Gulf States Toyota Distributors

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Friedkin Group

Type	Private
Industry	Automotive Distribution and Parts Distribution
Founded	1969
Headquarters	Houston, Texas, USA
Key people	Dan Friedkin, Chairman & CEO Ed Dickinson, CFO
Products	Cars, Trucks, Parts, Marketing, Training
Revenue	$8.4 billion (2015)[1]
Number of employees	2,000 (2015) [2]
Parent	The Friedkin Group
Website	http://www.friedkin.com/

Friedkin Group is an American conglomerate of companies. The company is currently heavily invested in automotive and hospitality. Gulf States Toyota is the company's original focus before diversifying.^[3] In 2020, Friedkin Group purchased the controlling stake (88.6%) in Serie A football club A.S. Roma.^[4][5] On 6 August 2020, Friedkin signed the preliminary contract to agree to pay $591 million to James Pallotta, the main shareholder of Roma.^[6] The company's headquarters is in the energy corridor neighborhood of Houston.

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."^[7]

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.

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.

In the production of Toyota's manufacturing GST made a simplistic production reporting tool which increased Toyota's overall output. Yokem Toyota was one of the earliest adopters to the Dealer Daily platform.

Production began at San Antonio's Texas truck plant in 2006.

In 2013 the Houston Chronicle ranked GST as #1 in its list of Houston area private companies.^[8] In 2013, GST announced a lay off at its Vehicle Processing Center due to a change in business focus. "While the entire plant is not being closed, several positions are being eliminated based on a change in business objectives and accessory product offerings for 2014," the WARN letter states.

Gulf States Toyota[]

Gulf States Toyota (GST) is a franchise distributor of Toyota vehicles and parts. As of 2012, it served 154 dealers in the five states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas.^[8] The company distributes 13% of all Toyota vehicles sold in the United States each year.^{[citation needed]} GST is the second largest of only two franchised Toyota distributors in the US,^[9] behind Southeast Toyota Distributors.^[10]

GST ranked 53rd on the Forbes 2008 list of America's Largest Private Companies.^[11][12]

Recent history[]

Toyota (not GST) has opened seven manufacturing facilities in the US and in 2008. Today, the majority of vehicles distributed by GST are not unloaded from ships. GST entered an agreement with the City of Temple to construct another vehicle processing center promising jobs and economic benefits served by rail road. The City invested millions in improvements only to have GST pull out of the deal after several years in 2015 Gulf States had to pay the City of Temple several million dollars for its failure to complete the deal.^[13] Gulf States Toyota Distributors is one of just two private distributors of Toyota vehicles in the United States. The other is in Jacksonville, Florida, founded by the late Jim Moran.^[14]

In 2009, GST celebrated their 40th year in business.

In 2012, Ford sued the now former President of GST for allegedly violating his non-compete and confidentiality provisions, to which GST stated it would hire Mr. Collins "no matter how long it takes." Mr. Collins is no longer the President of GST after serving for several years.

In 2013, the Pizza Hut Park was renamed the Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, which is home to the MLS team FC Dallas due to GST's sponsorship. GST also named Toyota Field in San Antonio, home of minor league soccer team the Scorpions in 2013.

In 2013 the Houston Chronicle ranked GST as #1 in its list of Houston area private companies.[8] In 2013, GST announced a lay off at its Vehicle Processing Center due to a change in business focus. "While the entire plant is not being closed, several positions are being eliminated based on a change in business objectives and accessory product offerings for 2014," the WARN letter states.

Future[]

Friedkin's new corporate headquarters is located in the Energy Corridor 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 also includes Gulf States Marketing and Gulf States Financial Services offices.

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 was to break ground in 2009 in Rail Park at Central Pointe. However, GST pulled out of the deal in Temple so it never materialized and paid the city several million in compensation.^[15]

Philanthropy[]

The Friedkin Companies, an affiliate of GST, 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.^[16]

References[]

External links[]

• Gulf States Toyota Distributors website
• Gulf States Toyota Distributors Careers website