automotive consumer. We strive to cultivate lasting relationships with our customers, which we believe enhances the opportunity for significant repeat and referral business. Our platforms regard service and repair operations as an integral part of the overall approach to customer service, providing an opportunity to foster ongoing relationships with customers and deepen loyalty.

        Management Information System.    We consolidate financial, accounting and operational data received from our dealers nationwide through an exclusive private communication network.

        The data from the dealers is gathered and processed through their individual dealer management system. Our dealers use software from ADP, Inc., Reynolds & Reynolds, Co. or UCS, Inc. and others as their dealer management system. Our systems approach allows for our platforms to choose the dealer management system that best fits their daily operational needs. We aggregate the information from the dealer systems at our corporate headquarters to create one single view of the business using Hyperion financial systems.

        Our information technology approach allows us to quickly integrate and aggregate the information from a new acquisition. By creating a connection over our private network between the dealer management system and corporate Hyperion financial systems, corporate management can quickly view the financial, accounting and operational data of the newly acquired dealer. Therefore, we can efficiently integrate the acquired dealer into our operational strategy. The Hyperion system allows senior and platform management to easily and quickly review operating and financial data at a variety of levels. For example, from our headquarters, management can review the performance of any specific department (e.g., parts and services) at any particular dealership. This system also allows us to quickly compile and monitor our consolidated financial results.

Competition

        In new vehicle sales, our platforms compete primarily with other franchised dealerships in their regions. We do not have any cost advantage in purchasing new vehicles from the manufacturers. Instead, we rely on advertising and merchandising, sales expertise, service reputation, strong local trade names and location of our dealerships to sell new vehicles. In recent years, automobile dealers have also faced increased competition in the sale or lease of new vehicles from independent leasing companies, on-line purchasing services and warehouse clubs. Our used vehicle operations compete with other franchised dealers, independent used car dealers, automobile rental agencies and private parties for supply and resale of used vehicles. See "Risks Related to Competition-Substantial Competition in Automobile Sales May Adversely Affect our Profitability."

        We compete against other franchised dealers to perform warranty repairs and against other automobile dealers, franchised and independent service centers for non-warranty repair and routine maintenance business. We compete with other automobile dealers, service stores and auto parts retailers in our parts operations. We believe that the principal competitive factors in parts and service sales are the use of factory-approved replacement parts, price, the familiarity with a manufacturer's brands and models and the quality of customer service. A number of regional and national chains offer selected parts and services at prices that may be lower than our prices.

Dealer and Framework Agreements

        Each of our dealerships operates pursuant to a dealer agreement between the applicable manufacturer and the dealership. The typical automotive dealer agreement specifies the locations at

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which the dealer has the right and obligation to sell the manufacturer's automobiles and related parts and products and to perform certain approved services. The dealer agreement grants the dealer the non-exclusive right to use and display the manufacturer's trademarks, service marks and designs in the form and manner approved by the manufacturer.

        The allocation of new vehicles among dealerships is subject to the discretion of the manufacturer, and generally does not guarantee a dealership exclusivity within a given territory. Most dealer agreements impose requirements on every aspect of the dealer's operations including: the showrooms, the facilities and equipment for servicing vehicles, the maintenance of inventories of vehicles and parts, the maintenance of minimum net working capital, the achievement of certain sales targets, minimum customer service and satisfaction standards and the selection of dealer management and training of personnel. Compliance with these requirements is closely monitored by the manufacturer. In addition, many manufacturers require each dealership to submit monthly and annual financial statements.

        We are subject to additional provisions contained in supplemental agreements, framework agreements or dealer addenda, which we collectively refer to as "framework agreements". Framework agreements impose requirements similar to those discussed above, as well as company-wide performance criteria, limitations on changes in our ownership or management, limitations on the number of a particular manufacturer's franchises we may own, and conditions for consent to proposed acquisitions. Some framework agreements also attempt to limit the protections available under state dealer laws.

        Provisions for Termination or Non-Renewal of Dealer and Framework Agreements.    Certain dealer agreements expire after a specified period of time, ranging from one to five years, and we expect to renew expiring agreements for dealers we wish to continue in the ordinary course of business. Typical dealer agreements provide for termination or non-renewal by the manufacturer under certain circumstances, including insolvency or bankruptcy of the dealership, failure to adequately operate the dealership, failure to maintain any license, permit or authorization required for the conduct of business, or material breach of other provisions of the dealer agreement. Some of our dealer agreements and all of our framework agreements provide that the manufacturer may purchase our dealerships which sell the respective manufacturer's products for fair market value or terminate the agreement upon the occurrence of certain changes of control. Generally a manufacturer may exercise either of these rights if a person or entity acquires an equity interest or voting control of us above a specified level (ranging from 20% to 50% of our outstanding stock depending on the particular manufacturer's restriction) without the approval of the applicable manufacturer. This trigger can fall as low as 5% if the person or entity acquiring the equity interest or voting control is another automobile manufacturer, a convicted felon or a person or entity with a criminal conviction stemming from dealings in the automobile industry. One manufacturer may exercise these rights if any entity or individual obtains control of us and the manufacturer reasonably deems such control to be detrimental in any material respect to the manufacturer's interest. Some manufacturers also restrict changes in the membership of our board of directors. Our agreement with Toyota, in addition to imposing the restrictions previously discussed, provides that Toyota may require us to sell our Toyota franchises (including Lexus) if, without its consent, the majority owners of our equity prior to our initial public offering cease to control a majority of our voting stock or if Timothy C. Collins ceases to control us through his indirect control of Ripplewood Investments L.L.C. In January 2004, Toyota granted consent to a secondary offering of up to 11.5 million shares of our common stock by the owners of our equity prior to our initial public offering, provided that the percentage owned or controlled by these shareholders does not decline to less than 25%.

        Some of our dealer agreements and framework agreements also provide that other circumstances, unrelated to a change of control, will permit a manufacturer to exercise its right to purchase our dealerships. Such circumstances include our dealerships' failure to meet the manufacturer's capitalization or working capital requirements or operating guidelines, our failure to meet certain

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financial covenant ratios, the occurrence of any extraordinary corporate transaction (at the Asbury parent entity level or dealership operating entity level) without the manufacturer's prior consent, or a material breach of the framework agreement.

        In addition, we have agreements with Toyota which provide that in the event that our payment obligations under our Committed Credit Facility or our 9% Senior Subordinated Notes due 2012 are accelerated or demand for payment is made under our subsidiaries' guarantees of such obligations, Toyota will have the right to purchase our Toyota and Lexus dealerships for their fair market value. We also have an agreement with Ford that provides if any of the lenders under our Committed Credit Facility or Floor Plan Facilities accelerate those payment obligations, or if we are notified of any default under the Committed Credit Facility, then Ford may exercise its right to acquire our Ford, Lincoln and Mercury dealerships for their fair market value.

        If we fail to obtain renewals of one or more of our dealer agreements on favorable terms, if substantial franchises are terminated, or if certain manufacturers' rights under their agreements with us are triggered, our operations may be adversely affected.

        Manufacturers' Limitations on Acquisitions.    We are required to maintain certain performance standards and obtain the consent of the applicable manufacturer before we can acquire any additional dealership franchises. A majority of our manufacturers impose limits on the number of dealerships we are permitted to own at the metropolitan, regional and national levels, and we anticipate that other manufacturers may impose similar restrictions on us in the future. These limits vary according to the agreements we have with each of the manufacturers but are generally based on fixed numerical limits or on a fixed percentage of the aggregate sales of the manufacturer. Our current franchise mix has caused us to reach the present franchise ceiling, set by agreement or corporate policy, with Acura, and we are close to our franchise ceiling with Toyota, Lexus and Jaguar. While we have not reached a numerical limit with Ford, we have a dispute over whether our performance should limit additional acquisitions at this time. We have an action plan agreement with Honda pursuant to which we can make acquisitions provided we are meeting performance standards and limits the number of acquisitions per specified time frames. Unless we negotiate favorable terms with or receive the consent of the manufacturers, we may be prevented from making further acquisitions upon reaching the limits or if we fail to maintain performance standards provided for in the framework agreements.

        State Dealer Laws.    We operate in states that have state dealer laws limiting manufacturers' ability to terminate dealer agreements. However, some framework agreements attempt to limit the protection of state dealer laws. We are basing the following discussion of state dealer laws on our understanding of these laws, and we cannot provide any assurance that our understanding of these laws is accurate. State dealer laws generally provide that it is a violation for manufacturers to terminate or refuse to renew dealer agreements unless they provide written notice to the dealers setting forth good cause and stating the grounds for termination or nonrenewal. State dealer laws typically require 60 to 90 days advance notice to dealers prior to termination or nonrenewal of a dealer agreement. Some state dealer laws allow dealers to file protests or petitions within the notice period and allow dealers an opportunity to comply with the manufacturers' criteria. These statutes also provide that manufacturers are prohibited from unreasonably withholding approval for a proposed change in ownership of the dealership. Acceptable grounds for disapproval include material reasons relating to the character, financial ability or business experience of the proposed transferee and may also include current performance of the proposed transferee in operating other dealerships of the same manufacturer. See "Risk Factors-Risks Related to Our Dependence On Vehicle Manufacturers-If state dealer laws are repealed or weakened or superceded by our framework agreements with manufacturers, our dealerships will be more susceptible to termination, non-renewal or renegotiation of their dealer agreements."

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Governmental Regulations

        We are subject to extensive federal, state and local regulations governing our marketing, advertising, selling, leasing, financing and servicing of motor vehicles and related products. Our nine platforms also are subject to state laws and regulations generally relating to business corporations.

        Under various state laws, each of our dealerships must obtain a license in order to establish, operate or relocate a dealership or provide certain automotive repair services. These laws also regulate conduct of our businesses, including advertising and sales practices. Other states into which we may expand our operations in the future are likely to have similar requirements.

        The sales of financing products to our customers are subject to federal, state and local laws and regulations regarding truth-in-lending, deceptive and unfair trade practices, leasing, equal credit opportunity, motor vehicle finance, installment sales, insurance and usury. Some states regulate finance fees and other charges that may be charged in connection with vehicle sales. Penalties for violation of any of these laws or regulations may include revocation of necessary licenses, injunctive relief, assessment of criminal and civil fines and penalties, and in certain instances, create a private cause of action for individuals. We believe that we comply substantially with all laws and regulations affecting our business and do not have any material liabilities under such laws and regulations and that compliance with all such laws and regulations will not, individually or in the aggregate, have a material adverse effect on our capital expenditures, earnings or competitive position. See "Risk Factors-Other Risks Related to Our Business-Governmental regulations and environmental regulation compliance costs may adversely affect our profitability."

Environmental Matters

        We are subject to a wide range of environmental laws and regulations, including those governing discharges into the air and water, the storage of petroleum substances and chemicals, the handling and disposal of wastes and the remediation of contamination. As with automobile dealerships generally, and service and parts and collision repair center operations in particular, our business involves the generation, use, handling and disposal of hazardous or toxic substances and wastes. Operations involving the management of wastes are subject to requirements of the Federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and comparable state statutes. Pursuant to these laws, federal and state environmental agencies have established approved methods for handling, storage, treatment, transportation and disposal of regulated substances and wastes with which we must comply.

        Our business also involves the use of above ground and underground storage tanks. Under applicable laws and regulations, we are responsible for the proper use, maintenance and abandonment of our regulated storage tanks and for remediation of subsurface soils and groundwater impacted by releases from existing or abandoned storage tanks. In addition to these regulated tanks, we own, operate, or have otherwise closed in place other underground and above ground devices or containers (such as automotive lifts and service pits) that may not be classified as regulated tanks, but which could or may have released stored materials into the environment, thereby potentially obligating us to clean up any soils or groundwater resulting from such releases.

        We are also subject to laws and regulations governing remediation of contamination at or from our facilities or to which we send hazardous or toxic substances or wastes for treatment, recycling or disposal. The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, or CERCLA, also known as the "Superfund" law, imposes liability, without regard to fault or the legality of the original conduct, on those that are considered to have contributed to the release of a "hazardous substance". Responsible parties include the owner or operator of the site or sites where the release occurred and companies that disposed or arranged for the disposal of the hazardous substances released at such sites. These responsible parties may be subject to joint and several liability for the costs of cleaning up the hazardous substances that have been released into the environment and for

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damages to natural resources. It is not uncommon for neighboring landowners and other third parties to file claims for personal injury and property damage allegedly caused by the release of hazardous substances. Currently, we are not subject to any material Superfund liabilities.

        Further, the Federal Clean Water Act and comparable state statutes prohibit discharges of pollutants into regulated waters without the necessary permits, require containment of potential discharges of oil or hazardous substances and require preparation of spill contingency plans. We believe that we are in material compliance with those wastewater discharge requirements as well as requirements for the containment of potential discharges and spill contingency planning.

        Environmental laws and regulations are very complex and it has become difficult for businesses that routinely handle hazardous and non-hazardous wastes to achieve and maintain full compliance with all applicable environmental laws. From time to time we experience incidents and encounter conditions that will not be in compliance with environmental laws and regulations. However, none of our dealerships has been subject to any material environmental liabilities in the past, nor do we know of any fact or condition that would result in any material environmental liabilities being incurred in the future. Nevertheless, environmental laws and regulations and their interpretation and enforcement are changed frequently and we believe that the trend of more expansive and stricter environmental legislation and regulations is likely to continue. Hence, there can be no assurance that compliance with environmental laws or regulations or the future discovery of unknown environmental conditions will not require additional expenditures by us, or that such expenditures would not be material. See "Risk Factors-Other Risks Related to Our Business-Governmental regulations and environmental regulation compliance costs may adversely affect our profitability."

Employees

        As of December 31, 2003, we employed 7,965 persons. We believe our relationship with our employees is favorable. Currently, certain employees of one of our dealerships are represented by a labor union. In the future, we may acquire additional businesses that have unionized employees. Certain of our facilities are located in areas of high union concentration, and such facilities are susceptible to union-organizing activity. In addition, because of our dependence on vehicle manufacturers, we may be affected adversely by labor strikes, work slowdowns and walkouts at vehicle manufacturers' production facilities and transportation modes.

Insurance

        Because of their vehicle inventory and nature of business, automobile retail dealerships generally require significant levels of insurance covering a broad variety of risks. Our insurance program includes multiple umbrella policies with a total per occurrence and aggregate limit of $100.0 million. We also have directors and officers insurance, real property insurance, comprehensive coverage for our vehicle inventory, garage liability and general liability insurance, employee dishonesty insurance and errors and omissions insurance.

Risk Factors

        In addition to the other information in this Form 10-K, you should consider carefully the following risk factors in evaluating our business.

RISK FACTORS RELATED TO OUR DEPENDENCE ON VEHICLE MANUFACTURERS

IF WE FAIL TO OBTAIN RENEWALS OF ONE OR MORE OF OUR DEALER AGREEMENTS ON FAVORABLE TERMS, IF SUBSTANTIAL FRANCHISES ARE TERMINATED, OR IF

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CERTAIN MANUFACTURERS' RIGHTS UNDER THEIR AGREEMENTS WITH US ARE TRIGGERED, OUR OPERATIONS MAY BE ADVERSELY AFFECTED.

        Each of our dealerships operates under the terms of a dealer agreement with the manufacturer (or manufacturer-authorized distributor) of each vehicle brand it carries. Our dealerships may obtain new vehicles from manufacturers, sell new vehicles and display vehicle manufacturers' trademarks only to the extent permitted under dealer agreements. As a result of our dependence on these franchise rights, manufacturers exercise a great deal of control over our day-to-day operations and the terms of our dealer agreements govern key aspects of our operations, acquisition strategy and capital spending.

        Each of our dealer agreements provides the manufacturer with the right to terminate the agreement or refuse to renew it after the expiration of the term of the agreement under specified circumstances. We cannot assure you we will be able to renew any of our existing dealer agreements or that we will be able to obtain renewals on favorable terms. Specifically, many of our dealer agreements provide that the manufacturer may terminate the agreement or direct us to divest the subject dealership if the dealership undergoes a change of control. Some of our dealer agreements also provide the manufacturer with the right of first refusal to purchase from us any franchise we seek to sell. Provisions such as these may provide manufacturers with superior bargaining positions in the event that they seek to terminate our dealer agreements or renegotiate the agreements on terms that are disadvantageous to us. Our results of operations may be materially and adversely affected to the extent that our franchise rights become compromised or our operations restricted due to the terms of our dealer agreements or if we lose substantial franchises.

        In addition, we have agreements with Toyota which provide that in the event that our payment obligations under our Committed Credit Facility or our 9% Senior Subordinated Notes due 2012 are accelerated or demand for payment is made under our subsidiaries' guarantees of the Committed Credit Facility or our 9% Senior Subordinated Notes due 2012, Toyota will have the right to purchase our Toyota and Lexus dealerships for cash at their fair market value, unless the acceleration or demand is waived within a cure period of no less than 30 days after Toyota's exercise of its right to purchase. If fair market value cannot be agreed by the parties, it will be determined by an independent nationally recognized and experienced appraiser. We also have an agreement with Ford that provides if any of the lenders of our Committed Credit Facility or floor plan facilities accelerate those payment obligations, or if we are notified of any default under our Committed Credit Facility, then Ford may exercise its right to acquire our Ford, Lincoln and Mercury dealerships for their fair market value.

MANUFACTURERS' STOCK OWNERSHIP RESTRICTIONS LIMIT OUR ABILITY TO ISSUE ADDITIONAL EQUITY, WHICH MAY HAMPER OUR ABILITY TO MEET OUR FINANCING NEEDS OR CARRY OUT OUR ACQUISITION STRATEGY.

        Some of our automobile dealer agreements prohibit transfers of any ownership interests of a dealership or, in some cases, its parent. Our agreements with several manufacturers provide that, under certain circumstances, we may lose the franchise if a person or entity acquires an ownership interest in us above a specified level (ranging from 20% to 50% depending on the particular manufacturer's restrictions) or if a person or entity acquires the right to vote 20% or more of our common stock without the approval of the applicable manufacturer. This trigger level can fall to as low as 5% if another vehicle manufacturer or a person with a criminal record is the entity acquiring the ownership interest or voting rights. One manufacturer, Toyota, in addition to imposing the restrictions previously mentioned, provides that we may be required to sell our Toyota franchises (including Lexus) if without its consent the owners of our equity prior to our initial public offering cease to control a majority of our voting stock or if Timothy C. Collins ceases to indirectly control us. In January 2004, Toyota granted consent to a secondary offering of up to 11.5 million shares of our common stock by the owners of our equity prior to our initial public offering, provided that the percentage owned or controlled by these shareholders does not decline to less than 25%.

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        Violations by our shareholders of these ownership restrictions are generally outside of our control and may result in the termination or non-renewal of one or more franchises, which may have a material adverse effect on us. These restrictions may also prevent or deter prospective acquirers from acquiring control of us and, therefore, may adversely impact the value of our common stock.

MANUFACTURERS' RESTRICTIONS ON ACQUISITIONS AND FINANCING ACTIVITIES MAY LIMIT OUR FUTURE GROWTH.

        We are required to maintain certain performance standards and to obtain the consent of the applicable manufacturer before we can acquire any additional dealerships. We cannot assure you that manufacturers will consent to future acquisitions, which may deter us from being able to take advantage of a market opportunity. Obtaining manufacturer consents for acquisitions may also take a significant amount of time, which may negatively affect our ability to acquire an attractive target. Moreover, delays in obtaining manufacturer consents may impact our ability to issue additional equity in the time necessary to take advantage of a market opportunity dependent on ready financing or an equity issuance. In addition, under an applicable dealers agreement, a manufacturer usually has a right of first refusal to acquire a dealership that we seek to acquire.

        Many vehicle manufacturers place limits on the total number of franchises that any group of affiliated dealerships may obtain. A manufacturer may place generic limits on the number of franchises or share of total franchises or vehicle sales maintained by an affiliated dealership group on a national, regional or local basis. Manufacturers may also tailor these types of restrictions to particular dealership groups. Our current franchise mix has caused us to reach the present franchise ceiling, set by agreement or corporate policy, with Acura, and we are close to our franchise ceiling with Toyota, Lexus and Jaguar. While we have not reached a numerical limit with Ford, we have a dispute over whether our performance should limit additional acquisitions at this time. We have an action plan agreement with Honda pursuant to which we can make acquisitions provided we are meeting performance standards and limit the number of acquisitions per specified time frames. We are currently negotiating a framework agreement with Toyota. Unless we negotiate favorable terms with Toyota and other manufacturers or receive the consent of manufacturers, we may be prevented from making further acquisitions upon reaching the limits or if we fail to maintain performance standards provided for in our agreements.

        As a condition to granting their consent to our acquisitions, a number of manufacturers may impose additional restrictions on us. Manufacturers' restrictions typically prohibit:

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material changes in the ownership or control of our company or extraordinary corporate transactions such as a merger, sale of a substantial amount of assets or any change in our board of directors or management;



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the removal of a dealership general manager without the consent of the manufacturer; and



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the use of dealership facilities to sell or service new vehicles of other manufacturers.

        Certain of our agreements with manufacturers impose capital requirements on individual subsidiaries and restrict our ability to apply dealership earnings or assets to our consolidated indebtedness and operations, which could impede or complicate financing transactions.

        Manufacturers may direct us to apply our resources to capital projects that we may not otherwise have chosen to do and may direct us to implement costly capital improvements to dealership facilities as a condition to renewing our dealer agreements with them or for their consent to a proposed acquisition. These factors, either alone or in combination, could cause us to divert our financial resources to capital projects from uses that management believes may be of higher long-term value to us.

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OUR FAILURE TO MEET A MANUFACTURER'S CONSUMER SATISFACTION AND FINANCIAL AND SALES PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS MAY ADVERSELY AFFECT OUR ABILITY TO ACQUIRE NEW DEALERSHIPS AND OUR PROFITABILITY.

        Many manufacturers attempt to measure customers' satisfaction with their purchase and warranty service experiences through rating systems which are generally known as consumer satisfaction indexes ("CSI"), which augment manufacturers' monitoring of dealerships' financial and sales performance. Manufacturers may use these performance indicators, as well as sales performance numbers, as factors in evaluating applications for additional acquisitions. The components of these performance indicators have been modified by various manufacturers from time to time in the past, and we cannot assure you that these components will not be further modified or replaced by different systems in the future. Some of our dealerships have had difficulty from time to time meeting these standards. We cannot assure that we will be able to comply with these standards in the future. A manufacturer may refuse to consent to our acquisition of one of its franchises if it determines our dealerships do not comply with its performance standards. This may impede our ability to execute our acquisition strategy. In addition, we receive payments from certain manufacturers based, in part, on CSI scores, and future payments may be materially reduced or eliminated if our CSI scores decline.

OUR DEALERS DEPEND UPON VEHICLE SALES AND, THEREFORE, THEIR SUCCESS DEPENDS IN LARGE PART UPON CUSTOMER DEMAND FOR THE PARTICULAR VEHICLE LINES THEY CARRY.

        The success of our dealerships depends in large part on the overall success of the vehicle lines they carry. New vehicle sales generate the majority of our total revenue and lead to sales of higher-margin products and services such as finance and insurance products and parts and service operations. Although we have sought to limit our dependence on any one vehicle brand, we have focused our new vehicle sales operations in mid-line import and luxury brands.

        For the year ended December 31, 2003, brands representing 5% or more of our revenues from new vehicle retail sales were as follows: