UPDATE 3-Asbury names former AutoNation exec new CEO

* Monaghan has been Asbury CFO for three years

* Oglesby becomes chairman of board until retiring in July

* Japanese, luxury autos main sellers for Asbury (Adds quotes from interview, byline)

By Bernie Woodall

DETROIT, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Asbury Automotive Group Inc (ABG.N) said on Thursday that Charles Oglesby, who turns 65 this year, has stepped down as president and chief executive officer and that Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Craig T. Monaghan will succeed him.

Monaghan said he has no plans to change Asbury including its portfolio of brands.

"The Toyotas and Hondas and the Nissans of the world have very bright futures," he said in an interview with Reuters. "We will continue on the path that Charles has already laid out for us.

"There's a big change here but there is no change," said Monaghan, using a line he said he borrowed from Oglesby.

Oglesby, who led the auto dealer group through cost cuts including a move to suburban Atlanta from New York during the U.S. auto sales downturn in 2008 and 2009, will be chairman of Asbury's board of directors until he retires at the end of July, the company said

In the same interview, Oglesby said his darkest hour as CEO came in February 2009.

"Our auditors gave us a letter that said it was unlikely we would survive the year," he said.

"We were right at the end of the cliff," Oglesby said, and the letter "became a rallying point for this organization."

Asbury remade itself in 2009 and managed through the downturn by restructuring terms of debt financing, selling stores and delaying acquisitions, suspending dividend payments, cutting inventory and 1,500 field positions.

The top-selling brands in terms of sales at Asbury's stores are Japanese automakers Honda Motor Co (7267.T), Nissan Motor (7201.T) and Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T). In a recent quarter, nearly 40 percent of Asbury sales were luxury autos.

Asbury, which has most of its stores in the U.S. Southeast, is the sixth-largest U.S. auto dealer group. Oglesby had been CEO since May 2007, after joining Asbury in 2002.

Asbury director Michael Durham said in a company press statement that naming Monaghan CEO was "the logical progression considering his impact on and knowledge of Asbury" because of his experience of seven years as CFO at the top U.S. auto dealer group AutoNation Inc (AN.N). and his three years at Asbury.

Monaghan, 53, began his auto career as an engineer at a General Motors Co (GM.N) assembly plant and later worked in GM's treasurer's office in New York.

Asbury also announced that Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Michael Kearney has been promoted to executive vice president. Durham will remain a director on the board but will step down as chairman, allowing Oglesby to become chairman, Asbury's spokeswoman Melissa Corey said.

Oglesby has more than 40 years in the auto retail industry. He had been president of First America Automotive based in San Francisco.

Asbury said a search is on for Monaghan's replacement as CFO.

Asbury operates 84 retail auto stores encompassing 110 franchises and sells 36 different brands of automobiles.

Asbury stock on Thursday morning was down 0.3 percent at $19.53 per share after closing on Wednesday at a year high of $19.59.. (Reporting by Bernie Woodall, editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Dave Zimmerman)