Lithia Motors Announces Acquisitions in Washington and California

MEDFORD, Ore., Aug. 20, 2003 -- Lithia Motors, Inc. announced today that it has completed two acquisitions; Sutherland Mercedes in Spokane, Washington and Santa Rosa Dodge Suzuki in California. The stores will be renamed Mercedes Benz of Spokane and Lithia Dodge of Santa Rosa. The stores have combined annualized sales of approximately $50 million. The acquisitions were paid for in cash. Year to date, Lithia has now completed eight store acquisitions with approximately $225 million in annualized revenues.

Lithia Motors Chairman and CEO Sid DeBoer commented, "Spokane, Washington is one of our best markets, and we are excited to be able to increase our presence there. We now have a very strong line-up in Spokane with the Mercedes, BMW, Volvo, Cadillac, Subaru and Chevrolet franchises. Santa Rosa is a new market for Lithia in Northern California. This store is a good addition to the seven other operations we have in and around the San Francisco Bay Area. We now have thirteen auto-retail stores in Northern California, which represent approximately 20% of Lithia's annualized revenues. We expect to close on additional acquisitions this year."

In a recent article by Oregon Business Magazine, Lithia Motors, Inc. is the second largest public company, after Nike, in the State of Oregon, based on 2002 revenues of $2.37 billion. In 2001, Lithia held the fifth position in the annual ranking.

Lithia Motors, Inc. is a Fortune 1000 and Russell 2000 Company that sells 24 brands of new vehicles and operates 77 stores and 143 franchises in 12 states in the Western United States and over the Internet through "Lithia.com -- America's Car & Truck Store." Lithia also sells used vehicles; arranges finance, warranty, and credit insurance contracts; and provides vehicle parts, maintenance, and repair services at all of its locations. Lithia retailed 91,478 new and used vehicles and had $2.38 billion in total revenue in 2002.