The largest automotive dealership in the world, covering more than 50 acres, is Longo Toyota in El Monte, California. The dealership facility is so expansive that it includes an Auto Club office, Enterprise car rental agency, Starbucks, Subway restaurant, and Verizon Wireless store. Since at least 2001, Longo has been setting sales records. In 2017, Autotrader reported that the dealership sold 25,000 to 30,000 vehicles annually, with more than 15,000 being new vehicles. The dealership was founded by Dominic Longo in an abandoned gas station in 1967, after Ford declined to offer him a franchise. He started with five employees and, within his first year, sold 469 new and used cars, establishing himself as the number one Toyota dealer in the country. The Penske Motor Group has owned the dealership since 1985 as its flagship dealership.
Long Toyota in El Monte, circa 1967. Photo from Longo Toyota
The first Toyota dealership in the United States was established on October 31, 1957, as Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc., at 6000 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California. It was opened in the facility of what was once a Rambler dealership and shared a wall with a Ford dealership. The dealership continues to operate today as Toyota of Hollywood.
First U.S. Toyota dealership shares a wall with a Ford dealership in Hollywood.
