ORLANDO, Fla., Feb. 13, 2010 – C. Edward Roberts, President/Dealer of Roberts Toyota, a Toyota dealership in Columbia, Tenn., was named the TIME Magazine Dealer of the Year from Tennessee.
Roberts was chosen to represent the Tennessee Automotive Association in the national competition. The award is sponsored by TIME Magazine in association with Goodyear, and in cooperation with NADA.
“I was born into the business,” says Roberts. “My father had been a dealer since 1956. [When he] became ill in 1972, I had to leave college to run the family business. I was 21 years old.”
Roberts graduated from Battle Ground Academy in Franklin, TN, in 1969, attended the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, and then earned a degree in Dealership Management from General Motors Institute in Flint, MI. “Upon my father's illness in 1972, I returned from college to run the family business, Roberts Olds and Toyota,” says Roberts. “My dad said to me, ‘Run it, or sell it’ – I was baptized by fire.”
That fire, Roberts explains, included “a recession, a fuel crisis and 22.75% floor plan rates.” Since that time, Roberts has “run it” alright, adding other franchises along the way, including Chevrolet, Buick, Pontiac, GMC, Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep. “In 2009, I sold the GM franchises, though my name still remains on the sign, at the new owner’s request.” Over the years, Roberts Toyota has become a three-time winner of the Toyota President’s Award (1992, 2002, 2006), and, back in 1974, they also received the Customer Relations Meritorious Achievement Award from Toyota.
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