Starting out on his own, Greg Miller buys a dealership from Bob Baker, who’s easing out of the business.
Greg Miller, son of the late iconic dealer Larry Miller, has bought his first dealership on his own – from another iconic dealer, Bob Baker who at 84 is just about out of the business after a long career.
“It has been a dream of mine for nearly 30 years to have my own dealership,” Miller says of his purchase of Bob Baker Toyota in San Diego. He will rename it Greg Miller Toyota.
“I figured it was time to back off a little bit,” Baker tells WardsAuto. Bob Baker Auto Group in its day had been a perennial member of the annual WardsAuto Megadealer 100 ranking.
Baker’s departure from auto retailing has been gradual. He had sold four stores in Carlsbad, CA, to his youngest son, Christopher. The elder Baker’s last dealership holding is a partnership in his late brother’s store, Ron Baker Chevrolet in National City, CA.
The Sandy, UT-based Larry H. Miller Automotive Group is No.10 on the WardsAuto Megadealer 100 with 53 stores. When his father died at age 64 in 2007, Greg Miller became head of the company, but later stepped down. He remains on the board of directors.
Miller, 49, began his career at his father’s first dealership, a Toyota store, when he was 13. It was not love at first sight, he told WardsAuto in a previous interview. “It was just work for me,” he said of sweeping lots and tagging inventory. At age 19, he began selling cars and got good at it, fostering an affinity for the business.
“I’m excited to begin this new venture in San Diego with Toyota, a brand I have decades of experience and familiarity with,” Miller says.
Miller’s reputation, business style and philanthropic nature “convinced me that he was the right person to purchase my Toyota dealership,” says Baker, a California native.
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