Asbury Automotive was formed in 1995 by Tom Gibson, a former vice president with
Subaru of America. One of the company's original moves was to form a joint venture with
Atlanta-based dealer Jim Nalley before acquiring his 11 dealerships outright in 1997. Nalley oversaw the stores until his retirement in 2004; his sons currently own dealerships across Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee. Eventually, Asbury would expand out of the Atlanta area, adding St. Louis–based Plaza Motors while acquiring
David McDavid's Texas dealerships, and later the
Jacksonville, Florida.–based Coggin Automotive and Tampa, Florida–based Courtesy Automotive in 1998. A joint venture with the
North Carolina–based Crown Automotive Group in 1999 saw Asbury eventually take full ownership of those dealerships, while moving into
South Carolina with its outright purchase of the Greenville Automotive Group in 2010. in 2017 and 2019, respectively. It would also make several single-point purchases to expand its reach across the area, including Terry Lee Honda in Avon, Ind. (renamed Hare Honda) in 2018 and Kahlo Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram in Noblesville, Ind. in 2019. In December 2019, Asbury agreed to buy
Texas-based Park Place Dealerships, a collection of luxury vehicle dealerships in the
Dallas/Fort Worth area, for $1 billion. On March 24, 2020, the deal was canceled amid concerns due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, a modified deal was reached on July 6 of that year which closed on August 24. In December 2020, Asbury unveiled Clicklane, an online new and used vehicle retailing platform. The company rolled out the platform across its existing dealership base while announcing intents to utilize the brand in markets in which it did not currently own stores. On September 29, 2021, Asbury purchased the Utah-based
Larry H. Miller Dealerships for $3.2 billion, along with its Total Care Auto (TCA) vehicle protection plan business. The company divested seven Toyota and Lexus dealerships due to manufacturer guidelines. Asbury announced plans to roll out TCA to its non-Larry H. Miller "legacy" stores, while in a similar fashion integrating the Clicklane platform to the Larry H. Miller dealerships. In December 2021, Asbury acquired Stevinson Automotive Group in the
Denver, Colorado, area. In December 2022, Asbury divested from its nine Crown Automotive Group locations in
Greensboro,
Durham, and
Fayetteville North Carolina. The locations were sold to South Carolina-based Hudson Automotive Group and included
BMW,
Honda,
Volvo,
Nissan,
Ford, and
Chrysler franchises. In September 2023, Asbury Automotive acquired Jim Koons automotive dealership group for about $1.2 billion. ==Divisions==