Lithia Motors Acquires Dodge Store in Fresno, California; Lithia Now has Twelve Stores in California

MEDFORD, Ore.--April 24, 2006--Lithia Motors, Inc. the country's eighth-largest automotive dealership group, today announced its acquisition of Fresno Dodge in Fresno, California. The store has annualized revenues of approximately $50 million and was added to Lithia's operations as Lithia Dodge of Fresno in early April.

This is Lithia's fifth dealership in the Fresno market. Lithia's other stores in Fresno include Lithia Ford of Fresno, Lithia Nissan of Fresno, Lithia Hyundai of Fresno and Lithia Mazda Suzuki of Fresno. Combined annualized revenues in the Fresno market now totals approximately $215 million.

Lithia's Chairman and CEO, Sid DeBoer, commented, "Fresno has a strong and growing economy and we have some of our strongest stores and personnel in that market. Along with this acquisition, we were also awarded two additional Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep open points in the Fresno market area. This speaks to the strong relationship that we have forged with our Chrysler manufacturer partner. With this acquisition and the future development of the new open points, Lithia will be the exclusive Dodge dealer in the Fresno market."

About Lithia

Lithia Motors, Inc. is a Fortune 1000 and Russell 2000 Company that sells 25 brands of new vehicles and operates 94 stores and 189 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 103,333 new and used vehicles and had $2.9 billion in total revenue in 2005.

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