Industry: Retail

Post 200 Category: Top Private Companies

Revenue: $1.00 Billion

Net Income/Loss: n/a

Earnings per share: n/a

Dividend: n/a

Stockholder equity: n/a

Auditor: W S & B

Assets: n/a

Market capitalization: n/a

52-week high: n/a

52-week low: n/a

CEO: Robert M. Rosenthal

Employees: 950

Local employees: 950

Description: Rosenthal Automotive is a dealership group with 15 locations in the Washington region selling 13 brands of vehicles, including Acura, Honda, Mazda, Jaguar, Land Rover, Isuzu, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Volkswagen, Volvo and Jeep.

Developments: New car sales were flat last year at Rosenthal, while used car sales managed a 1 percent gain, compared with the year before. The privately held company will not release financial details but said it posted slughtly more than $1 billion in total sales for 2004. Rosenthal sold its Gaithersburg Nissan dealership last year but renovated several others, including Fairfax Honda and Fairfax Volvo. Its Fairfax Volkswagen showroom began renovations. Rosenthal also broke ground for a new Jaguar/Land Rover showroom in the Chantilly auto park, with completion scheduled for June. The company bought another 26.7 acres adjacent to the auto park for use as a future dealership. Despite the flat overall sales, several of Rosenthal's properties were among top performers nationwide. The Rosenthal Acura showroom continued to be ranked fourth nationally in sales volume, the same as the year before. Rosenthal's Jaguar business ranked second nationally, and its Land Rover dealership was fifth, the company said. Robert M. Rosenthal, who founded the company with his father, is also a founding member of the Capital Automotive REIT, a venture among several local auto dealers that buys property from dealerships nationwide and leases them back. The REIT completed $407 million worth of real estate investments during the year.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7uK3SoaCnn6Sku7G70q1lnKedZMSxedKrrWiapai2r7HSrGapp6Opf3F8jmtnaW1fh5yUka1nn62lnA%3D%3D