The present invention is directed to curable film-forming compositions comprising a film-forming resin and a crosslinking agent. The film-forming resin contains a polymer having functional aromatic groups derived from functional aromatic acids. The present invention further provides multi-component composite coating compositions comprising a first film-forming composition applied to a substrate to form a primer or base coat, and a second film-forming composition applied on top of the primer or base coat to form a top coat, the top coat comprising the composition described above. Coating compositions prepared from the curable compositions of the present invention demonstrate superior gloss and acid etch resistance properties, making them ideally suited for automotive applications.