Darcars Automotive Group

12210 Cherry Hill Rd.

Year founded: 1977

Industry: retail

Post 200 Category: Top Private Companies

Revenue: $1.04 Billion

Net Income/Loss: n/a

Earnings per share: n/a

Dividend: n/a

Stockholder equity: n/a

Auditor: n/a

Assets: n/a

Market capitalization: n/a

52-week high: n/a

52-week low: n/a

Chairman: John R. Darvish

CFO : Michael Hancheruk

Employees: 2161

Local employees: 2022

Description: Darcars Automotive Group owns 21 dealerships in the Washington area, plus two in Jacksonville, Fla., that sell 16 brands of cars and trucks, including Chrysler, Chevrolet, Toyota, Ford, Volkswagen, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Volvo and Kia.

Developments: Last year was one of major growth for Darcars, which was founded by John R. Darvish in 1977 as a Chrysler dealership. The company topped the billion-dollar mark in revenue for the first time, up from $994 million the year before. "It's a big milestone," said spokeswoman Tammy Darvish, who said it took her father — still chairman of the company — 43 years in the auto business to hit that mark. "We sort of set some very serious goals with top management last year and they went to work." She, her father and other Darcars executives work the floors in all of the company's dealerships, rather than running the group from a centralized headquarters. The privately held company won't discuss profit. Darcars spent about $25 million renovating several of its locations and building new facilities, Darvish added. Those investments included pulling Nissan out of the space it had shared with a Rockville Volvo store, renovating the Volvo facility and building an all-new Nissan dealership. Darcars also built a new Toyota dealership in Frederick. And in New Carrollton and Marlow Heights, Darcars took part in a new trend among Chrysler dealers: It consolidated its Jeep, Chrysler and Dodge stores into new, unified facilities. The company says it hopes to keep its numbers up by investing in several more renovations that will be completed later this year and early next.