AutoCanada Inc. Announces New $240 Million Revolving Floorplan Facility

EDMONTON, July 31, 2012 /CNW/ - AutoCanada Inc. ("AutoCanada" or the "Company") (TSX: ACQ) announced today that it has entered into a new $240 million revolving floorplan facility agreement with The Bank of Nova Scotia ("Scotiabank") replacing its existing facility with Ally Credit Canada.

The new revolving floorplan facility will be used to finance the purchase of new and used vehicle inventory at twenty-one of AutoCanada's dealership locations.  The new credit agreement contains certain terms and conditions which differ from the Company's prior credit agreement, including more favourable interest rates, as well as new financial covenants.  Based on the current floating rate and borrowing levels, the Company expects the agreement to produce annual savings in interest costs in excess of $1 million as the current floating rate will be reduced from 4.20% to 3.05% under the new agreement.  A copy of the new agreement is available at www.sedar.com and the Company's website at www.autocan.ca.

"Management is very pleased to have entered into the new facility with Scotiabank.  The level of commitment to our business by Scotiabank is representative of their reputation in the industry as a leading provider of automotive finance in Canada." stated Pat Priestner, CEO of AutoCanada.  "We would like to thank the management team at Scotiabank Dealer Finance for their hard work in setting up the facility, which we believe will be mutually beneficial over the short term and long term."  Mr. Priestner further stated, "We are also very appreciative of the opportunity to have worked with Ally Credit Canada over the past three years and the very good service they had provided to us during that time."

About AutoCanada

AutoCanada is one of Canada's largest multi-location automobile dealership groups, currently operating 26 franchised dealerships in six provinces and has over 1,100 employees.  AutoCanada currently sells Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, FIAT, Chevrolet, GMC, Buick, Infiniti, Nissan, Hyundai, Subaru, Mitsubishi, and Volkswagen branded vehicles.  In 2011, our dealerships sold approximately 28,000 vehicles and processed approximately 300,000 service and collision repair orders in our 333 service bays during that time.

Additional information about AutoCanada Inc. is available at www.sedar.com and the Company's website at www.autocan.ca.

Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release are forward-looking statements and information (collectively "forward-looking statements"), within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation.  We hereby provide cautionary statements identifying important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those projected in these forward-looking statements.  Any statements that express, or involve discussions as to, expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, through the use of words or phrases such as "will likely result", "are expected to", "will continue", "is anticipated", "projection", "vision", "goals", "objective", "target", "schedules", "outlook", "anticipate", "expect", "estimate", "could", "should", "expect", "plan", "seek", "may", "intend", "likely", "will", "believe" and similar expressions are not historical facts and are forward-looking and may involve estimates and assumptions and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors some of which are beyond our control and difficult to predict.  Accordingly, these factors could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements.  Therefore, any such forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by reference to the factors discussed throughout this document.

The Company's Annual Information Form and other documents filed with securities regulatory authorities (accessible through the SEDAR website www.sedar.com describe the risks, material assumptions and other factors that could influence actual results and which are incorporated herein by reference.

Further, any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which such statement is made, and, except as required by applicable law, we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which such statement is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.  New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for management to predict all of such factors and to assess in advance the impact of each such factor on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement.

SOURCE: AutoCanada Inc.

Jeff Christie, CA
Vice-President, Finance

Phone:  [phone]

Email: [email protected]