WASHINGTON, Aug 16 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Trade

Commission sued Asbury Automotive Group ( ABG ) on Friday,

alleging that three of its dealerships in Texas charged Black

and Latino customers higher prices than others, and routinely

added services to customers' contracts without their consent.

Up to 75 percent of customers of David McDavid Ford

dealership in Fort Worth, and Honda dealerships in Irving and

Frisco, Texas, reported being charged without their permission

for services such as protective coatings, service contracts and

insurance, according to the agency.

In some cases, customers had declined the services or been

falsely told they were mandatory, while in others their

permission was never sought, the FTC said.

The dealerships on average also charged Black customers $298

more, and Latino customers $214 more for the same add-ons than

they did white consumers who were not Latino, the FTC said.

Asbury operates more than 155 dealerships in more than a

dozen states. A spokesperson for the company did not immediately

respond to a request for comment.

The company intends to fight the allegations, according to a

statement by Andrew Ferguson, one of two Republican FTC

commissioners.

Ferguson said the case was similar to one the FTC settled on

Thursday against an Arizona dealership, and complained that the

agency had used the settled case to classify discrimination as

an unfair business practice.

FTC Chair Lina Khan and the Democratic commissioners said on

Thursday that exempting discriminatory conduct from unfair

practices would give companies that discriminate a pass.

All five commissioners voted to authorize both cases.