NEW YORK -- Asbury Automotive Group announced that Thomas McCollum has been named president and CEO of McDavid Auto Group based in Irving, Texas. McCollum was serving as Asbury's vice president of finance and insurance.

He replaces McDavid's president and CEO, Michael Kane, who resigned to pursue other interests. The company is searching for a replacement for McCollum in the corporate F&I position.

The McDavid Group consists of 11 franchises throughout Dallas, Houston and Austin, Texas, including Honda, Acura, Lincoln/Mercury, Nissan, Pontiac, GMC, and Buick. Asbury acquired the dealer group in 1998.

"We feel very fortunate to have Tom McCollum available to take over as CEO in Texas," said Asbury CEO Kenneth B. Gilman. "He is a Texas native with an extensive background in virtually all aspects of automotive retailing, and in the Texas marketplace, in particular. Tom also has a proven track record at Asbury, as F&I has been the fastest-growing part of our business over his three year tenure with the Company."

McCollum's automotive career spans more than 25 years. He has been with Asbury since April 2001. Previously, he was an executive vice president with Aon's Resource Group (formerly Pat Ryan & Associates), where he consulted with many of the nation's leading auto retailers and consistently demonstrated an ability to improve same-store results with innovative, customer-focused programs. Prior to Aon, McCollum worked for several dealerships in various capacities. He is a graduate of Sam Houston University.