Central Parking Corporation Retains Morgan Stanley to Evaluate Strategic Alternatives.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Central Parking Corporation (NYSE:CPC) announced today that its Board of Directors has retained Morgan Stanley as its exclusive financial advisor to assist the Company in evaluating various strategic alternatives in order to maximize shareholder value.

"Our Board believes that the intrinsic value of our operating platform, as well as the value of our owned real estate, is substantially higher than is currently reflected in our stock price. With the goal of maximizing shareholder value, the Board has decided to evaluate strategic alternatives at this time," commented Monroe J. Carell, Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "Since I founded Central Parking in 1968, the senior management team and I have spent considerable time developing the Company into the industry leader that it is today, particularly in streamlining operations and reducing debt since my return in 2003. I now believe that it is time for the Company to enter into the next phase of its corporate life in order to capitalize on the significant growth opportunities in today's recovering and improving economy."

The Company expects to complete its review of strategic alternatives and take any actions arising from this review during the next several months. However, there can be no assurance that this process will result in a transaction. The Company expects that it will make no further announcement in connection with this process unless and until it engages in a transaction that would require disclosure.

Central Parking Corporation, headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, is a leading provider of parking and transportation-related services. As of December 31, 2004 the Company operated more than 3,400 parking facilities containing over 1.5 million spaces at locations in 37 states, the District of Columbia, Canada, Puerto Rico, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, Chile, Colombia, Germany, Mexico, Peru, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, Venezuela and Greece.

This press release contains historical and forward-looking information. The words "estimates," "anticipates," "goal," "assumptions," "intend," "plan," "expect," "continue to expect," "remain optimistic," "should," "believe," "project," "objective," "outlook," "guidance," "forecast," "will likely result," or "will continue" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The Company believes the assumptions underlying these forward-looking statements are reasonable; however, any of the assumptions could be inaccurate, and therefore, actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. The factors that may result in actual results differing from such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to: the Company's ability to achieve the goals described in this release and other communications, including but not limited to, the Company's ability to maintain reduced operating costs, reduce indebtedness and sell real estate at projected values as well as continued improvement in same store sales, which is dependent on improvements in general economic conditions and office occupancy rates; the loss or renewal on less favorable terms, of management contracts and leases; the timing of pre-opening, start-up and break-in costs of parking facilities; the Company's ability to cover the fixed costs of its leased and owned facilities and its overall ability to maintain adequate liquidity through its cash resources and credit facilities; the Company's ability to comply with the terms of the Company's credit facilities (or obtain waivers for non-compliance); interest rate fluctuations; acts of war or terrorism; changes in demand due to weather patterns and special events including sports events and strikes; higher premium and claims costs relating to the Company's insurance programs, including medical, liability and workers' compensation; the Company's ability to renew and obtain performance and surety bonds on favorable terms; and the impact of claims and litigation, including but not limited to, the securities class action lawsuit pending against the Company; and increased regulation or taxation of parking operations and real estate.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. We have provided additional information in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for our fiscal year ended September 30, 2004, on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December 31, 2004, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and in other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which readers are encouraged to review, concerning other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements.