Gulf States Toyota Distributors
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| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Automotive Distribution and Part Sales |
| Founded | 1969 |
| Headquarters | Houston, Texas, USA |
| Key people | Toby Hynes, President & General Manager Frank Gruen, CFO |
| Products | Cars, Trucks, Parts, Training |
| Revenue | $5.7 billion (2007) |
| Employees | 1,275 (2007) |
| Website | www.gstcareers.com |
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Gulf States Toyota Distributors (GST) is the world’s second largest franchised distributor of Toyota vehicles. The 150 dealers in the five states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas account for 13% of Toyota sales in the United States. GST is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Friedkin Companies[1] and ranked 53rd on the Forbes 2008 list of America's Largest Private Companies. [2]
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[edit] History
Carroll Shelby, famous racecar driver was approached by Toyota in 1968 about becoming an automobile distributor. According to Shelby,
"I turned it down because I went to Lee Iacocca, and he told me not to take it because the domestic makers were going to push the Japanese back into the ocean."[3]
Shelby told his racing buddy, Tom Friedkin, about Toyota's intentions to sell distributor licenses. Friedkin flew to Japan and convinced Toyota that he had the necessary knowledge and resources.
Gulf States Toyota brought the first Toyota vehicle to Houston, Texas in 1969, when all Toyota vehicles were manufactured in Japan and imported into the US. Three years later, the company employed 35 associates and had sold 5,000 cars and trucks through 14 dealerships. GST also completed construction of a processing center on a 33-acre (130,000 m2) site at the Port of Houston.
In 1979, GST won the Import Vehicle Triple Crown by being first in import car, truck and combined import sales in the United States with 65,826 vehicles sold.
The NUMMI plant, a joint venture with General Motors, opened at Fremont, California in 1984 and was Toyota's first assembly plant in the US.
Gulf States Toyota completed construction and opened its Parts Distribution Center (PDC) near Sealy, Texas in 1986. Today, the PDC provides dedicated parts delivery to over 150 dealers, shipping nearly 100% of all orders every day.
By 1994, GST had exceeded 100,000 in total vehicle sales and outgrown its processing center at the port. GST opened its 80-acre (320,000 m2) Vehicle Processing Center on Houston's Northside, built to handle 150,000 vehicles a year. The facility is served by rail and transport trucks and employs over 600 associates.
With vehicle sales steadily increasing, GST outsold Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. (Torrance, CA) in import car market share in 1998. With record sales in 2000, GST processed 11% of all Toyotas sold in the United States.
In 2003, GST helped name Houston's premier sports and entertainment venue—the Toyota Center. Toyota broke ground on its 2,000-acre (8.1 km2) truck plant in nearby San Antonio, Texas. The plant, which produces the full-size Tundra pickup, represents a $1.58 billion investment in the community. At year's end, GST exceeded 149,000 total vehicles sold.
In 2005, Gulf States Toyota was named the #1 privately held company in Houston by the Houston Chronicle's Chronicle 100 list. GST was also listed at #40 on Forbes' list of America's Largest Private Companies. By the end of the year, more than 185,000 vehicles were sold through 145 dealerships.
Production began at San Antonio's Texas truck plant in 2006. That same year, GST's Vehicle Processing Center expanded to 150 acres (0.61 km2) and GST had sold 226,960 vehicles at year-end.
[edit] Today
Toyota has opened 7 manufacturing facilities in the US and in 2008, more than 60% of Toyotas sold in the US are made in the US. Today, the majority of vehicles distributed by GST are not unloaded from ships. Gulf States Toyota Distributors is one of just two private distributors of Toyota vehicles in the United States. The other is Southeast Toyota Distributors LLC in Jacksonville, Florida, founded by the late Jim Moran.[4]
Louisiana is a rapid growing market for Toyota. GST sells 20% of all Toyota pickups sold in the United States[3] and Yokem Toyota in Shreveport, Louisiana is one of the nation's top Toyota Dealerships with 20 Toyota President's Awards since (2010)[5]. The Presidents Award is the only award given to a dealer that matters. This is only given to those who can meet every criteria given monthly without making a mistake [6] so GST's success is tied Louisiana direct auto sales and Yokem Toyota doing everything at such a high standard.
Texas is a large market for pickup trucks and GST's advertising promotes the Tundra as "The Pickup Truck Made in Texas, by Texans, for Texans". GST sells 20% of all Toyota pickups sold in the United States[3] and Fred Haas Toyota World in Spring, Texas is one the state's top sellers of Tundras,[7] so GST's success is tied to truck sales. Total investment by Toyota on the new truck plant in San Antonio was more than $1 billion and generated 4,100 new jobs. According to Toby Hynes, president of Gulf States Toyota, "Dealers in the region are currently investing $600 million to bring their facilities up to the new Toyota standards. At GST, we are investing $70 million in a greatly expanded Vehicle Processing Center in Houston and other facilities...so we can bring the highest levels of service to our customers. So, to put it mildly, Toyota, Gulf States Toyota and our dealers are expanding in Texas in just about every way you can imagine."[8]
Toyota revamped the 2007, adding a more powerful V8 engine and increased towing capacity, and launched a marketing campaign that included visits to Home Depot parking lots, country music concerts and sports events.[9]
In 2009, GST celebrated their 40th year in business; their marketing slogan is also their goal: "a Toyota in every garage".
[edit] Future
A new corporate headquarters is being constructed in west Houston with a 400,000-square-foot (37,000 m2) campus consisting of a connected five story and ten story building and an eight floor parking garage. The complex will also include a 40,000-square-foot (3,700 m2) training center, in addition to Gulf States Marketing and Gulf States Financial Services offices. The complex, which has been under development for several years, is projected to open in the summer of 2009.[10]
To prepare for another Hurricane Katrina event and to provide additional vehicle processing capacity, the company planned the construction of a $50 million Inland Processing facility in Temple, Texas, which should break ground in 2009 in Rail Park at Central Pointe. It will serve as a centralized location for receiving, accessorizing and distributing Toyota and Scion vehicles that arrive from Toyota’s North American manufacturing centers by train, as well as transport trucks from the nearby San Antonio truck plant. The facility is expected to open in 2011.[3]
[edit] Philanthrophy
The Friedkin Companies, the owner of Gulf States Toyota, contributed $2 million in 2005 to establish the Friedkin Disaster Relief Fund to help provide relief to Hurricane Katrina victims who worked for Toyota and other dealerships.[11]
[edit] References
- ^ Hoovers.com: company factsheet-Gulf States Toyota Distributors
- ^ Forbes Magazine: November 3, 2008-America's Largest Private Companies
- ^ a b c d Automotive News: October 29, 2007-U.S. distributors gave Toyota a toehold in a mysterious new market by Kathy Jackson
- ^ Hoover's Business Intelligence: Gulf States Toyota, Inc.
- ^ Yokem Toyota GST Approved Post: March 8th, 2012, About Us
- ^ Toyota.com Post: March 8th, 2012, Toyota Direct
- ^ Houston Chronicle: May 16, 2008-Chronicle 100
- ^ PR Newswire: September 28, 2006-Toyota Introduces 2007 Tundra, the Pickup Truck Made in Texas, by Texans, for Texans
- ^ Houston Chronicle: January 26, 2008-Toyota pickups making inroads by Brad Hem
- ^ Houston Chronicle: January 24, 2009-Gulf States Toyota project still rolling By Nancy Sarnoff
- ^ Toyota News Release: September 1, 2005-Toyota Companies Pledge $5,000,000 to Hurricane Katrina Relief
