Genuine Parts Company Announces New President U.S. Automotive Parts Group

ATLANTA, July 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Tom Gallagher, Chairman, President
and CEO of Genuine Parts Company (NYSE: GPC), announced today that Paul D.
Donahue has been named President of the U.S. Automotive Parts Group effective
immediately. Mr. Donahue was previously responsible for several of the
Company's automotive business units, a role he assumed upon election to the
position of Executive Vice President of the Company in August 2007.

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Mr. Donahue, age 52, joined S. P. Richards Company, the Company's office
products group, as Executive Vice President - Sales and Marketing in 2003.
Prior to that, Mr. Donahue was President of Sanford North America, a division
of Newell Rubbermaid. Mr. Gallagher commented, "Paul Donahue's proven
leadership and experience in the office products industry made him a great
addition to the S. P. Richards' management team. He was quickly promoted to
President and Chief Operating Officer of S. P. Richards Company, a position he
held until his election to Executive Vice President of Genuine Parts Company
in 2007. Over the past two years, Paul has provided strong leadership to
several of our automotive business units, including: Rayloc, our
remanufacturing operation; Balkamp, our repackaging group; Auto Todo, our
Mexican aftermarket business; and Altrom, our import parts distribution
operation. He also led our global sourcing initiative and he has gained
valuable automotive aftermarket experience."

"As President of the U.S. Automotive Parts Group, Paul will have
responsibility for the entire U.S. Automotive network of 58 distribution
centers and 1,100 company owned stores, and he will work to further develop
and strengthen relationships and growth opportunities with the nearly 4,800
independently owned NAPA AUTO PARTS stores. We are pleased to have a proven
executive like Paul Donahue on the GPC team and at the helm of our U.S.
Automotive Parts Group. He will be leading an extremely capable management
team and we can look forward to solid progress from this important segment of
the Company in the future," said Mr. Gallagher.

About Genuine Parts Company

Genuine Parts Company is a distributor of automotive replacement parts in the
U.S., Canada and Mexico. The Company also distributes industrial replacement
parts in the U.S. and in Canada through its Motion Industries subsidiary. S.
P. Richards Company, the Office Products Group, distributes business products
nationwide in the U.S. and in Canada. The Electrical/Electronic Group, EIS,
Inc., distributes electrical and electronic components throughout the U.S.,
Canada and Mexico. Genuine Parts Company had 2008 revenues of $11.0 billion.

SOURCE Genuine Parts Company

Jerry W. Nix, Vice Chairman and CFO, +1-770-612-2048, or Sidney G. Jones, Vice
President-Investor Relations, +1-770-818-4628, both of Genuine Parts Company