U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                              Washington, DC 20549

                                     FORM 3

            INITIAL STATEMENT OF BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP OF SECURITIES

    Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
       Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or
               Section 30(f) of the Investment Company Act of 1940

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1.   Name and Address of Reporting Person*

     Roth                            John                    M.
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   (Last)                            (First)              (Middle)

     c/o Freeman Spogli & Co. Inc, 11100 Santa Monica Blvd., Suite 1900
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                                    (Street)

     Los Angeles                     CA                     90025
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   (City)                            (State)                (Zip)

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2.   Date of Event Requiring Statement (Month/Day/Year)

     3/13/02
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3.   IRS Identification Number of Reporting Person, if an Entity (Voluntary)


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4.   Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol

     Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE: ABG)
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5.   Relationship of Reporting Person to Issuer
     (Check all applicable)

     [x]  Director                             [X]  10% Owner (1)
     [ ]  Officer (give title below)           [ ]  Other (specify below)


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6.   If Amendment, Date of Original (Month/Day/Year)


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7.   Individual or Joint/Group Filing  (Check applicable line)

     [X]  Form Filed by One Reporting Person

     [ ]  Form Filed by More than One Reporting Person

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             Table I -- Non-Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned
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                                                                 3. Ownership Form:
                                      2. Amount of Securities       Direct (D) or
1. Title of Security                     Beneficially Owned         Indirect (I)       4. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership
   (Instr. 4)                            (Instr. 4)                 (Instr. 5)            (Instr. 4)
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Common Stock, par value
$0.01 per share                          0                           N/A

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Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially
          owned directly or indirectly.

* If the Form is filed by more than one Reporting Person, see Instruction
  5(b)(v).





FORM 3 (continued)

              Table II -- Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned
         (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)

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                                                                                                        5. Owner-
                                                    3. Title and Amount of Securities                      ship
                                                       Underlying Derivative Security                      Form of
                         2. Date Exercisable           (Instr. 4)                                          Derivative
                            and Expiration Date     ---------------------------------    4. Conver-        Security:
                            (Month/Day/Year)                               Amount           sion or        Direct      6. Nature of
                         ----------------------                            or               Exercise       (D) or         Indirect
                         Date       Expira-                                Number           Price of       Indirect       Beneficial
1. Title of Derivative   Exer-      tion                                   of               Derivative     (I)            Ownership
   Security (Instr. 4)   cisable    Date            Title                  Shares           Security       (Instr. 5)     (Instr. 5)
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(1) Asbury Automotive Holdings L.L.C., an entity in which FS Equity Partners III, L.P., FS Equity Partners International L.P. and
FS Equity Partners IV, L.P. (collectively, the "Investment Funds"), investment funds affiliated with Freeman Spogli & Co. Inc.,
hold approximately a 49% ownership interest, holds of record 17,550,743 shares of common stock, par value $0.01 per share, of
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Mr. Roth is a director, member, partner or executive officer of the general partners of each of the
Investment Funds. Mr. Roth expressly disclaims such Investment Funds except to the extent of his pecuniary interest in them.



/s/ John Roth                                            March 13, 2002
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**Signature of Reporting Person                                   Date



**   Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal
     Criminal Violations.

     See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).

Note:  File three copies of this form, one of which must be manually signed.
       If space provided is insufficient, see Instruction 6 for procedure.

Potential persons who are to respond to the collection of information
contained in this form are not required to respond unless the form displays a
currently valid OMB Number.