By Michelle Sutherlin
The Norman Transcript

Fowler Toyota will soon have a new, state-of-the art dealership on a new mile of cars on the west side of Interstate 35, north of Tecumseh Road.

Not only will the new dealership provide more space, it also will be more environmentally friendly, said Mike Fowler, chief executive officer of Fowler Holding Company, which owns the dealership.

The service department will be a state-of-the-art facility with 40,000-square-feet under the main building to work with. Fowler said because the service department will be underground, it will not require air conditioning and its heating costs will be greatly reduced.

“It should be a good energy saver,” Fowler said. “It will also be a good environment for our employees. And if you have a good environment for technicians, he or she will do a better job servicing the vehicles.”

Fowler said not only does the environmental aspect make a difference, it will add equally as much lot space to the area. The dealership will have 10 acres to work with for all aspects of the Toyota dealership.

Why new digs?
The new facility is being built as a result of changes Toyota is making. Fowler said Toyota Image USA 2 requires more room for service, inventory, parts, sales and accounting. He said after looking at their current property south of I-35 and Robinson, there just wasn’t enough space to work with.

The current property has seven acres, but is divided on the east side by a busy alley way. And the service stalls are not big enough to accommodate the 2007 Toyota Tundra truck, Fowler said.

He said the future of Toyota also looks like making commercial trucks that will need to be serviced. The service stalls at the new facility will be 14 feet by 28 feet, which is significantly larger than the current service stalls.

The new location also will be a plus, Fowler said.

“This location will allow us to better service the Norman community and will be a little more convenient for the south side of Oklahoma City and Moore,” Fowler said. “There are no Toyota dealerships in those places now.”

The parts department also will more than double in size, to a whopping 13,000-square-feet. Fowler said this means there will be more parts on site and they will have to order out for parts less.

Besides the increased size, environmentally friendly services and great location, Fowler also said the services in the new facility will be great for customers, which includes a café. The café will serve sandwiches, muffins, flavored coffee and more.
Crews are digging a 20-foot hole and plan to be done with that part of the construction by mid April, Fowler said.

The new facility should be finished by mid 2008, he said.

Moore updates
Fowler said the day after the last car is moved from the current Toyota lot, the plans are to tear down the old facility and build a new, state-of-the art Honda dealership in the old Toyota location.

Officials looked at just renovating the old building, which is 27 years old, but it was going to be almost as expensive to renovate it as it was to start over.
“It makes better business sense to build a new facility,” Fowler said. “And it will make more sense to the customers.”

The current Fowler Honda dealership is south of Fowler Toyota on the east side of I-35 and south of Robinson. The dealership sits on 3 acres, so the move will more than double its space, Fowler said.

When the Honda dealership went in its location, about 600 new Hondas were sold every year. Now, about 2,000 Hondas are sold each year, Fowler said.
“It used to be adequate, and now it’s not,” he said.

Family business
Fowler said the original Fowler Toyota dealership was opened in 1973 at the corner of Gray Street and Peters Avenue by his father, Bill Fowler. Mike Fowler said the business moved locations two times before moving into its current spot on the Mile of Cars in 1981.

Bill Fowler is now the chairman of Fowler Holding Company and his son-in-law Don Griffin is the president. They are partners of the company with Mike Fowler.

“If it were not for my father, Bill Fowler, having a vision in 1973, and if not for my mother, Jo Fowler’s support, this family would not be building this new facility today,” Mike Fowler said. “It’s unbelievable that he had the vision to go in that place at Gray and Peters and make it what it is today. It’s the American dream.”